June 30, 2009

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! The SCUBA Junkman, Lawn Maintenance, Mini-Cornhole-ing, and Transformers!

The Dude on the Right didn't get Stu Gotz's joke about circumcision during this episode of their "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast, but he did get to see "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" and Stu didn't. The Dude also did some lawn maintenance while Stu did some SCUBA selling, The Dude liked chocolate-chip pancakes while Stu didn't cornhole his kids, and the podcast gets poltergeisted by Rush Limbaugh - The Dude is scared.

Posted by Rightdude at 9:05 PM | Comments (0)

June 22, 2009

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! A 50th Anniversary, A Father's Day, A New iPhone, and Movies!

A Father's Day has come and gone, and surprisingly Stu Gotz, who has kids, well, he sort of wishes he had the day The Dude on the Right had, especially as they talk about it during this podcast episode of "Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up!" The Dude got a new iPhone and spent some quality time with his BFF while Stu, well, he got a card. The Dude also had fun at a 50th Anniversay party while Stu, well, his TV shows he wanted to watch got erased. The Dude, he had a good time at "The Proposal," Stu, well, he scared his kids when he took them to see "Land of the Lost." Two people about the same age; two different worlds.

Posted by Rightdude at 9:38 PM | Comments (2)

June 18, 2009

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! Drinking & Jelly, The Hangover & Up, Flight Attendants and Underwear, with Patti and John

The Dude on the Right took a while to get this episode of the "Stu & The Dude Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast posted, with reasons possibly to be revealed during next week's episode. In the meantime, what better way to kick off a podcast than to talk about drunk people in England who wrestle in jelly. Sure, Stu Gotz and The Dude aren't that exciting, but Stu is looking for a Taiwanese basket, both of the boys went to see "The Hangover," and thoughts about on the David Letterman v Sarah Palin controversy that is now over. The Dude finds himself hooked on "I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here," especially with local celebrity Patti Blagojovich seeming to be working her womanly charms around the camp. All of that and more for your listening pleasure.

Posted by Rightdude at 9:27 PM | Comments (0)

June 8, 2009

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! The Hangover, Terminator, Idle Hands, and Bonne Terre Mines

The Dude on the Right is back from Houston and Stu Gotz is sad that his favorite Irish American Pub closed, so they both talk a bit about it during this "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast episode. They also have a weekend to talk about with a lot of Stu's dealing with scuba diving at some abandoned lead mines in Bonne Terre, MO, while The Dude gives some movie recomendations in the likes of "Up" and "The Hangover." The podcast, in fact, contains an abundance of movie talk with Stu revisiting a not really naked Jessica Alba in "Idle Hands," some preview talk about "G.I. Joe," "Bruno," and "Toy Story 3," and why not, let's talk about some TV, especially The Dude's latest obsession with the "I'm a Celebrity..." show. There's more, but sadly The Dude forgot to talk about the new iPhone that came out today. Maybe next week.

Posted by Rightdude at 9:05 PM | Comments (0)

June 4, 2009

And Still More Movie Previews!

By: The Dude on the Right
A trip to Houston-Town delayed some postings, like another "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast, and I still have to write my review of "Up" (might I suggest you go and see it even without me writing a review for it?), but I started working on your July movie previews for the summer, although some of them are really previews, I'm just letting you know the movie is out there because you'll probably go and see it without my prodding. What do I mean? Well, does it really matter what I have to preview about for "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince?" No, you're going to go and see it, anyway. And for those of you old enough, who were fans of "Borat," does it matter what the premise is for "Bruno?" Of course not, as long as everyday people end up looking like fools. For the teen crowd, especially the girls, you get "I Love You, Beth Cooper" with the cheerleader from "Heroes," and ladies, you like your Katherine Heigl, so come July 24th you get her to feel good for, and Gerard Butler to swoon over, in "The Ugly Truth." My next batch of previews will include something about guinea pigs, an indie film, frighten you from adopting, and more. I figure four previews right now should get you going for your mid to late July planning stages!

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!   L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 9:31 PM | Comments (0)

May 26, 2009

What's New? A Podcast of : Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! Pork-Fest Weekend, Night at the Museum, Grilling, and Gay, Deaf Bikers.

Memorial Day Weekend has come and gone, and The Dude on the Right celebrated it with his BFF by having a Pork-Fest Weekend. The Dude explains to Stu Gotz during their "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast exactly what he means by that, while Stu lets the world know if they should go and see "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian." The Dude also got to observe what appeared to be members of the Gay, Deaf Biker Gang at Millennium Park in Chicago, he cleaned a dryer vent, and tried to relax, while Stu definitely got is relaxing down by catching up on some TV. Next week they both figure to give their review of "Up," but probably not "Drag Me to Hell."

Posted by Rightdude at 8:18 PM | Comments (0)

May 19, 2009

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! A Birthday Weekend Part II, The House of Mouse, Star Trek, and Angels & Demon

Well, it took an extra day for The Dude on the Right to get the Stu & The Dude's "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast posted, mostly because yesterday he thought he might have come down with the Swine Flu, or the H1M1 virus, or just ate a bad donut, but in any case he had a fever, felt like crap, so here's the podcast being posted on a Tuesday, no worse for wear. Stu Gotz is happy that The Dude is in love but just hopes that tattoos never show up, Stu had his travel problems coming back from Mickey Mouse Land, and both of them recommend seeing "Star Trek." The Dude on the Right also recommends seeing "Angels & Demons," mostly because it's the same kind of movie as "The Da Vinci Code," and The Dude says that if you want a great soft shell crab, or the best crab cake ever, you should spend some dough and head to "Sugartoad" in Naperville, IL. Go ahead, have a listen.

Posted by Rightdude at 8:13 PM | Comments (0)

May 13, 2009

I'm Engaged! How Did That Happen?

By: The Dude on the Right
I must say that at 42 years old, after not having a serious girlfriend in just about forever, and even having some cousins thinking I was gay, it is both exciting and scary as hell to tell people I am engaged, as a new chapter in the book of my life started last Sunday when I asked my BFF to marry me. The thing is, at the time I asked, as much as I was 99.9% sure of her answer, that 0.1% is the reason for being scared to death she just might say no, or request conditions for our getting married, or say she wasn’t ready, or say anything but a simple “Yes,” thus leaving the experience, in my eyes, as a total failure. Happily she said “Yes,” she cried, I got weepy, and we went to go see “Star Trek.” My God that woman loves me, and no, she didn't dress like Uhura, and I didn't dress like Spock.

Looking back, though, over the past year, or I suppose I should say past 20+ years, it still amazes me how this is all coming together. Why? Because so many things had to happen for us to re-find each other. You see, I met my BFF back in high school. I was a senior and she came in as a new junior, transferred from this mystical city of Chicago because her dad ended up relocating to the Cleveland area for work. Somehow she was interested in drama, I was a member of the drama club, and we both took a school trip to New York City where a simple song played during the trip would always remind me of her. Over that year in high school I would say we became friendly, but not friends, as I ended up being focused on going off to college, in all places, Chicago, and besides, she was a junior and I was a mighty senior. As time went on I would remember her for one reason or another, and even one year, one of those high school alumni directories came out and I noticed she was living in Chicago at the time, but never really thought to reach out to her (hell, how creepy would that phone call be: "Umm, hello? I don't know if you remember me, but I noticed you in the newly published high school alumni directory and just wondered how you were."), and the years went by.

Me, I went from this job to that job, totally putting my Aerospace Engineering degree to no use whatsoever, living in the Chicago area, finally finding myself in a western suburb, and she, well, she became a world traveler, working in various countries, but then finding herself back in Chicago.

Then, one night, a little over a year ago, I heard a song, the same song that always reminded me of her, and I entered Google stalker mode. Low and behold there she was, and I did what may well be one of the smartest decisions I have ever made: I sent her an e-mail. The strangest part - She e-mailed me back! An e-mail here, an e-mail there, we decided to meet, and then, wouldn't you know it, 20+ years after we met in high school we fell in love, I found my best friend, and I also found the only person that has ever made me not care about all of my stuff. Sure, I'm leaving out a few details of our past year together, of our 20+ years apart, but hey, if Oprah wants to know I suppose we'd be happy to be guests on her show. Even some things, for me, I like to leave private, and I'm guessing she wants to, too.

And so I must now just focus on being happy because if I think about even some of the things that needed to happen for us to be together, it would be mind-boggling. I mean, if her dad never ended up in Cleveland for work; if I didn't come to Chicago for college, if I actually used my engineering degree I probably wouldn't be living here; if she didn't find a place in Chicago; if I had called her years ago and she thought I was creepy; if I hated dogs; if one of us didn't take that trip to New York City in high school; if I had won the Mega-Millions; if I weren't a Google stalker, and for that matter, if the dudes at Google never made Google, well, I would still be loving all of my stuff instead of being in love with my BFF, being engaged, and looking forward to merging the individual books of our lives into a new volume devoted to us.

I guess such is life. Happily, such is love.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!   L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 9:49 PM | Comments (5)

May 4, 2009

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! A Birthday, Camping, Cubs, and Apprenticing.

The Dude on the Right had a Birthday, and even though Stu Gotz failed to acknowledge it on Facebook, B-Day wishes abounded and cake was shared during this Podcast episode of "Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up!" The Dude gushes a lot about how he has the greatest BFF, and also got to catch a Chicago Cubs game, while Stu Gotz spent some quality family time at Jellystone Park in Amboy, IL, and got to wake up Yogi Bear. Stu also caught "Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay" via Netflix, while neither of the boys caught the "Wolverine" flick. Hopefully, though, next week, The Dude will write a review of "Star Trek," especially since Stu might not be around since he'll be hanging at the House of Mickey Mouse.

Posted by Rightdude at 8:43 PM | Comments (0)

April 27, 2009

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! No Swine Flu, Dirty Uniforms, Movies, a Brickhouse, and Jesse James.

Swine Flu probably would keep Stu Gotz and The Dude on the Right from doing a "Weekend Wrap-Up" podcast, but since neither of them have it, well, they decide to talk about the flu since, well, everyone else is, and since everyone else thinks they are an expert, the boys try to be experts, too. Thankfully their weekend escapades bring them away from pig talk and on to other conversations like a Confirmation ceremony, T-Ball pictures for the Gotz boys, Stu finding a restaurant called The Brickhouse, and The Dude finding out his BFF cooks some kick-ass ribs. Of course they have some movie talk, and who knew they were both fans of Jesse James on Celebrity Apprentice?

Posted by Rightdude at 8:50 PM | Comments (0)

April 20, 2009

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! Seeing the Chicago Cubs, Seeing 17 Again, Seeing Slumdog Millionaire, and Seeing More!

Crappy traffic couldn't keep The Dude on the Right and Stu Gotz apart this morning, especially since they had a "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast to record! Stu had quite the adventure because he took The Gotz family to see The Chicago Cubs play the St. Louis Cardinals, and little did he know but Wrigley Field would be invaded by seagulls. The Dude tells Stu that "17 Again" isn't that horrible and Matthew Perry might actually be a really good actor, and Netflix queuing abounded with Stu seeing "Slumdog Millionaire" and The Dude seeing "The Secret Life of Bees." Stu missed out, though, because The Dude saw Donald Trump make fun of Jesse James on "Celebrity Apprentice," but the both of them got to see some large breasts during The Miss USA Pageant. Such are their weekends, sometimes.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:55 PM | Comments (0)

April 6, 2009

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! Being Tired, Adventureland Talk, and The Dude Can't Mix Crap.

The Dude on the Right is pretty tired from being up all night with a dog that wanted to lick carpet. During this podcast episode of "Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-up!" he tells Stu Gotz all about it, and then realizes he is happy it wasn't Stu licking carpet that kept him up all night. The boys also have movies to discuss, mostly "Adventureland" but a little about "Monsters Vs. Aliens," and TV is also a topic of discussion as the boys talk the return of "Rescue Me" and then analyze "Celebrity Apprentice." All that and more in this week's episode, so listen up!

Posted by Rightdude at 9:19 PM | Comments (0)

April 2, 2009

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! (Sort Of): Hangin' With no Drug Lords, Kidney Stones, Idol Talk, and Underwear in a Bag.

With The Dude on the Right being out of the country over the weekend and not returning until Tuesday, there wasn't an opportunity to do a "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast with Stu Gotz, but The Dude connects with Stu today to podcast with Stu about the vacation that he and his BFF took to Dreams Villamagna in Nuevo Vallarta. The Dude has a nice time down there, even learning about using towels to save your beach chairs and putting your dirty underwear in a bag, but the resort seems to be having some growing pains so sadly he can't highly recommend it at this time (The Dude is hoping to write a full-blown review in a week or so.) Vacation aside, both of the boys watch "American Idol" and have some comments about Megan Joy getting the boot, and Stu isn't a Lady Gaga fan, and Stu also had what he thinks were some kidney stones last week, but thanks to a homeopathic remedy of lemon juice and olive oil, things seem to have subsided. They'll be back on Monday for a normal wrap-up, but The Dude was excited to tell Stu that he didn't see any drug lords in Mexico, to at least there was that.

Posted by Rightdude at 8:35 PM | Comments (0)

March 25, 2009

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! Got Junk, The BSG Finale, March Madness, and F.F.W.D.-P.P.O. Syndrome.

The Dude on the Right had some redecorating and key-losing issues to deal with, hence a "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast being posted on a Wednesday, but hopefully by now The Dude is getting over his issues he had at church on Sunday, which he relates to Stu Gotz in detail during the podcast. Stu is at least keeping up with some TV watching and regales The Dude with some "Battlestar Galactica" finale talk, The Dude did catch a movie, "I Love You, Man", with his BFF, and tells Stu if he should take Mama Gotz to see it, and with The Dude's redecorating, he found a company that will take away your junk, yet leave their own junk behind. And lastly but now leastly, Stu may have discovered a new ailment affecting dog owners, namely "F.F.W.D.-P.P.O." Syndrome.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:56 PM | Comments (0)

March 16, 2009

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! FedEx & Starbucks Woes, Fun at Disney, Parties, TV, and a Scrumpy's Can Huggy.

Stu Gotz turned 41 last week and what better way to spend your birthday than at Disney World, and what better way to tell the world about it than during a "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast, even if the trip wasn't over the weekend. So Stu tells The Dude on the Right about some of his Disney travels, The Dude tells Stu about the demise of a "Scrumpy's" can huggy, and they both have problems with a couple of major corporations, though neither of them are AIG and them giving themselves some year-end bonuses. They both are watching "Celebrity Apprentice" and are awaiting Dennis Rodman's meltdown next week, Stu doesn't want the little Gotz's playing soccer, The Dude (and his BFF, but mostly his BFF) are cleaning the, well, soon to be Dude & Dudette Pad, and Steve "The Woz" Wozniak can't dance that great, but he is "fantastic" on "Dancing With the Stars."

The boys pack a lot of topics into twenty minutes of a podcast, so go ahead and listen.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:29 PM | Comments (0)

March 10, 2009

What's New? Blu-ray DVD review of: South Park: The Complete 12th Season

The Dude on the Left has been absent for a while, but there's nothing to bring him out of hiding like a request to review "South Park: The Complete 12th Season," and since he's got a Blu-ray player, he busts his butt to give a complete review of all aspects of the 3 DVD set. And since he figures most "South Park" fans have already seen the episodes, he begins his review immediately commenting about the special features of the set, and then delves into the various episodes (like "Britney's New Look," "Major Boobage," "The China Problem," and "About Last Night"). The boys of "South Park," Cartman, Kenny, Kyle, and Stan, looked better on Blu-ray, but The Dude on the Left is bummed a little because other than really looking good, there really isn't that much extra in terms of special features on the Blu-ray version.

Posted by Rightdude at 11:24 PM | Comments (0)

March 9, 2009

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! Adult Toys, Watchmen, March Madness, Jim Cantore, and More!

Good golly, Miss Molly. The Dude on the Right and Stu Gotz get together for another "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast and you might not be prepared to hear it, but old people are buying adult toys, from The Vermont Country Store no less, and the boys have some frank discussions about what the folks are buying, or at least what the store is selling. The podcast isn't all about massagers that aren't meant for your back, as The Dude does tell Stu if he should ditch Mama Gotz and see "Watchmen," Stu made it through the stormy, Chicago weekend, a Little Gotz is feeling better, The Dude is getting ready for March Madness, and who knew The Rock, a.k.a. Dwayne Johnson, could sing and dance? All that and a little more are discussed in this week's edition, so lock up the kids and yes, go ahead and Google "The Vermont Country Store." You know you want to.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:34 PM | Comments (0)

March 5, 2009

What's New? A Podcast of: The Dude on the Right & The BFF: Tatiana is Back, The Suburbs, Home Improvement, and a Toaster.

The Dude on the Right and The W.G.N. couldn't align their schedules to podcast today, so The Dude enlists the help of the most special of special guest podcasters, his BFF! The Dude is a little off his game because, well, his BFF gives him butterflies, but he powers through and discusses, with her, things like "American Idol," "Dancing With the Stars," and "The Real Housewives of New York City" which then diverts the podcast into talk of how the suburbs are different from city life (Why are the stop lights so long in the suburbs, anyway?).

Since they have family things coming up, The BFF reminds The Dude of some upcoming events, and since they have home improvement going on at The Dude-Pad, they also talk some painting tips and toaster alignment. Somehow The Dude thinks The BFF's toaster alignment will win.

Posted by Rightdude at 8:40 PM | Comments (0)

March 3, 2009

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! Casimir Pulaski & Dupa's, Square Roots and Pi's, The Bachelor and BSG, iMacs and Flooring, and More!

The Dude on the Right and Stu Gotz are a day late for this "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast, but it's only because they were celebrating with their people, thanks to Monday being Casimir Pulaski Day. They tried to celebrate Square Root Day, but Stu had trouble with his math, so instead, for most of the podcast they talk about Stu catching up on his TV viewing without Mama Gotz being around, The Dude saw "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" and some other movies on TV, but neither of them hit the movie theater. There's a huge shout-out to The Dude's sister (well, maybe not huge, but at least a "good job") for her latest accomplishment, The Dude has to re-enact "The Bachelor" finale since Stu didn't watch it, and a new iMac isn't as important as other purchases that The Dude on the Right is planning to spend his money on, at least, until, The Dude wins the Mega Millions jackpot.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:37 PM | Comments (0)

February 26, 2009

What's New? A Podcast of: I Twitter, I Facebook, I Cubs Tickets, I TV, I Tiger Woods Lost, and I Don't Know Why!

The Dude on the Right is lonely again tonight because he has to podcast alone, but much like many lonely nights, he sometimes finds that he has a lot to talk about. With that, The Dude is fascinated about his Twittering, his Facebooking, and his TVing. He is kind of bummed that Tiger Woods lost today so he doesn't have a justification for watching golf this weekend, wonders why Bob was crying on "The Biggest Loser," and is perplexed how you can be out of the "Virtual Waiting Room" on tickets.com, to the area you are supposed to be able to actually order tickets, and then be told you can't order tickets yet. Sadly The Dude didn't think quick enough that when he realized The W.G.N. couldn't podcast with him tonight, well, he should have sent out a Tweet to see if anyone out there in Twitterland wanted to podcast with him. Maybe he'll be on the ball next time.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:37 PM | Comments (0)

February 24, 2009

A Greasy, Sweety, Ball of Dough. A Missing Pazcki.

By: The Dude on the Right
With Ash Wednesday being tomorrow, and today being Dude Tuesday, I mean Fat Tuesday, I'm supposed to be having pazcki because, well, I'm Polish, I guess, and how pazcki comes out "ponchki" or "poonchki" still makes me scratch my head.  Here in Chicago, their pazckis are giant, nearing softball sized, and filled with stuff, whereas the version my mom used to make was just this dough ball, maybe the size of a tennis ball, cooked in oil and covered with powdered sugar.  It came out as this greasy thing of cooked dough with a touch of sweetness, but maybe it was the oil, maybe it was the dough mix, maybe it was the powdered "don't breath in when you eat it" sweetness, or maybe it was just the love that mom put into it when she made them, but in any event it was always something to look forward to in the old Dude-Homestead when I lived there.  With my moving away from the old country of Lorain, oHIo, years ago, Mom always thought of me, sometimes shipping me her pazckis to me to indulge in at the normal time, but mostly, with her being the freezing maniac that she was, usually when she made her pazcki she would take about half a dozen of them, put them in a freezer bag, freeze them (duh!), and when I would make it home for Easter, there they were, after thawing, nicely warmed out of the microwave, sprinkled with powdered sugar, and still loaded with greasy, sweety goodness!

The thing is normally, on Fat Tuesday, for me the only thing that comes to mind about pazcki is how the versions they sell (and now totally exploit) in Chicagoland seem to just end up being these larger, filled-with-something donuts, and how I would know there would be a nice surprise come Easter when I made the trek back to the old country.  But this year, with mom's passing away, it was another one of those days when I realized another thing I'm going to miss because of the passing of my parents last year.  Those days come up every now and then for me, as I'm sure they do for anyone who loses people they love, but keeps occurring to me that even though mom has been gone some four months now, and dad over a year, there will always come a day that will remind me of some of the things I loved about them, or drove me nuts about them, and today it was all because of the thought of a greasy, sweety, ball of dough.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!   L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 6:49 PM | Comments (1)

February 23, 2009

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! Getting Domestic, Oscar Talk, SCUBA, and Playboy for the Articles

First The Dude on the Right has all of his testosterone taken away on Saturday afternoon, and then Stu Gotz can't help but rub it in during this episode of Stu & The Dude's "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast. Domestication aside, it's the day after The Academy Awards, so the boys also give their take on the good and the bad, although if they really dived into it, this podcast would be about three hours long only discussing the Oscars. And speaking of diving, Stu was sad he missed the Friday evening portion of the "Our World Underwater" SCUBA expo over the weekend. The boys also compare notes on "Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay" and "He's Just Not That Into You." and The Dude questions Stu about proper attire at a Confirmation ceremony. Last but not least, The Dude on the Right got a new issue of Playboy, and relates to Stu that he reads it for the articles.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:09 PM | Comments (0)

February 19, 2009

What's New? A Podcast of: Where Is The W.G.N., Having a Dog, Having a Sister, and Roland Burris v Winnie the Pooh!

The Dude on the Right is flying solo for this podcast, and at first he thought he didn't have anything to talk about, but as it turns out, between Facebook friends, his sister, the missing The W.G.N., and Roland Burris sounding like Winnie the Pooh, all of the sudden The Dude filled in his 15 minute + podcast. The Dude also gives his Oscar projections, well, at least one of them, but he'll probably be wrong. At least he doesn't talk about "American Idol," much, but that will probably be coming in the future, and since The W.G.N. is his sport's expert, at least for podcasting, he wanted to talk about getting home opener tickets for the Chicago Cubs, but sadly, baseball talk will have to wait until a later date. Hopefully The W.G.N. will be back next week and The Dude will get off of his ass to re-institute some Jillian Michaels' clips of the week.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:46 PM | Comments (0)

February 16, 2009

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! Valentine's Day, Lots of Movies, and Not Spoiling SNL - much.

Stu Gotz is back from vacation so The Dude on the Right has a partner for this episode of their "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast. Since Valentine's Day was last weekend, well, the both of them talk a bit about their weekends, with The Dude's being a little more romantic than Stu's, and it included a meal fit for a King. They also settle into a lot of movie talk, with Stu seeing a bunch of rentals that didn't get high reviews from many reviewers, The Dude seeing "High School Musical 3: Senior Year," and neither of them realizing that Ben Affleck was in the original "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" movie. Since Stu was back from vacation, well, he didn't get to watch too much TV, and so as not to ruin the surprises, The Dude tells Stu to check the website for links to a couple of pretty funny Saturday Night Live skits, and that even The Jonas Brothers were funny on the show, too.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:57 PM | Comments (0)

February 12, 2009

What's New? A Podcast of: The Dude & The W.G.N. - It's Relative: Valentine's Day Plans, Octomom Talk, Idol Talk, and Barack Obama Talks.

It's a Thursday night, and The Dude on the Right joins The W.G.N. for another "It's Relative" podcast. They do some discussing about Valentine's Day complete with some do's and dont's, they talk about "American Idol," and they talk about Octomom. They also talk a bit about Barack Obama, although President Obama does a lot of the talking. It's a wonder if he sort of wishes he never did the audiobook?

Posted by Rightdude at 8:54 PM | Comments (0)

February 9, 2009

What's New? A Podcast of: The Prez Screws Up TiVo, Who is Dancing with the Stars, and Are You Sleeping with Barack Obama?

The Dude on the Right is flying solo for this "Weeked Wrap-Up!" podcast, and wonders what women are dreaming of having sex with President Obama. Okay, The Dude doesn't make this podcast all about sex, he also blames The Prez for any problems with his TiVo viewing this night, and wow, how the mighty "Dancing with the Stars" has fallen, at least in terms of contestants, although maybe this is exactly what the show needs to do to bring people back - bring in wacky people. The Dude on the Right better re-edit his TiVo schedules.

Posted by Rightdude at 8:49 PM | Comments (0)

February 5, 2009

What's New? A podcast of: The Dude & The W.G.N. - It's Relative: Tires, Fat, Scary Movies, Racing, and Jillian Michaels' Clips of the Week!

The W.G.N. is back for another "It's Relative" podcast, and even though The Dude on the Right talks too much, The W.G.N. does remember that he was an important part of office camaraderie. The Dude reminds them both that they can't be commercials airline pilots and that he isn't such a wus when he can't change a flat tire, The W.G.N. went to see "My Bloody Valentine 3D," Bikini Girl is gone from American Idol, and even though you might be sad that Joelle and Carla are gone on "The Biggest Loser," at least Jillian Michaels is in fine form for the "Clips of the week" segment. Happy listening.

Posted by Rightdude at 8:45 PM | Comments (0)

February 4, 2009

I'm Ready for the Digital TV Resolution and Can't Take any more Commercials. Can You, for Four More Months?

By: The Dude on the Right
And so the United States House of Representatives decided to delay the switch to digital TV, just like the Senate did, and now President Obama will most likely sign the bill into law, just like in the Schoolhouse Rock cartoons.   What does that mean for you and me? -   Four more months of inane commercials asking if we are ready for the switch to digital TV.

Here’s what I don’t get…  So they set up this date for the transition, it was supposed to be February 17th, and the government web site still says that’s the day (because it’s a bill, it’s only a bill, and it’s sitting there on Capitol Hill as of my typing this), we got bombarded by tons of commercials asking if we were ready for the switch (my favorite is the one with Vanna White, Pat Sajak, and Alex Trebek, because, well, in my mind, that one probably applies to most of the 20 million people who haven’t made the switch yet), and now, because millions of morons watching analog TV didn’t pay attention to the commercials, because millions of morons let their $40 coupons expire, and the government ran out of coupons, because, and I’m just assuming, millions of morons let their $40 coupons expire, we will get 4 more months of some of the dumbest “public service announcements” about the digital TV transition bombarding our airwaves, thus taking up quality commercial time where we could be seeing Danica Patrick and other scantily clad dudettes in low-cut tops on TV.

My proposal is this:  On February 17th, switch all programming to digital TV for most of us, so that most of us can be spared any more stupid commercials telling us how stupid those that didn’t figure out this switch are, yet.  The bill should state that rather than instantly abandoning those who didn’t switch, or get their coupon, or listen to Vanna, Pat, and Alex, well, still beam an analog signal for two months, without the TV show people were expecting, instead broadcast a simple, text message that scrolls the screen saying, “You are stupid.  We’ve been telling you for months to upgrade your TV, or get the damn digital box to be able to receive your TV program.  Since you are reading this message you might now realize you can’t see someone win a million dollars on “Wheel of Fortune” because you didn’t get that little box, and/or ask your grandson/neighbor to hook it up because you don’t want to change your little world.  Since you are reading this message it is also probably obvious that you don’t have Internet access, so asking you to visit www.dtv.gov will be stupid, but instead, in XXX days, if you don’t do the upgrade we’ve been telling you about for months, well, this screen will be blank and you won’t be able to yell at your TV “What is ‘The St. Louis Arch?’”  Have a nice day!”

I don’t think I can take four more months of people asking me if I’m ready for the switch to digital TV, and I wonder, can you?  You better be, because I’m guessing President Obama will sign this bill.

There will be people screwed over by this transition, I understand that, but in the words of Larry the Cable Guy, git r done! You know what, maybe he should be the spokesperson for this digital TV transition!

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!   L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 9:12 PM | Comments (0)

February 2, 2009

What's New? A podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! Groundhog Day, a Super Bowl, Disney is Dirty, and Playboy For the Articles!

The Dude on the Right and Stu Gotz are back for a "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast. The Dude on the Right and Stu Gotz are back for a "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast. The Dude on the Right and Stu Gotz are back for a "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast. Oh wait, this isn't "Groundhog Day," the movie, this is a "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast on Groundhog Day, and Stu Gotz is here! With the Super Bowl over The Dude and Stu talk about the game, how The Dude's BFF has a few more M&M's, and how Stu watched the commercials even though The Dude didn't pay that much attention. And even though the Super Bowl was on TV, there is a lot more TV talk for the two of them to have, Stu wonders why Google thinks he is German and why Disney World is dirty, complete with a lot of gum, while The Dude is happy that Manuary is over and talks about why he reads Playboy for the articles. Oddly enough, Stu asks The Dude if he could borrow his Playboy later to read the interview with the dude from "House," Hugh Laurie, and not to investigate who the centerfold is. Odds are Stu is lying and will check out the centerfold before even looking for the Hugh Laurie interview.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:36 PM | Comments (0)

January 29, 2009

What's New? The Dude & The W.G.N.: Gov. Blago, Las Vegas, the PBA, Super Bowl, and Jillian Michaels' Clips of the Week!

The Dude on the Right is joined by The W.G.N. for this podcast, but The Dude is in way-talkative mode so The W.G.N. does a lot of listening. There is talk, though, of the Nephew's trip to Las Vegas and meeting members of the PBA, and his abiltity to be a decent tour guide in Houston, while The Dude talks of the imminent destruction/sale of his Second Life property, if the Pittsburgh Steelers should win The Super Bowl, and debuts his brief song parody about ex-Governor Rod Blagojevich. And as much as both The Dude on the Right and The W.G.N. probably need some inspiration, sadly the Jillian Michaels' Clips of the Week didn't seem to do it for either of them.

Posted by Rightdude at 8:56 PM | Comments (0)

January 22, 2009

What's New? A Podcast of: Idol, Loser, Lost, Survivor, Twitter, and a Lava Lamp!

The Dude on the Right is flying solo for this podcast, and if he's not careful his BFF might just break up with him. The sad thing is it would be over a Lava Lamp, and not something serious like putting the toilet seat down. But relationship difficulties aside, The Dude is also sucked back into all kinds of TV, like "American Idol" (He wants them to get to Hollywood already), "The Biggest Loser" (He hates Joella, likes Jillian's butt-crack, but misses Jillian being a hard-ass), "Lost" (He wonders what the hell is going on), and "Survivor: Tocantin's" (He wonders how you actually say "Tocantin"). And even though The Dude Twitters, he wonders how you can actually "follow" 20,000+ Twitterers.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:09 PM | Comments (0)

January 19, 2009

What's New? A Podcast of: Hail to the Chief!, Happy Birthdays!, Happy Anniversary!, and Getting Hitched!

The Dude on the Right is flying solo for this podcast, where most of it details how he and The BFF are now hitched and that the weather in Las Vegas is nicer than it is in Chicagoland. Now don't get yourself all up in a tizzy, it's not what you think, especially since a dude at an AT&T store officiated the hitching, but sadly their uniting didn't allow The BFF to be able to let people pull her finger. The Dude and The BFF aside, it's Inauguration time, and The Dude also wonders what Barak Obama will be singing in the shower, because he has the power, The Dude isn't that keen on "Paul Blart: Mall Cop," and he gives some shout-outs for some birthdays and an anniversay.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:54 PM | Comments (0)

January 15, 2009

What's New? A Podcast of: The Dude & The W.G.N.: A Haphazard Opening, Terrorist Geese, Las Vegas, American Idol, and More!

The W.G.N. is back, and no thanks to The Dude on the Right, he sounds great. Yup, The Dude screwed up this podcast by not recording the first 5 minutes of their conversation, and then tries to sum it all up with some talk about the US Airways plane landing/crash in the Hudson River in New York City, but since The W.G.N. knew nothing about it, well, he just tries to reiterate the undocumented story that The Dude told about the terrorist plot of the Canadian Geese. Geese aside, The W.G.N. took a trip to Las Vegas and talks about winnings and losings, about a non-trip to "Thunder From Down Under," and how he really wants to take a college final exam, while The Dude is obsessed with "American Idol," sort of, but at least recognized that Bikini Girl had a nice body though not a great voice, while The W.G.N. professed that he only listened to Bikini Girl, because he only has eyes for one girl. Hmm?

They also talk about the weather, what with Chicago in a deep freeze for The Dude, while The W.G.N. is bitchy about the 50 degree weather he has, but with the schedule The W.G.N. has, well, he might be a more frequent guest for Thurday podcasts, so feel free to comment him at will.

Posted by Rightdude at 8:36 PM | Comments (0)

January 12, 2009

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! A Lot of Movies, Manuary has Changed The Dude, and The Golden Globes

The Dude on the Right is changing during Manuary, but probably not in the way Manuary is supposed to change a man, so during this episode of Stu & The Dude's "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast, well, The Dude takes a little while to get out of his weekend transforming, thanks to going to Nordstrom's, seeing "Bride Wars," and watching DVD's of "Funny Face" and "Breakfast at Tiffany's." Stu Gotz does his best to get The Dude back into the real meaning of the month, although really, does his "listening" to "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Chipettes," really count? The both of them do talk about some exercising things, The Golden Globe Awards, and Tina Fey's boobs, so maybe Manuary is back on track.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:04 PM | Comments (0)

January 5, 2009

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! Merriness ,Movies, MacWorld, Manuary, and More!

The New Year arrives bringing a new feature to Stu and The Dude's "Weekend Wrap-Up! Podcast" - I Subscribe to Playboy for the Articles.  Stu Gotz, sadly, probably won't be allowed to re-subscribe to the magazine after this podcast even if it would be for research purposes.  But the podcast isn't all about articles in Playboy - the boys also talk a lot about movies, with Stu on the children side with "Bedtime Stories" and "The Tale of Despereaux," and on the DVD side with "Ghost Town," while The Dude on the Right should probably give up his Manuary card because he got weepy while watching "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "Marley & Me," and "Young @ Heart."  And to top off his start of Manuary, The Dude also watched, with his BFF, "The Duchess" on DVD.  The podcast also includes The Dude being excited about the Macworld conference and explaining to Stu the health issues keeping Steve Jobs away from it, and let's not forget about talk of their New Year's Eve and Day. 

Posted by Rightdude at 9:04 PM | Comments (0)

January 1, 2009

Hi Mom and Dad! It's 2009!

By: The Dude on the Right
Hi Mom and Dad!

Just wanted to wish the both of you a Happy 2009, although I’m not really sure if you actually celebrate New Year’s Day anymore.  When I woke up this morning I couldn’t help but think a little bit about how my 2008 went, and like most people, I suppose I’m really looking forward to 2009.  There were some fireworks in Chicago last night, so with this letter are a couple of pictures showing the fireworks and Navy Pier.  I know the pictures didn’t come out that well, but my vantage point wasn’t that close, though it was cozy, and my iPhone still doesn’t have that great of a camera, but hey, it was festive and all!

It sure was a weird 2008, wasn't it?  I’m not even talking about the gas prices that went high and then low, how the stock market took a crap, or the Presidential election (How about our Governor Blagojovich scandal and his appointing Roland Burris to Barack Obama’s Senate seat?  Gotta love Chicago/Illinois politics, don’t you!). I was looking back at my MySpace page for January 1st last year, and how I set a goal to lose just one pound a week on my 500 calories a day plan, but like many a weight-loss goal, it didn’t go as planned.  52 pounds would have been great, but I did lose about 18 pounds last year, and yea, I have to admit, that one of my first goals this year is to get back on the eating healthy and exercise bandwagon.

I was kinda wondering how things were up there in heaven for the two of you (At least I’m really hoping you’re in heaven.  First off, it would really be a bummer to find out you ended up in the other place, in which case there would have been a lot of things we never knew about the two of you, and also, it would be a little bit of a bummer to find out you picked the wrong religion to raise us under and that I should be looking forward to becoming a dog or kangaroo, or something like that in the next life when I’m reincarnated).  I’m assuming you found each other, and hopefully Dad, that you were waiting for Mom with some flowers and a kiss.  I’m also hoping that all dogs do go to heaven, and that the boys found you.

Dad, for you, I know you started 2008 pretty much deciding your time on earth was done, and I hope by now you have been able to explain to Mom why that was because for a lot of the year she was having trouble wrapping her head around that.  With your going away that early, well, you missed a lot of things for me this year, although I do sometimes wonder about the ability of you (and Mom, you also), to watch over us from up there.  I mean, is it sort of like when Harry Stamper told his daughter, Gracie, in the movie “Armageddon” that he’ll check in on her from time to time right before he gets blown to bits on the asteroid?  If so, I really hope you didn’t check in on me during some private time I was having, in which case, Dad, you might have said something like “Oh no, I cursed him with a little wiener.  Oh wait, thank God, he’s a grower! (at which time I’m guessing a booming voice says “Your welcome, Dad on the Right!”)  Please tell me there are times you respect my privacy (You too, Mom), or is it like some “all-knowing” thing like in the movie “Highlander?”  In any case, you should have seen by now that I have a BFF, and she’s great.  She thinks that somehow you and a relative of hers met up there early last year hatching a plan to help us reconnect after some 23 years.  If that’s the case, can I commend all of you on doing a great job!  That does make me want to apologize, though, because I probably don’t ask for enough help from you, although the we never did talk that much about personal things.  I guess in all of those years we never were able to connect that well, though I’m trying to do a better job sending you some thoughts of things that are going on here with me now.

Mom, I hope Dad has helped you get used to things up there in the past couple of months.  Is there some kind of orientation that you have to go through, or are you just kind of thrown in to the mix?  The BFF and I are still dating, and things are going great.  The both of us have some challenges coming up in 2009 (and who doesn’t), but it’s great having someone to help me through them (and I hope I’m helping her through hers), although I always know I can bend your ear a bit if I need to.  And speaking of bending your ear, thanks for that little “talk” we had before Christmas, it really helped me enjoy the holiday a lot more, what with the advice that it’s okay to miss the both of you, but the time for being sad, and letting that ruin my day, needed to go away.  I know you know it was a weird holiday season, what with the family being spread out across the country (though it was nice spending the time with the BFF’s family), but maybe at the end of this year, once things calm down, maybe we can all get together for Christmas or Turkey Day.  I’m thinking here in the Chicago area.  Nothing like Sis on the Right and her family having to deal with the snow and cold, although it won’t be that much different for Bro on the Right, but having them meet the BFF’s family - That would really be interesting!

Well, I better get going.  The Rose Bowl will be starting soon (I think I’m rooting for USC, if only because I really don’t like Penn State and some of our staff members here are big Trojan fans, but come to think of it, I suppose I’m a Trojan fan as well), and it’s time to get going with 2009.  Mom, Dad, say “Hi” to the Grandmas and Grandpas for me.  I miss them, too, but I have to admit, not as much as I miss the two of you.

Oh yea, one more thing, I’m not sure how it works, or if you could pull some strings (or even if you have that kind of pull yet), and Mom, I know you were a big fan of it and frustrated you never came close to winning, but if you’ve been checking in on me, well, you know I occasionally play the Mega Millions game down here, usually with the same set of numbers.  I mean, is there some kind of lottery you have to win up there in order to influence the numbers that get drawn down here, is it based on merit and good deeds, or is it really just a total game of chance?  Even better, you also know that when the jackpot hits $100 million, well, I’m not going to give it away, but it would actually make winning the jackpot a little bit easier at that amount, what to not create some family squabbles and all.  Anyway, if there were some way for you guys to let me know it’s your turn to pick the numbers, well, that would help a lot.

I hope things are going well for you two up there.  I miss and love you both.

Your Son,
The Dude on the Right

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!   L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 3:40 PM | Comments (2)

December 29, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! Christmas Talk, an Asshole in a Maserati Talk, but no Oprah Talk.

Stu Gotz is back for this "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast, complete with special guest, Mama Gotz!  Of course there is Christmas talk amongst them all, with Mama Gotz telling about Christmas at the Gotz's, and The Dude on the Right wondering about Santa showing up at church.  Gift giving is a topic of discussion, Stu saw "Bedtime Stories," and they witness an asshole in a Maserati decide he is the most important person to pull into a Starbucks' parking lot.  There is also the final talk about the Chicago Bears for this season, but no talk about Oprah not pumping her own gas, even though Stu wanted to talk about it.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:51 PM | Comments (0)

December 24, 2008

Global Warming, Global Cooling, A Cuban, Electric Cars, Cheap Gas, and Happy Holidays

By: The Dude on the Right
Oh the weather outside is frightful, or, well, it’s at least warmer, but as we are definitely going to have a white Christmas here in Chicagoland, I had to laugh at a lot of the comments on the radio when we were having the sub-zero temperatures about “Where is this global warming?”  Some pundit-types were using the cold weather to say, “See, Al Gore is wrong.  We don’t need to worry about the environment.  Everything is cyclical.  This year we might be global warming, next year we’ll be global cooling.  See, Al Gore is a dufus!”  Then there are the environmental types spinning that the cold weather is an affect of global warming because the environment is all out of whack.  Me, I don’t really know who to believe, all I know is that on TV yesterday I saw a news story about a Chinese company that is supposed to have an electric car, similar to the Chevy Volt, that is supposed to come out a couple years earlier, cost a bunch less, only won’t be as luxurious.  Me, I’m not that worried about the carbon emissions, my carbon footprint, or if I fart too much, what I do think is cool would be a car that pretty much doesn’t need gasoline, and somehow the Chinese are ahead of us in developing that car.

And that leads me to the loan offered to the auto manufacturers and a great post from Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, the won’t be owner of the Chicago Cubs because baseball owners are a bunch of dufi, but does write a nice blog where a few days ago he mentioned how Chrysler is toast because, well, what better way to waste money than to put a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal thanking America for, well, investing in Chrysler, “America’s Car Company” that used to be sort of a Mercedes Benz car company until the Benz people couldn’t even take it anymore.  My simple analysis is that the car companies are in this mess much the same way Motorola is in their cell-phone mess.  Motorola rested all of its laurels on the Razr line, not seeing that things are changing, and now no one gives a damn about the latest Razr phone.  The car companies have become just as complacent, resting on their laurels without seeing the innovation consumers want in order to buy a new car.  A little Chinese company might just show that even with the Chevy Volt coming out, a once mighty car company gets beaten to the punch by a company that sees car buying differently.

Than again, with gas prices around $1.50 a gallon again, who cares about electric cars anymore.

In any case, I’m just waiting for my BFF before we start our holiday celebrating, so I thought I would write about something, so why not mix global warming, the loans to the auto companies, and cheap gas all in one post.

Happy Holidays.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!   L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 3:12 PM | Comments (0)

December 22, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: What's for Dinner, It's Cold, and No Stu :-(

Flying solo for a "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast, The Dude on the Right only skips one thing he was planning on talking with Stu Gotz about, so instead he just discusses them with you, the listener.  Topics include a different take on your Holiday dinner menu, how he liked "Yes Man," how he is sick of the cold weather even though winter has just begun, and how he is looking forward to this Christmas even though he won't see any movies that day.  With The Dude from Illinois he also talks a little Rob Blagojevich, some Chicago Bears, and upcoming Christmas Day movie releases, but he does skip one story because that really is one Stu will also be upset that he didn't think of the idea, either.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:11 PM | Comments (0)

December 21, 2008

A Missing Picture, A Mean Letter, but Thank You, and Here's to 2009!

By: The Dude on the Right
As I have been getting a bit sentimental lately, coming on Christmas (did I ever mention that I really love Robert Downey Jr’s version of "River", and him in "Iron Man"?), it’s been a season of happiness, sharing it with my new BFF as well as old friends, and a season of sadness, being the first Christmas after both my Mom and Dad died. In preparation for this blog post, well, I tried to do some quick looking through old family photos for a picture of the Christmas tree we, or mostly Mom, would put up, but sadly I couldn’t find one of the tree, a beautiful tree – an artificial tree, white instead of green, some forty years old, with some ornaments that were probably older than that, and Mom always put bubble lights on the tree, and as kids we would each pick a bubble light, hoping ours was the first to bubble. It also had normal-er sized bulbs, not those tiny bulbs most trees have, some were blinky bulbs, and back in the day we would have the train set up on the floor, on a sheet of plywood, that would drive the dog nuts! In my searching I did, however, find some pictures of my first girlfriend, my first car, Dad smoking a stogie, my fraternity brother Ken, one that my brother’s girlfriend would get a kick out of, and some pictures of me I hope no one ever see. I also found a copy of a letter I wrote to my sister that even I have to admit was kind of mean, but sadly, no picture of that Christmas tree. It’s not that they don’t exist, I know they do, and if I recall correctly, we had a picture of it on the collage of photos at my Mom’s funeral, but I don’t have the photos from that collage, and I don’t have days to search through the boxes of family photos and negatives that I have, to find one.  Yet.

So, without getting uber-sentimental, in the few days before Christmas this year, all I can give you right now is a picture of my Christmas tree (filled with ornaments thanks to my Mom), and wish all of you, no matter what you celebrate, a nice end to 2008, and a 2009 filled with more joyness than sadness, more loveness than hateness, and more smileness than frown-ness.

2008 has been a year of weirdness, but thankfully to all of you who visit, and my friends, and my BFF, it's also been a year of happiness through it all!

Here's to 2009, and if it goes as I hope, it will really be a year of change!

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!   L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:15 PM | Comments (1)

December 15, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! Lousy Audio, Airport Travels, A Polar Express, and An Abrupt Ending

So The Dude on the Right ends up with some audio issues for this podcast of "Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up!", but Stu Gotz powers on trying to keep things flowing even if The Dude sounds like his microphone is being hit by an electric storm.  They both do their best, however, to tell you their take on the movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still," Stu Gotz got to spend some quality family time with the Little Gotz's and Mama Gotz at an Enchanted Castle and on a Polar Express over the weekend, while The Dude regales stories of going to New Jersey, a digital boarding pass, and why People Magazine is worse than Playboy (although Stu has his own thoughts).  Some topics don't come up during this podcast, like why the dog in the picture is trying to do The Dude's hair, and that The Dude finally saw "It's a Wonderful Life" from start to finish.  Hopefully the next episode of the "Weekend Wrap-Up!" will be audio-problem free!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:09 PM | Comments (0)

December 8, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! A Fraternity Dinner, TV Talk, and Girls in Skimpy Outfits

The Dude on the Right shirked his duties for a few days to reunite with some friends from his fraternity days, and since Stu Gotz was also a friend in The Dude's fraternity days, and since friends came in from near and far, for this "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast, Stu & The Dude reminisce a bit, reflect on a weekend with friends, and aren't really sorry that they can't party any more like it's 1999.  And as they reflect on a weekend of getting together with old friends, they don't forget new things, like the Chicago Bears beating a different football team, Stu seeing some old movies like "Bring It On," "Stick It," and "The Day the Earth Stood Still," and they both love TV, with The Dude really loving "Chuck," even if it is very predictable, and Stu eagerly awaiting the return of "Battlestar Galactica" to the TV airwaves.

Who knows what they'll talk about next?

Posted by Rightdude at 7:34 PM | Comments (0)

December 3, 2008

History Shows that The Dude on the Right was Left, and The Dude on the Left was Right

By: The Dude on the Right
Little did I realize that it's been over twenty years, last October, that this odyssey that is Entertainment Ave! began, and thanks to the historical nature that is The Mystery Dude, and the continuing work of Mookie, the first review from The Unknown Reviewers, from our days at the Illinois Institute of Technology, incognito as we were, has been posted.  With no fanfare, or really any coolness, we reviewed a band named "1313." The Dude on the Left and I, or actually, for our first article, me being "LEFT" and him being "RIGHT," well, we gave the band "Two Thumbs Up!", and suddenly, two dudes just looking for a way to make beer money, helped to develop an internet entity that has lasted 20 years, sometimes strong, sometimes not so strong, but in the end letting some people have some fun.

The weird thing for me is that I can almost remember every picture I have taken, but as I read our first review, I have no recollection of the band "1313," sort of.  Then I became obsessed, scoping out the photos in that issue, and those in the rest of the 1988 archives that have been posted, and can honestly say "I took that picture!" many a time.  Yup, back in those days we had cameras, with film, and we had to develop it in a darkroom, and I knew how.

But as I also perused those 1988 archives, and the year came to an end, I don't want to say one band influenced me to love seeing music, but as I read our review of "Shuddup 'N Drive," who knew a bar band would be so influential in my appreciation for hard-working bands?  Those early days instantly brought supporters and initial non-supporters (Barry - Where are you?), and I would like to say that over the years we have become more polished in the review department, but that definitely is not the case.

As the IIT Galvin Library continues adding to the Technology News online archives, I'm really looking forward to the progression of things, the changing of the guard at times, our online advice column, Dear Dudes, and how we slowly transformed from just reviewing bar bands to shifting to national acts.

More looks back at our early days will be coming soon, but for now I can't believe how thin I was back then.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!   L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 5:39 PM | Comments (0)

December 1, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! Black Friday, A Walnut Room, Painting, Gambling, Movies, and More!

Thanksgiving led to the lack of a Thursday podcast last week, but The Dude on the Right & Stu Gotz do their best to make up for it during this episode of their "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast.  The thing is, with an extended weekend, they talk about a lot of the same things, like movies ("Bolt," "Tropic Thunder," "Iron Man," "Delta Farce," and "Australia"), music (Britney Spears has a new CD, "Circus," coming out), TV ("The Big Band Theory" and "How I Met Your Mother"), and The Chicago Bears losing, but the holidays brought some new stuff like a visit to the Museum of Science and Industry for the Gotz's, a new holiday tradition that should probably stop in its tracks (it's a visit to The Walnut Room at Macy's, which used to be Marshall Fields), The Dude having dinner and lunch with a variety of friends, and both Stu and The Dude disgusted at people who helped lead to the death of a dude at Wal Mart on Black Friday.

They both cover a lot of ground, but the podcast is under 20 minutes, so what the hell, go ahead and give the podcast a listen.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:01 PM | Comments (0)

November 24, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! Fireworks, Movies, Manners, and a Cheap Dude.

The Dude on the Right is almost ready to toss his new MacBook Pro out of the window while he and Stu Gotz were recording this "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast, especially as Stu brags about how The Dude could probably take one quick class at his local Apple store to solve his problems, but The Dude is a stubborn pollack, so the two of them just hunker down to talk about The Magnificent Mile Lights Festival in Chicago over the weekend, and Stu seeing "Quantum of Solace" instead of "Twilight" at the theaters.  There is some Netflix catching up to do for The Dude, Stu might have a way to save the environment thanks to his thinking while he was taking a poop, and Stu has some hostility for the YMCA Scuba program, which he might want to see a psychiatrist for.

They both discuss this Thanksgiving weekend's movie schedule, and Stu revisits the brilliance that is "Fast Times at Ridgemont High."  So much to talk about in so little time, yet they figure out a way to pull it off, and even mention the fact that Stu Gotz is also a member of Twitter Nation.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:21 PM | Comments (0)

November 20, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Here Comes Britney Spears' Circus, Here Comes "Twilight," and Here Are "Jillian Michaels' Clips of the Week!"

The Dude on the Right is a little melancholy for this podcast, what with Thanksgiving coming up and his not traveling to the Old Country this year (and it's not even because he's a Radio Shack Manager anymore), but at least he'll be spending time with his BFF, which is nice.  It's also nice for him that he'll be thinking about seeing "Twilight" and "Bolt," rather than actually seeing the movies "Twilight" and "Bolt," but nothing beats his anticipation like getting the initial word that Britney Spears might be showing up on her "Circus" tour in the Chicago area, in March of 2009.

Thankfully he still watches "The Biggest Loser" giving him a new batch of inspiration thanks to "Jillian Michaels' Clips of the Week!"  The Dude is now inspired to fight another day!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:43 PM | Comments (0)

November 17, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! "Quantum of Solace," The Chicago Bears Suck, A Crabman, and More!

The Dude on the Right and Stu Gotz got together for another wrap-up about their weekend, and they discuss it for their podcast.  Stu kept things with the family, watching "27 Dresses," wondering about TV shows like "Entourage" and "My Own Worst Enemy," and wasn't allowed to upload copyrighted music to YouTube, whereas The Dude on the Right saw, with his BFF, "Quantum of Solace," the NBC Travel Expo at Navy Pier in Chicago (complete with Crabman  and Catalina from "My Name is Earl" and Mike Adamle eating popcorn), and cleaned his garage.  Okay, The Dude's BFF didn't help The Dude clean his garage, but that's okay, because at least neither Stu nor The Dude, nor The Dude's BFF, watched enough of the Chicago Bears getting trampled by the Green Bay Packers to really care about football over the weekend.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:26 PM | Comments (0)

November 13, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Werewolves, Bears, Turkeys, and Jillian Michaels.

The Dude on the Right flies solo for this podcast, and he keeps it kind of short, with some quick warnings about werewolves, some cheering on the Chicago Bears, not comprehending that Turkey Day and Christmas are right around the corner, and still being a fan of "Survivor: Gabon."  The Dude, however, is not a fan of "The Biggest Loser" still being two hours long, actually feels hatred for a contestant on the show named Vicky, and was so happy Amy flipped and sent Vicky's husband, Brady, packing.  The Dude is happy, though, that he remembered to play his "Jillian Michaels' Clips of the Week" segment, whereas inspiration is normally the name of the game, but he loves her "One of them has immunity" line.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:25 PM | Comments (0)

November 10, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! Bubble Tea, Families, Movies, and an Injury. And a Full Review of "Role Models."

In the immortal works of Harry Caray, "Holy Cow!"  Yup, Stu Gotz and The Dude on the Right got together to for a new podcast of "Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up!," and they talk about so many things in about twenty minutes, well, it's almost scary to write about them all.  In any case, there is talk about bubble tea, The Dude's BFF, a family gathering, "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa," "Role Models," and some heart-shaped pubes in "Zack and Miri Make a Porno."  They don't forget to talk about the Chicago Bears, the upcoming James Bond flick "Quantum of Solace," and Stu injuring himself playing Wii, and not playing with his Wii.

In conjunction, The Dude on the Right did see "Role Models," and liked it, in the R-Rated kind of way some movies are being made nowadays.  If you don't like swear words and boobies, you probably won't like it, but The Dude does like swear words and boobies, and well-written comedies, so he liked it, liking it.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:42 PM | Comments (0)

November 6, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Another Reason to Avoid Lorain, OH, eBay Stupidity, Oprah, and South Park.

The Dude on the Right is flying solo for this Thursday podcast, and he ponders life in his home town, Lorain, OH, where the folks there decided $15 a year, for those who own cars, was too much money to fix the roads, which really need it, because it's almost worse than driving on the moon when you visit.  He also explains why sometimes people are standing around on a work crew.  The Dude is also impressed at the boys who make South Park, what with their having an episode instantly timely with the election results, sort of, of is happy he didn't waste a couple of hundred bucks buying copies of the Chicago Sun Times and the Chicago Tribune, hoping to make money with them on eBay.  Then again, there would probably be one sucker who might pay $500 for his copy.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:28 PM | Comments (0)

November 5, 2008

The Only Change We Can Truly Believe In is The Change of Seasons

By: The Dude on the Right
Congratulations to Barack Obama on winning the nomination for President of the United States, and kudos to John McCain for giving what might be the most gracious concession speech ever.  In an election season that has gone on way too long, where I thank God I live in the Chicago area which limited the amount of campaign adds on my TV (I visited Ohio, and TV really sucked without TiVo to fast-forward you through the crap), now we move on, and wonder what "change" can really be accomplished.

I found the "change" concept sort of inspiring when Barack originally adopted it at the beginning of his candidacy, but then, wouldn't you know, as other candidates realized "change" became a buzz-word, suddenly Hillary Clinton adopted the word as her own, and then, low and behold, John McCain did the same.  It didn't matter that Barack adopted the word first, all that mattered was that now everyone was about change. The thing is, as much as change is professed, it's easier to talk about doing it than actually accomplishing it.

And so, whether or not Barack Obama can really bring about change we can believe in, after three days of 70 degree days in November, here in Chicago, when back in college some of us would have blown off three days of classes to catch the last sunny rays of the year by hanging out on the roof, I at least took a couple of walks near the dude-pad and realized there is only one aspect of change you can always believe in, and that is the change of seasons, maybe a little more pronounced in a place like Chicago.

As I took those walks, looking at a retention pond that is changing to hibernation mode for an upcoming winter, I thought about things earlier this year, when that pond was barren, and I would walk past it, reflecting on the passing of Dad on the Right last January, and 2008 was looking like a strange year.  Then spring and summer came, the pond blossomed with new life, and suddenly I reconnected with a friend from my past who has now become my BFF.  Fall came, Mom on the Right passed away, and as I looked at the pond the other day, and took the picture accompanying this blog, it didn't make me sad that things were dying, it made me smile that as some things that have changed have made me sad, other things that have changed just make me smile.

Mother Nature knows how to do change right, so that every season is beautiful.  I wonder if there is any way politicians can learn from Mom.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!   L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:29 PM | Comments (0)

November 4, 2008

Does Your Vote Really Count? Maybe Not for Obama or McCain, but Maybe So for Jim Shoe or Jane Ishlacosky.

By: The Dude on the Right
I voted today.

That shouldn't seem that strange, but for the longest time, up until about five or ten years ago, I didn't vote, pretty much with the attitude of "What's the point?"  You see, I live in Illinois, and for the most part, especially in national elections, the outcome is set long before I cast my vote with the state being hugely on the Democrat side, or at least so because of Chicago.  I voted when I was younger, when I could for the first time in high school because it just seemed so "adult," and I think I voted a couple of times when I was in college because the voting place was across the street, but then it just seemed like a pain in the butt to go somewhere on a Tuesday that I never visit when I had better things to do.  And also, for Presidential elections, in Illinois, and with the dumb-ass electoral college process we have, most of the time it just seemed like as much as my vote might count for the "democrat" guy, if I voted for the "republican" guy, it really didn't matter because "21" votes, none of which were mine, were going for one candidate, the democrat.  And fine those of you who are in states with only a few electoral votes might like this process because then a candidate has to visit you for a couple of electoral college votes, but really, in this day and age of computers, and the ability to instantly count every vote, is it really fair, if I'm a John McCain supporter (and I'll admit that I'm not), to even vote in a state like Illinois, knowing that my vote is useless because even if Illinois had a 60% Obama, 38% McCain, and 2% for the other folks on the ballot split, the electoral votes aren't split by the percentage, like maybe it should be, meaning Barack would get 12ish votes, John getting nearly 8 votes, and 1 vote spread across the people who when you went to vote, looked at the ballot, and saw peoples names you had never seen before who were running for President, well, it doesn't matter because no matter the percentage split, Obama will get 21 "votes" from Illinois to become President of The United States.

Yes, there are the battleground states they always talk about, like Pennsylvania, Ohio, or Florida, where the race is tight, and your vote sort of counts, but even then, it's all or nothing, which, now, in the 2000's, seems just plain stupid.  Polls are taken everyday, by some very reputable poll takers, but in the end it doesn't matter who is getting the most votes, all that really matters is who "wins" what state.

And that just is wrong.

What should be is who actually wins, by people, who vote.  It is 2008.  I would like to think that we have finally learned how to count, up to at least 150 million.

The polls are closing, the news channels are working to make their mark as the first to "project" the winner, but in the end, in your state, the only place your vote really counts is in your local election, where Jim Shoe will beat Jane Ishlacosky, because you voted. Individual votes are what hopefully matter, and not some old process of "winner takes it all."

See, your vote does count, in the way it should, but sadly, not always for our President.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!   L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:03 PM | Comments (1)

What's New? A "Stu & The Dude Weekend Wrap-Up!" Podcast and a Movie Review of "Zack and Miri Make a Porno."

After a few weeks of being apart, Stu Gotz and The Dude on the Right get reunited for a "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast.  They talk a little about the death of Mom on the Right, Stu's weekend turned out to be mostly about his kids as they ended up at a jumpy place for youngins and at another place called "Space Golf," while The Dude is still trying to learn how to use his new MacBook. And even though The Dude tells Stu about the movie during the podcast, there's also a full written review of  "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" that got posted.

Stu did get to tell The Dude that he was spot on about his earlier review of "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," even with the excess wiener footage, and TV is always a topic for these guys, since they don't really like to read, which leads to some Studs Terkel talk.

Posted by Rightdude at 5:48 PM | Comments (0)

October 30, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of "Bowling, A Mac World, and More!"

The Dude on the Right is a little bummed for this podcast, what with his mom passing away and all, but what better way to get out the doldrums than by buying a new computer!  Unfortunately, for The Dude, buying a MacBook also means a new learning curve (if any of you can help him plug two microphones into his MacBook and be able to control each mic independently, he would appreciate your advice), but on the plus side, his history is starting to come to light with his alma matter, Illinois Institute of Technology, beginning to post old issues of Technology News, the campus newspaper, from the time he attended.  We now learn he was a good bowler, but if The Dude wanted to be where the money was at, he would have shot to be a good golfer!

There is some political talk for this podcast, as the elections are next Tuesday, but with this weekend The Dude is just really hoping to get a movie review posted because then things are just a little closer to normal.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:49 PM | Comments (0)

October 29, 2008

Reviews Are Coming Soon, For Now It's About Pumpkins and Trees!

By: The Dude on the Right
It's a weird thing to go through, the death of a parent, let alone two within a year, but sometimes weird things lead to beautiful things, reflective things, and things you might have never done before.  Beautiful were the trees and stars (and my BFF - as always!), reflective were a batch of 6ish hour drives between the old country of Lorain and the new country of Chicago, and something I've never done before is carve a pumpkin.  I think.

So as I'm working my way back to normalcy, being torn if I should really buy a new MacBook Pro and contemplating getting back into reviewing mode this weekend with the release of the movies "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" and/or "Changeling" or seeing "High School Musical 3," these last few days I'm just working on getting back to posting things, catching up on my TiVo, and hopefully getting a podcast done tomorrow.

But to keep this blog simple, let's get to "Beautiful" and "Reflective" first.

I thought about trying to quantify how many times I've driven between Chicago and Lorain (Lorain is in the state of Ohio for those of you who might not know) over the years, but in simplest terms it has been at least five times a years for the last 22 years, with that number increasing in the past few years.  I'd say it's a long drive, but really it's only about five or six hours, depending on potty breaks, and many a time I have used those hours as personal therapy for a variety of reasons.  People ask why I don't fly home, but in reality, how much time am I really saving by flying?  You're supposed to get to the airport at least an hour and half before your flight, it's about 45 minutes of flying time, and if you factor in airport delays, sitting on the tarmac, having to either get picked up at the airport or rent a car, and then the half hour drive to the old homestead, in the end, I've always found driving to be the prudent mode of travel, with the only wrinkle being when the Lake Michigan snow machine rears its ugly head, dumping snow into the Indiana snowbelt.  The odd things is that in all of those travels I never made that trip to Lorain during the height of the change of seasons in the fall, when the trees were at their brilliant colors and travel was a little lighter because the trip wasn't during a holiday season.  But as things worked out, as my mom's health was fading, I found myself, for a change, on the Indiana Toll Road and Ohio Turnpike as the colors of the trees seemed to be peaking.  As stressful as the times were, between the travel to Lorain knowing it would be for the passing of my mom, to the quick trip back to Chicago after she died to button some things up when the trees were brilliant (and I'm not advocating trying to take a picture with your camera phone while you are driving, but hey, they were some colorful trees), and then driving back to Ohio to bury my mom, during a cold Ohio night, with the constellation Orion being utterly striking, rising over the eastern horizon, so much so that I felt bad keeping it to myself and not waking my BFF to see it, you know, sometimes beauty, wonder, and even pumping gas in the cold air can ease a stressful mind, just when it needs it.

And then came pumpkins.

Mom's funeral had come and gone, but my nephew, niece, and family were still in town, and everyone needed something to do.  I reverted back to normalcy for them - seeing a movie, which sounds bizarre for some folks, but generally worked for all of us at the various holiday times we would get together.  The crappy part is that the movie choices during the weekend of my mom's funeral were crap, but thankfully my BFF was there to save the day.  Well, at first she laid an egg, suggesting bowling, but who knew "bowlers" wouldn't go bowling if they didn't have their own equipment, i.e. balls, bags, shoes, towels, etc., to bowl with.  So when my BFF (and I) suggested going bowling instead of a movie, that suggestions crashed quicker than the Hindenburg.  Then my BFF suggested getting some pumpkins, carving them, and then maybe a dinner, and wouldn't you know it, as complicated as pumpkin picking can sometimes be (especially when the original destination doesn't have any more pumpkins in their patch), somehow pumpkin carving is easier, thanks to those pumpkin carving kits readily available at a Walgreens near you.

And so, after a quick trip to a different, dying, pumpkin patch, various sizes of pumpkins were secured, goop was scooped out of the innards, intricate carvings were attempted as well as some not so intricate, and as my sister and I reminisced about pumpkin carving, well, both of us realized that our family never attempted it, and that there might have been a time, when we were maybe 8 to 12 years old, when we tried to carve pumpkins at our friend's house down the street, and if so, there is no way any of those carvings were as cool as those done by our family, with stencils and appropriate cutting tools, done that Saturday, the Saturday after my mom was buried, when our family didn't go and see a movie, but instead, carved pumpkins.

And it was cool.

Tomorrow should be a podcast, this weekend should be a movie review or two, but for now it's all about getting back to some semblance of normalcy, even if normalcy is now without being able to call your mom on a Saturday morning, at 9:15, when you always do.  And then comes that day when you delete "Mom and Dad" from your phone.  I guess that's another story for another blog, but for now normalcy is the changing of the seasons and carving pumpkins, with family.

Happy Halloween!

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!   L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:59 PM | Comments (0)

October 27, 2008

A New Chapter Begins... Mom on the Right is Okay

By: The Dude on the Right
Her death certificate reads "Time of Death: 11:55 PM" and the date of her death was Monday, October 20, 2008. Actually, I’m not really sure the exact time on the death certificate, because I haven’t actually seen it, and technically what is written is wrong even though "officially" correct, but for me my mom will always have passed away on Saturday, October 18^th, at 3:32 PM.

This will be a long blog post.

It was just over nine months ago that my dad died. Simply put, he was done. After 78+ years of fighting multiple sclerosis, a brain tumor, thalamic syndrome, a slight stroke, and a cavalcade of other crap, he was just tired and, even though this sounds weird, he opted to just let his body die. He entered the hospice center and a few days later, well, Dad on the Right had passed away, but not before my sister and I got to see him one last time, which I would like to say was a lovely, serene scene, but when the body dies over a few days, as sometimes happens, the visual aspect can be a little jarring. Seeing dad, though, hours before he passed, was nothing like the experience of hanging with my mom for the last four days of her life.

But as difficult, emotional, and visually/auditorially disturbing those days might have been, at 3:32 PM on October 18^th, Mom on the Right set my heart at ease.

You see, Mom wasn’t really ready to die at first, I think, but her body was finally giving out. She smoked for years, eventually was diagnosed with emphysema and had some partial blockage requiring a stent, and nowadays all of that seems to be lumped into something called COPD. Then a few years ago she was diagnosed with lung cancer, and even though the end was going to eventually come, she kept up the fight. But Mom didn’t want to die in a hospital or a hospice center – nope, if she was going to go, well, it was going to be at home, so she ended up in home hospice, resting comfortably for the past few months in her easy chair. Then, a few weeks ago, she became increasingly tired (I could tell because she wasn’t checking or replying to any e-mails), and as my brother and sister rotated duties caring for her, and from the talk of the hospice nurses, mom’s time was coming, and my turn came to return to the old country, Lorain, OH, to take care of her for a spell.

When I arrived she was tired, but still had her wits about her. When she would have her short bursts of energy we would have quick conversations about the upcoming election, the Cleveland Browns, how she still can’t stand the manager of the Cleveland Indians, how Lorain has gone to shit, and she doesn’t really like Rachael Ray but still watched her show on The Food Network. But as the body goes, so does the mind, and as a day went on Mom started to become confused, her eyes started to give her problems focusing, and in my down time I re-read a couple of times the "Crossing the Creek" guide the hospice center leaves with their "families" to help them understand the things that will be happening, and in the end, it is all about helping the person about to pass to make that journey to their next destination.

So I found myself covering the curtains with an extra blanket because the light was bothering Mom’s eyes. I didn’t watch TV because the glare and images on the screen bothered her. I brought Mom’s CD player into the living room where she rested, and luckily I had a way to play her iPod through it (yup, the nurses at the cancer center were duly impressed an 80 year old woman listened to her music through an iPod!). At times Mom seemed scared, at times she seemed alone, at times she had a burst of sadness yet seemed coherent things were coming to an end (Mom was upset she never made a list of organizations she wanted to donate a few dollars to at her passing, so we worked on the list together for the minutes she could), and at times she just seemed, well, pissed.

And through it all, the only thing I could think to simply say is "Mom, it’s gonna be okay."

Saturday came, and at first it seemed like another day of bizarreness, with the morning having a slight episode. But then, in the afternoon, Mom woke up again, looked at me sitting across from her, and I went to sit next to her.

She wasn’t stirring, she wasn’t angry, she didn’t seem sad. I held her hand. I asked, "Do you need anything?" She looked at me, smiled, and said, "No, Andy, I’m okay. I’m okay."

Mom went back to sleep after that moment, at 3:32 PM on Saturday, October 18^th.

For the next 56ish hours mom’s body worked to finish the dying process. There was the incoherent talk, the "death rattle" (which I had to keep reminding my sis that it’s worse for us to hear – not so much for mom – at least so said the "Crossing the Creek" booklet and mom’s nurse), and sometime around 11:40 PM on Monday, October 20^th, Mom tried to get up one last time, Mom’s breathing had stopped, my sister said she couldn’t feel Mom’s pulse, and it was about ten minutes later when the hospice nurse showed up, she tried to find a pulse, hear a heartbeat, and get a blood pressure reading, and a little before midnight she pronounced my Mom had passed away.

I’ve never seen anyone die before, and "What is a normal way to die?" might be a blog for another day, but for me, my Mom died at 3:32 PM on Saturday, October 18, 2008.  After 82 years she was finally "Okay."  It just took her body a little while to catch up.

Mom on the Right is now "Okay."

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  Mom, I love you!!!

L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 8:36 PM | Comments (5)

October 13, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: "Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! No More Hooters, Football, A Chihuahua, and More!"

Stu Gotz returns for his duties with The Dude on the Right for another episode of a "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast.  The Dude explains to Stu why he probably won't be going back to Hooters with his BFF anytime soon, Stu gives his insight into "Beverly Hills Chihuahua, and who knew that Beanie Babies aren't worth $30 anymore?  There is also some talk about the Chicago Bears, guns for kids, and people who forward stupid e-mails that pretty much have no chance in hell of being real, along with more movie talk and Stu explaining he wasn't have a heart attack last weekend.

Posted by Rightdude at 4:25 PM | Comments (0)

October 9, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Stock Market Woes, Movies I Won't See, and Jillian Michaels' Inspirations of the Week.

The Dude on the Right is just as flustered about the stock market as you might be, but he just tries to make you remember the motto - "Buy low.  Sell high."  Sure, his other tip is "Don't pet a burning dog," but if the stock market is nearing its low, you know what, ten years from now, unless the world totally falls apart, your buying now will be flying high!  Inspiration is a big topic of this podcast, granted it might not have to do with "South Park," or any of the movies opening this weekend, or if you are a subscriber to "Rolling Stone" you now have batteries to properly dispose of, but The Dude is now fascinated with Jillian Michaels from "The Biggest Loser," and introduces his new feature, "Jillian Michael's Inspirations of the Week."  Go ahead and add it to your iPod for some inspiration just when you are thinking of quitting.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:47 PM | Comments (0)

October 6, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Chicago Sports, Stu's Schnoz, Apples, and A Happy Faced Barn.

The Dude on the Right thinks he knows how Stu Gotz would sound if he were here for this "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast, but he does sound kind of lonely doing this podcast (The W.G.N. - Where are you?).  He's not lonely, though, because he and his BFF did something way out of normalcy for The Dude - apple picking, in a state called Wisconsin, in a city called Mukwonago, at a place called The Elegant Farmer, where a barn with a smiley face brings in the kids, only to have them in kid-crabbiness about four hours later.  Thank God for those Apple Cider Donuts, which aren't always made on time!

The Dude also laments about the downfall of the Chicago baseball teams in the extended season, with the Cubs imploding and the White Sox becoming another lame fan base with white towels (bad-ass would have been black towels for the series, throwing in the towel is for losers, white ones, and that's what the White Sox became - at least says The Dude on the Right).

The Dude, at least, had a Chicago Bears win to be happy about.

Posted by Rightdude at 8:00 PM | Comments (0)

October 2, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Elevator Etiquette, Duh, Steve Fossett Isn't Found Yet, and Simple Math.

The Dude on the Right is fired up for this podcast but it's not about the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox losing their first games in the baseball playoffs.  Nope, The Dude can't understand the actions of a dude in an elevator, he's worried that he missed out on some easy grant money for studying people at a Chinese Buffet, and even though Steve Fossett's plane has been found, he wonders about Steve Fossett actually being found.  And if you have found, in your e-mail, how you might be better off getting a financial windfall rather than AIG getting their bailout, you might want to pull out your calculator to figure out how you're going to be spending your "windfall" of $425.00, and not $425,000.  And if you are a dudette or a gay dude, you might want to start watching "Survivor: Gabon" and tell the PTC (Parent's Television Council) to butt out of your newfound hap-penis.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:39 PM | Comments (0)

September 29, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! Lots of Movies, Sports, and Spelling Julio.

It's a Monday so it must be time for a new episode of "Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast, and right off the bat Stu Gotz decides to put a different spin on a romantic moment that The Dude on the Right and his BFF shared while having dinner at "Uncle Julio's Hacienda" in Chicago.  Stu tries to make up for it with a not-that-humiliating story about not hanging up his phone after leaving a message, but as the podcast goes on there is a lot of movie talk, with "Hoot," "Eagle Eye," "The Hammer," and "Ghost Town," being some of the topics.  There is also some talk about the new design of the Chicago Tribune, and the both of them discuss sports, especially since, in Chicago, it's been weird with the Chicago Bears beating the Philadelphia Eagles, the Chicago Cubs waiting for the post-season, and the Chicago White Sox needing to win things in the weirdest ways to keep the nightmare of a Cubs-White Sox "World Series" alive.

The Dude also does his impersonation of Tina Fey impersonating Sarah Palin, but, well, The Dude's not that good.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:23 PM | Comments (0)

September 25, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Remote Control Madness, "Survivor: Gabon," and Who's to Blame?

The Dude on the Right is flying solo for this podcast, but that's okay, because his life is now in turmoil thanks to his buying a new T.V., and Canada.  It seems that getting a new T.V. also required getting a new cable box, and now his way-cool remote control isn't way-cool anymore because it needs some major reprogramming.  And as much as he can still control his T.V. viewing with 4 different remotes, and as much as he can now record 5 shows at one time, the success of the Chicago Cubs, and the impending doom of the Chicago White Sox, throws a small monkey-wrench into The Dude's viewing plans because sports are best watched live.

The Dude also had a nice weekend planned, but as things are in turmoil in the United States, in the end, it might just all be Canada's fault.  At least it was on "South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut," a movie he didn't let The W.G.N. see when he was youngin.  Sometimes The Dude tries to be a good uncle.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:28 PM | Comments (0)

September 22, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Bears, Emmy's, T.V., TiVo, and No "Buddy Christ" Explanation.

The Dude on the Right is lonely, and flying solo for this podcast, and doesn't even explain to the audio world why "The Buddy Christ" is back where he belongs, at least in the world of The Dude on the Right.  He does, though, talk about his football team, the Chicago Bears, still sucking, how the Emmy Awards sucked, but the only thing infiltrating the mind of The Dude right now, other than wondering how his BFF will accept him into the fall season, is how he will be able to TiVo all of his favorite T.V. shows, especially since he now owns an HDTV.  On a Monday when The Dude could have probably used someone to talk to, namely Stu Gotz, especially to tell him about the secret to maybe relieving his congested nose during allergy season, well, The Dude is relegated to viewing television, on a crystal clear, high-def TV screen, yet wondering how to record "Survivor: Gabon" in high-def.

The Dude really needs to win the lottery.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:32 PM | Comments (0)

September 18, 2008

What's New? Hurricane Ike talk with The W.G.N. gets decimated by the tornado that is The W.F.N.

The Dude on the Right just wanted a nice podcast with The W.G.N., maybe talking about Hurricane Ike that hit the Houston area, but then a tornado infiltrated the podcast, namely The W.F.N.  All of a sudden it was talk about graduating from high school, The Dude disrespecting The W.F.N., her wanting her own podcast, and well, just about anything else she wanted to comment about because that girl has things to say, and she damn well will do her best to make sure you hear it!

It was a fun diversion for The Dude, talking to The W.F.N., but with podcast time running down, it didn't leave too much time left for The Dude to converse with The W.G.N., but they did get in some sport's talk, some college talk, and yes, even some hurricane talk.

The W.F.N. definitely needs her own podcast platform, but The Dude just wonders if he'll be able to control her so he doesn't lose any advertisers.

Posted by Rightdude at 9:05 PM | Comments (0)

September 15, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! Rain, Movies, TV, and A Loud Starbucks.

Stu Gotz somehow convinced The Dude on the Right that they should record their "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast at a Starbucks, and even though the music was loud, it did make for some nice, background music, even if it distracted The Dude.  The both of them, though, overcame the background music to talk about the boatloads of rain that were dumped on the Midwest over the weekend, they both talk a bit about Hurricane Ike and the people who want to be rescued in Galveston now that the storm is gone, and hey, why not critique Tina Fey playing Sarah Palin on "Saturday Night Live?"  Sure, they both liked Tina, didn't think Michael Phelps did that great on SNL, Stu's got questions about the ending of "3:10 to Yuma" while The Dude thinks Stu might piss his pants during one scene of "Burn After Reading," but a podcast with Stu and The Dude wouldn't be complete without some talk about TV, and The Dude on the Right needs to quit reviewing his visits to church.  The Dude does give a shout-out to his BFF, if you followed The Dude's Twitter you would have been texted to see Carlos Zambrano of The Chicago Cubs get a no-hitter, and if you're looking for Sarah Silverman in skimpy underwear, go ahead and rent "I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With."  Just don't ask The Dude what a "Hoagie Shack" is because he couldn't remember the term during his "review" while talking with Stu.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:02 PM | Comments (0)

September 11, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: I Hate Ike, Getting Shot, Forgetting "The Goonies," and Remembering The World Trade Center

The Dude on the Right is flying solo for this podcast mostly because he didn't want to invite The W.G.N. to be a guest podcaster, thereby delaying The W.G.N.'s getting out of Dodge, or at least Houston.  The Dude realizes he missed his opportunity for "I Hate Ike" buttons and bumper stickers, but is happy that he only got shot in a dream, by a dude who looked like Chunk from the movie "The Goonies."

The Dude also does some reflecting on the anniversary or September 11th, remembering that he was actually at the top of The World Trade Center in 1985, and is kind of sad that Presidential politics has come to sound bites about a "lipstick on a pig" comment that has been around for years, rather than the actual issues we really care about.  The Dude isn't perfect by not joining in with the stupidness of it all, but hey, he's only a dude.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:11 PM | Comments (0)

September 8, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Bears Win!, A Dead TV, The MTV VMA's, and no Stu Gotz.

This should be a "Weekend Wrap-Up!", but The Dude on the Right is flying solo for this podcast because Stu Gotz decided to see Mickey Mouse. Actually, it was mostly Mama Gotz and the LIttle Gotz's that wanted to see Mickey, but, in any case, The Dude is left to lament about his TV woes by himself now that it is confirmed that his TV is really dead. And as The Dude contemplates purchasing a new TV, he sort of wonders why he should, especially since he fell asleep while watching the Chicago Bears beat the Indianapolis Colts, it was probably easier to watch the Cleveland Browns lose on a smaller TV, and there really didn't seem to be a reason to watch the MTV Video Music Awards, especially since Britney Spears wasn't a train wreck this year, she was just inserted into a lame skit. And yea, blah, blah, blah, the joke is old, but why is MTV still having a Video Music Awards ceremony when they don't show many videos anymore?

Posted by Rightdude at 6:21 PM | Comments (0)

September 5, 2008

The Dude's TV: R.I.P.

By: The Dude on the Right
Maybe it's just a fuse, maybe it was God telling me I shouldn't watch John McCain's speech at the Republican Convention, but yesterday, just as I was getting ready to settle on to my couch to see how John McCain will save the world in a better way than Barack Obama (because that is what these conventions are all about, aren't they?), I went to turn on the TV in my living room, and, well, it didn't turn on. Because I couldn't believe it wouldn't actually turn on, of course I kept pushing the power button about twenty times, both on the remote and on the TV itself, and still nothing happened. What to do, what to do? I fished the TV power cord from out of the power strip, went to my garage to get an extension cord, plugged it into an outlet I knew was working, plugged the TV into the extension cord, and wouldn't you know it, my TV still didn't turn on.

Now I know that my TV had been making funny noises a few weeks ago, but those noises, surprisingly, had gone away, and things were working well.  I figured my TV was just going through a phase, but sadly, it looks like that phase was "Screw you, you 'America's Got Talent' watcher. I just can't take it anymore, and since you continue to watch crap shows like "America's Got No Talent," "Dancing with Loser Stars," and "Yup, These People are Fat," or something like them, I'm done. I just can't take it anymore.  I'll show you!"

Yup, I think my TV just couldn't stand my TV viewing habits, and with a new TV season upon it, and my forcing it to show another season of the Chicago Bears while the Chicago Cubs totally collapse during September, it felt it was actually doing me a favor by shorting itself out, thereby making me realize that there might actually be life without television.

But what my TV didn't realize was that its days were numbered anyway, what with him being an old tube, non High-Def television, and as I know The Chicago Bears will be in the Super Bowl in 2009 (I am so optimistic right now), I was looking to kick him to the curb anyway, or maybe put him in my bedroom, especially when those great sales came around before the big game.  I'm thinking, though, that I still might wait for those big sales, in the meantime moving my basement TV to the living room, and putting my really old TV that is still in the garage in the basement, even if the color is all discombobulated on that old TV.  Who cares if green grass is red, anyway?

In the meantime, maybe I'll put my broken TV on eBay.  If Governor Sarah Palin can try to sell an airplane on eBay, maybe some sucker, I mean handyman, I mean handyperson, will want a broken TV.  At least I should be able to make some money on the shipping and handling!

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 8:17 PM | Comments (0)

September 2, 2008

What's New? Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! Cheese Curls, Google Chrome, A Favorite Shirt, and More!

Stu and The Dude survived their respective Labor Day Weekends, and for this "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast they both show that hanging with a BFF, and doing some painting, can really be exciting.

Okay, maybe the more exciting parts of this podcast are about The Dude on the Right getting his BFF addicted to Snyder of Berlin Cheese Curls, and Stu Gotz loving his favorite shirt, but don't be mad at them.  At least they don't try to discuss Sarah Palin, churches wasting money, or the difference between sluts and whores.

You know what, go ahead and be mad at them.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:25 PM | Comments (0)

August 27, 2008

Thankfully the FCC Agreed With Me, That Satellite Radio has Tons of Competition

By: The Dude on the Right
Sure, this blog "Title" isn't really that timely, but as I am planning a boatload of hours in the Dude-Mobile over the next couple of weeks, and even though said Dude-Mobile has Sirius Satellite Radio in it, I am actually putting together an iPod "During My Travels" playlist, for me to be able to listen to songs I totally love while I am in my car, via, well, my old iPod.

Now don't get me wrong, I love my satellite radio, am looking forward, thanks to the merger approval, of being able to get "Oprah Radio," or whatever it was called when XM was only XM, but sometimes, even with a boatload of commercial-free music channels, (and yes, Howard Stern being on vacation while I'll be in my Dude-Mobile does influence my listening choices), I still am a chronic channel-hopper, and the minute a song comes on Sirius Hits 1 that I don't like I switch to Alt Nation 21.  Bad song on Alt Nation, I'm off to Faction on Channel 28.  Sure, sometimes I'm in a country music kind of mood, so I head for New Country on Channel 60, but when I want a laugh, I know I can always hit the quadfecta of comedy at Blue Collar Radio on 103, Raw Dog (where they actually have a cat named Oscar hosting a show) on 104, clean comedy on 105, and The Foxxhole on 106.  But the satellite radio folks still have normal radio programming issues because the last time I was trying to impress my BFF, that satellite radio was way cool, Classic Rewind on Channel 15 seemed to be stuck in a Genesis/Phil Collins mode, and as much as I'm down with "Sussudio," I can only take so much Genesis/Phil Collins over the span of three days, and I was really getting bummed with her saying "Is that another song by Genesis?"

For me satellite radio, normal radio, HD Radio, and internet radio, all have one, major adversary of competition, especially now, and their competition is simply a person wanting to listen to only songs they want to hear.  And thanks to the likes of the iPod, iPhone, Zune, or wherever you portably bring your music, can someone please reiterate to the FCC that music competition is a playing field that no longer lives over their precious airwaves?

So, for me, I've already popped some Flo Rida into my "During My Travels" playlist, I'm digging the song "Paper Planes" by M.I.A. so that is there as well, and, I know, it's kind of cliché for this summer, but "I Kissed a Girl" is also in there.  Fine, I'll admit that I have some Hannah Montana songs to listen to, but as I play the playlist on random mode, I'm so looking forward to singing, speaking, and remembering the first time I heard Bruce Springsteen's version of "Growin' Up," from the Agora, for WMMS, and "seeing" Kid Leo prayin' for more watts, and as a boy from the Cleveland area, you can bet some Michael Stanley Band, or even just Michael, will be on that playlist.

Sometimes you hear new songs on the "radio," but thanks to technology, now you don't always have to go pressing buttons in your car to find them.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:32 PM | Comments (0)

August 25, 2008

What's New? Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! The Democratic Convention, Dancing With the Stars, and Disney Disappoints a Gotz.

This podcast episode of "Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up!" isn't really about The Democratic Convention, nor The Olympics, but during this podcast there's a trip to the Old Country and peeing. Sure, other stuff is associated with this podcast, but doesn't that quadfecta explain it all?

Podcast wise, well, Stu ruins some "Dancing With the Stars" talk, and the reputation of shows with Ted McGinley is subtlety talked about, but more talked about is a Little Gotz having his birthday ruined thank to the folks at Disney thinking "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" should be released in October rather on the Little Gotz birthday.

Summer is almost over, women giving Labor is upon us, and pretty soon the leaves on the trees will tell us that the end-of-the-year holidays will lead us to a new year that will probably influence us in ways we can't control, no matter if Barack Obama or John McCain is our new President.

In the end, we can only control our boat.

Posted by Rightdude at 8:57 PM | Comments (0)

August 18, 2008

What's New? Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! A Long Life, Beautiful People, Car Crashes, and More!

This podcast episode of "Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up!" is about living a long life, and putting yourself in danger.  The Dude on The Right put himself, and the life of his BFF, in danger, by going to see the Chicago Air & Water Show, where, at any time, planes could have come crashing down on them, or more likely, they would have been sunburned beyond belief if it wasn't for the level-headedness of The Dude's BFF.  Stu didn't actually put himself in danger, but he did take the Gotz family to an event of others putting themselves in danger, namely a Demolition Derby, and he also found out that as cool as the iPhone might be, it does have a stupid limitation that Stu's Sprint Instinct might want to exploit a little more in commercial advertisements.

Both of the boys are almost sick of The Olympics and the coverage of Michael Phelps, Stu is still watching shows like "Psych" on Cable TV, and The Dude realized that the nightly light and music show that accompanies Buckingham Fountain in Chicago is pretty cool.

And, oh yea, they also talk about "Tropic Thunder" and upcoming movies.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:55 PM | Comments (0)

August 14, 2008

What's New? The Chicago Air & Water Show, "Tropic Thunder," Mark Your Calendars, and The Olympics!

The Dude on the Right flies solo for this podcast, though talking about flying is exciting him about seeing the "Chicago Air and Water Show" this weekend with his BFF.  Hopefully that will go well, and Monday's podcast will be all about fun at North Avenue Beach in Chicago.

The Dude also does a large rant on The Olympics with Michael Phelps and Mark Spitz, the Chinese deceiving us, and his loving Fencing and not Women's Beach Volleyball.  He is also strangely fascinated with the Norwegian weightlifter who blew out his arm during his competition.

"Tropic Thunder" talk also is in the podcast, though The Dude is worried that if you don't see the movie, well, you must be a reta$#, though, never mind, he doesn't want to get boycotted.

Maybe you better just listen to this podcast to find out when "Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince" will be in theaters in 2009.

Posted by Rightdude at 8:08 PM | Comments (0)

August 11, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: "Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! RIP Chef, Calliope Music, and Stu Doesn't See "The Scorpions" but Does Eat Tamales!" also A Movie Review of "Pineapple Express."

A long weekend leads to building blocks of newness, so for this Monday The Dude on the Right posts his weekend review of "Pineapple Express," noting that as much as he liked the stoner aspect of the flick, once it turned into a gunfight, well, the movie turned just a little too over the top for him.  The funniness was in the stoners, and all of a sudden they had guns?  The Dude on the Right is so critical, sometimes.  But newness isn't only about a movie review, since postings happen on a Monday it's also time for a Stu & The Dude "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast, and they've got a lot to talk about. The boys have a different tribute to Isaac Hayes, The Dude one the Right, again, reviews that "Pineapple" movie, Stu wishes his tamale wasn't so spicy, and The Dude will probably be struck down by lightning soon for his comments of attending mass at Holy Name Cathedral (while it is under construction).

And who knew Stu Gotz actually wanted to see The Scorpions?  The Podcast lets The Dude on the Right know that he doesn't know Stu as well as he thought he did.

Oh well.

Have fun reading and listening!

Posted by Rightdude at 8:42 PM | Comments (0)

August 7, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: The W.G.N. is Here, Football Talk, Paris Hilton Talk, Storms and The Olympics!

For this podcast The W.G.N. reunites with The Dude on the Right to talk about many a thing.  Sure, there's football talk, with wonderings about Brett Favre going the The New York Jets, The Chicago Bears lack of a quarterback issue between Kyle Orton and Rex Grossman, and The W.G.N.'s continued love for Cleveland teams.  But they also talk about Paris Hilton's political aspirations, the desire to watch The Olympics, and stormage down in Houston-town.  There are a few more topics of conversation, but hey, why give a synopsis if you are going to give all of the good stuff away.  Just go ahead and listen to the podcast, they don't talk too long.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:28 PM | Comments (0)

August 6, 2008

The DVD Review Catch-Ups Have Begun!

By: The Dude on the Right
As I work into the realm of getting more DVD review copies to, well, review, I took it upon myself this week to work on catching up on some that I got sent to me in the last month or so.  So, without further ado, DVD reviews have been posted recently of the made-for-TV version of "The Andromeda Strain" (it's so a TV movie, with lots of plot able to be solved in the last few minutes of the DVD and "here would be a commercial break" moments), "The Lather Effect," (which in urban slang mode should have been called "The Shampoo Effect," and has a whole lot of talking and doesn't give you the greatest song ever, though it works for the movie), and "It's A Boy Girl Thing," (a "trading bodies" movie with every cliché you can imagine yet still gives some fun parts).  I've got a couple of horror movie DVD's to finish up, one about traveling that I got out of the blue, and then it's to my Netflix queue and hopefully a return to reviewing all of the CD's and videos I have.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:05 PM | Comments (0)

August 4, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! Movie-ing, Salespeople-ing, Turtle-ing, Food-ing, but No Twittering (yet).

For this episode of Stu & The Dude's "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast, during the written synopsis The Dude on the Right becomes obsessed about Twitter and twittering, but thankfully for the actual podcast he just talks about his weekend - spending some time with his BFF while she did some car shopping, they had dinner at Carnivale, and went to see "Swing Vote."  Stu Gotz's weekend was kind of boring, although he did have a turtling issue, solved with a trip to Starbucks, and tries to corrupt The Dude with a visit to Stu's local Apple Store and some lunch at Ricobene's.  Stu can be a bad influence on The Dude, but Stu is thinking The Dude has found a good influence in The Dude's BFF.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:36 PM | Comments (0)

July 31, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: A Contest, iPhone Talk, and Hints for Beggars.

The Dude on the Right ended up flying solo for this podcast, but even if The WGN isn't there to help him through a Thursday, The Dude just looks to set up a contest about farts, wishes America had more talents about whistling, and thinks he can sing S.O.S. better than Pierce Brosnan. The Dude, sadly, is more fixated on people begging for money.

Posted by Rightdude at 8:26 PM | Comments (0)

July 28, 2008

What's New? Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! Baseball, A Carnival, and Dogs.

This might just be a first, but for their "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast neither The Dude on the Right nor Stu Gotz saw a movie, and as such, can't give you a movie review of anything (although both of them will probably see "Swing Vote" next weekend).  They did, though, both see a Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cub's baseball game during the week, where The Dude's BFF wasn't mortified at meeting any of The Dude's friends (even at the Cub's game where some of them were slightly over-served), and Stu has found out that one of his sons might be a future roller coaster enthusiast.  The boys also talk about dogs and fish, and as Stu gives his scientific theory on boobies, well, he might as well apply for a grant for further study because if someone can get a grant to study the correlation between pedestrian accidents while texting, why not give one to study the correlation of growth hormones and boobies?

Posted by Rightdude at 6:57 PM | Comments (1)

July 22, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! Nakedness, Lottery, Movies, and a Noid.

The Dude on the Right couldn't believe that he actually got naked on a Saturday, well, sort of, and for this episode of Stu & The Dude's "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast, he explains his nakedness.  Both The Dude and Stu Gotz do their normal weekend wrap-up about the movies they have seen, including "Mamma Mia!," "The Dark Knight," and "Space Chimps," The Dude tells Stu about what he and his BFF have been up to, and The Dude also tries to influence the attitude of Stu as to why he still has a figurine of "The Noid."

Netlix rentals are topics of discussions, as is Stu getting a Mac, as is winning the lottery, and as is, well, a wedding.

Sometimes the days of Stu and The Dude are very complicated.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:59 PM | Comments (0)

July 17, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Technology Sucks, No WGN, iPhone Schematic Requests, and a Cowbell.

The Dude on the Right has internet issues so he told The WGN to be patient and wait until next week to do a podcast.  But internet issues won't keep a good Dude down, so he recorded a quick podcast about "Batman: The Dark Knight," with Heath Ledger, his need for some iPhone schematics, and how having a cowbell on his iPhone just makes him smile.  Do you have a "cowbell" on your cell phone?  Good luck with that!

Posted by Rightdude at 9:22 PM | Comments (0)

July 14, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! The BFF Meets the Family, Lots of TV Talk, and an iPhone Update.

The Dude on the Right took his BFF to visit some of his family in the old country, while Stu Gotz missed a Cubs' game, and those are just some of the topics they both cover in this podcast of "Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up!"

Sure, they also talk about miniature golf, give a shout for The Dude's mom to "Get well soon," the uber-coolness of the iPhone update, and The Dude is psyched to see "The Dark Knight," but let's not forget Stu's love of "Burn Notice," SCUBA, and the younger Gotz's love of "Mr. Men."  Now if only The Dude would have talked about his and his BFF's lottery winnings, well, this podcast might be complete, but that might just have to wait for The Dude chatting with The WGN, and explaining to said The WGN why opening car doors for girls could be fixed by more-advanced, door-unlocker key fobs.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:31 PM | Comments (0)

July 13, 2008

The Old Country With my BFF, Back to Normal Programming, Spock Philosophy, and an iPhone Update.

By: The Dude on the Right
As you may have noticed there haven’t been any new posting since nearly a week ago, and I have to admit that part of it was some laziness, part of it was being a busybody, and part of it was caused by a quick trip to the old country, where my BFF got to meet some of the members of my family. Yup, you can guess it, they all like her more than they like me! Oh well. I’ll talk more about that trip when I talk to Stu Gotz for our "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast tomorrow, and hopefully I’ll have my nephew along for this Thursday’s podcast so I can explain to him why car doors do not need to be opened for dudettes anymore.

For some quick notes about the trip home, though, some of it was tad melancholy as my mom isn’t feeling too well, and I would have preferred my BFF’s first visit being under a different light, but on the other hand, mom’s meeting my BFF seemed to lift mom's spirits, especially when she could give my BFF her two word, blunt, synopsis, of the old country. The trip was also a great time for family members to pummel me about my lack of chivalrousness, when I was just trying to do some recon to assess the threat assessment of our group and make sure the coast was clear on the treacherous path from the safety of the craft store to the safety of the dude-mobile. I risk my life for the safety of the group, just like Spock philosophied in "The Wrath of Kahn," that "The needs of the many outweigh," responded by Kirk "The needs of the few," with Spock coming back, "Or the one.," and what happens, I get chastised for it! Some people are so ungrateful, but I’m sorry, I digress.

The trip home also had the tech nerd in me in total withdrawal because, while I was gone, Apple came out with their giant update for the iPhone, and although I’m waiting for a 3g version of the phone that will hold all of my music before I buy a new one (and from the news reports of the activation meltdowns that occurred last Friday I’m kinda glad for that), I kept looking at my iPhone, with its old, crappy, obsolete version of firmware, knowing it would be days before I could have a lightsaber duel with another iPhone user, be able to "scratch my records" like a DJ, or have a better way to organize my grocery store list. As I’m typing this blog, though, my iPhone is doing all of its updating, and hopefully, as opposed to those poor schlubs who had problems on Friday, maybe my utmost patience (it is a virtue, don’t ya know?) in not pulling out my laptop while I was at the old country, on Friday, to spend the time to upgrade it the minute I could and ignore my BFF, will pay off. See, who says chivalry is dead?

Well, my iPhone is almost done upgrading, it’s time to get back to work, so normal programming of Entertainment Ave! is ready to be back on track tomorrow, with a fantastic, phenomenal, enlightening, and exciting new podcast of "Stu & The Dude’s Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast. I hope.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 6:43 PM | Comments (0)

July 7, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! "Hancock," Fireworks, Cars, Church, and More!

The Dude on the Right and Stu Gotz survived the 4th of July weekend with all of their appendages attached, but more surprising was the fact that The Dude didn't get struck down by lightning as he entered a church with his BFF, especially since The Dude, at times, wondered more about what the sensors were at the top of the ceiling and why parents let their kids wear street clothes to mass, as opposed to focusing on what was really a nice homily, about an "e-mail" from God. This podcast, though, of "Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up!" isn't all about fire and brimstone, or at least fireworks and religion, the boys also talk about cars, "Hancock," "Nancy Drew," Pringles, and some upcoming nuptials. The Dude also sends "Get Well Soon" wishes to his Mom.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:12 PM | Comments (0)

July 3, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Apologies to The WGN&N, Bro-i-l, Sis, and Night Ranger. That Said, Happy 4th of July!

The Dude on the Right is in the doghouse for many too many reasons, so for this podcast he tries to apologize to The WGN&N, his Bro-i-l, and his Sis (but maybe not that much to his Sis), for previous comments done wrong, and he's also doing some apologizing to Night Ranger because The Dude always wanted to be a weather forecaster, but sucks at it, thus causing him to miss their concert.

The Dude also hopes people play things safe this 4th of July holiday weekend.  Hopefully he won't try the firecracker experiment mentioned in the movie "Armageddon," and you shouldn't try that science experiment, either.  You should, however, super-supervise any kids in your sight playing with sparklers, because, as an adult, that's your job.  1800 degrees F is a sparkler temperature (that's the bright, glowing part on the rod of a sparkler), and also close to the burning temperature of cremation.  Do your best to not let your kids, or the neighbor kids, know what it might feel like if they get cremated.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:16 PM | Comments (0)

July 1, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! RV-ing, Penn & Teller, Movie Talk, Toilet Paper, and More!

Some travel issues delayed Stu Gotz getting back in town so the podcast of "Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up!" was a day late, and even with some extra time, well, The Dude on the Right screwed up the opening.  But that's okay because they have lots to talk about, including some movie talk about "Wanted," "Wall-E," "Presto," and "Letters from Iwo Jima."  The Dude relates to Stu that he really should get Showtime so he could see "Penn & Teller: Bullshit," and Stu should also get Sirius Satellite Radio so he could hear ABBA, 24/7, for a couple of weeks.  Stu, on the other hand, relates his woes of toilet paper at airports.  They both talk about a fight at the Cubs/White Sox Crosstown Classic, they talk about tattoos, and with the 4th of July weekend coming up, they talk about how it looks like The Dude's BFF still won't get to meet any of The Dude's friends, even with the lure of REO Speedwagon.

Posted by Rightdude at 5:54 PM | Comments (0)

June 26, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: A Special Guest Podcaster, The WGN, Joins for TV, Comedian, Gun, and Socially Inept Talk!

The Dude on the Right was joined by The WGN for this Thursday podcast, and they talk about a lot of things. The Dude introduces The WGN to "America's Got Talent," the both talk about George Carlin, and The Dude learns that The WGN is making contacts for his future. They both talk about guns (how topical, what, with the Supreme Court decision today), family gatherings, and if The Dude's family is socially inept. The Dude is also happy to hear The WGN knows who Night Ranger is, hopes the two of them might be able to see Radiohead at Lollapalooza, and fears he might get sucked in to "Dolphin Olympics 2." Maybe The WGN is a worse influence on The Dude as apposed to The Dude being a worse influence on The WGN?

Posted by Rightdude at 7:24 PM | Comments (0)

June 23, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! Computer Issues, Movie Talk, The Rest of the Family, and Remembering George Carlin

The Dude on the Right and Stu Gotz both had computer issues for this podcast, which they, sadly, reiterate in way too much detail, before they get to the fun stuff like Mama Gotz being pissed at The Dude for recommending "No Country For Old Men" to Stu, Stu wondering if there is any way he can now get free stuff from Apple since his shipment is late, The Dude meeting the rest of the family of his BFF, and both of them remembering George Carlin, with his "Seven Dirty Words" historical rant and "The Buddy Christ." In the end, George Carlin, R.I.P., or the hell with that, The Dude just hopes Mr. Carlin can make everyone laugh in the afterlife because it is what he does, did, and should be doing for ever, more.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:50 PM | Comments (0)

June 20, 2008

I'm Boycotting "The Love Guru," but Who is Rajan Zed, and Why am I Getting So Many E-Mails, Maybe From Him?

By: The Dude on the Right
As I have fallen behind on a couple of things, well, the last thing I wanted to do was to waste a couple of hours at a movie that degrades a religion.  Yup, for the last bunch of months I've been getting e-mails from, well, I'm not really sure who, although there is an e-mail address yet I'm not really sure if it is valid or a spoof, mostly because I'm too lazy to actually reply to the e-mail and figure out exactly who is e-mailing me.  In any case, though, they have been promoting that Rajan Zed (maybe not so surprisingly the e-mail prefix is "rajanz"), who is a prominent Hindu leader (at least so says the e-mail), states that I should boycott the latest Mike Myers' film, "The Love Guru," because, at least with today's e-mail (it's the only one I didn't delete), "it lampoons Hinduism and Hindu concepts and uses Hindu terms frivolously."  With that line, especially since this e-mail was sent after Rajan supposedly saw the film, I knew it was my civic duty to skip the film and save two hours of my life.

The e-mail continues in its lambasting the movie, saying "the antics of Guru Pitka (Mike Myers' character in the movie) are a mockery of the esteemed institution of guru," also stating "This is pure and blatant ridiculing and Paramount and its parent Viacom should immediately issue a general public apology for denigration of Hinduism and Hindu concepts, utter disregard of the protesters, backtracking on promise to pre-screen the movie for Rajan Zed and other Hindu leaders, making no efforts to have an open civilized dialogue with protesters to arrive at an mutually acceptable solution, Zed said."

As the e-mail begins to wrap up, we get:  "Rajan Zed further said that comedy should make everybody smile and should not come at the expense of ridiculing others faith and spreading misinformation.  Hinduism is the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about one billion followers and a rich philosophical thought and it should not be taken lightly. No faith, larger or smaller, should be ridiculed at."

Hear, hear, Rajan, I'm down with you brother!  Oh, wait, don't most comedies ridicule others, if not their faith, and spread misinformation?  Never mind, hear, hear Rajan!

But do you want to know the most bizarre part of the e-mail, calling for my boycotting of "The Love Guru?"  Well, I'll tell you.  It's the last paragraph that states, not something like "This is why we are calling for a boycott of "The Love Guru," or "until Paramount and Viacom recognize the dignity of Hinduism...," we get this:  "'The Love Guru' (88 minutes), a comedy starring Mike Myers (of Austin Powers fame), opened today nationwide and will be released in different parts of the world in the near future.  Viacom's family of brands includes MTV, Paramount, DreamWorks, etc.  Paramount Pictures Corporation is a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment."  What the hell kind of ending to an e-mail calling for a boycott is that?  No "So maybe you might want to boycott those entities as well," nor "You should also be boycotting "Kung Fu Panda," instead just a vague "legal" disclaimer about the movie, complete with the movies running time.

Suddenly, all this e-mail seems to scream is "I'm Rajan Zed.  How can I get loads of publicity?  I know, Spam!", or a viral campaign on the part of someone to make people go and watch "The Love Guru" to see if it actually "lampoons" Hinduism, because some news outlet are bound to reference the e-mail, or if this e-mail was really from Mr. Zed, maybe his press release should have been written in first person, starting out simply as "I am Rajan Zed, a Hindu leader, and after seeing 'The Love Guru' I urge you to boycott the movie, and here's why..."

Now that I think about it, I'm not boycotting "The Love Guru" because of this series of e-mails I received saying the movie makes fun of Hinduism, because, you know what, I'm all for making a mockery of all kinds of governments, ethnicities, freaks, geeks, jocks, horror movies, religion, and any other stuff that is open to be made fun of, especially if it's done in a funny way.  I'm boycotting "The Love Guru" because, from the trailers, it looks like a load of crap, and from the early reviews most of them say it is a load of crap, and you know what, I've got more important things to do right now than invest in a potential load of crap.  This movie will wait for Netflix, or cable, or a number of stints on the shitter, watching it in phases on my iPhone, unless, of course, Richard Roeper tells me to see it when I watch him over the weekend.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 6:52 PM | Comments (0)

June 19, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: A "The Swell Season" Preview, Meeting Family, The Bachelorette, and Missing "Nessun Dorma" on "America's Got Talent."

The Dude on the Right could really use a nap before this podcast about, mainly, going to see "The Swell Season," especially since getting back home was past his normal bedtime, but that's not important because this podcast isn't a full review of the show, just a quick blip at his still liking the folks from the movie "Once." The Dude also talks about some BFF family stuff, he's still watching "The Bachelorette," and is bummed he missed the premier of "America's Got Talent" where some dude did a great version of "Nessun Dorma" from Puccini's Turandot, complete with Jerry Springer interrupting it, because, well, it's on TV.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:52 PM | Comments (0)

June 16, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! Meeting the Parents, Minor League Baseball, Movie Talk, and a Dirty Health Scare.

Suddenly both Stu Gotz and The Dude on the Right have a lot to talk about for their "Weekend Wrap-Up" podcast, complete with an exciting topic like doing some painting in the garage for The Gotz family.  The Dude gives Stu his movie recommendations, and there is also talk of a skin blotch scare.  Stu blew out another hard drive on a computer, Stu also re-remembered how much fun a minor league baseball game could be, and The Dude tells Stu the tales of his meeting some of the family of his BFF, and how a Father's Day gathering for his BFF family is way-different than any family gathering at The Dude's family household, both being good in their own kind of way.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:17 PM | Comments (0)

June 12, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: I'm Done with Digital, Dr. Drew v. Tom Cruise, Golfing Where Tiger Wood's Golfed, No New iPhone for The Dude, and Movies Galore!

For this podcast The Dude on the Right is upset because he might have deleted his only proof that he played golf, or at least hit a little, white ball, or at least was at a course that Tiger Woods plays at, because he can't find his picture of the 3rd hole at Torrey Pines anywhere on any of his hard drives. He knows that if he had that picture on film, well, he could put his hands on it instantly. His hating technology is now filtering from digital cameras to the latest 3G iPhone, because, go figure, the new phone won't have enough memory to hold his 6400+ songs, and he wonders who would win the boxing match of Dr. Drew Pinsky v Tom Cruise (or, most likely, one of Tom's lawyers). And in other boxing news, June 20th brings the match of Steve Carell v Mike Myers, with their movies, "Get Smart" and "The Love Guru." The Dude isn't really a fan of boxing, but he is a fan of big, green dudes, so he hopes to see "The Incredible Hulk" sometime, this weekend.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:58 PM | Comments (0)

June 10, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! "Echoes," Movies, T-Ball, an Attic, and a Tornado!

They may do their podcast a day late, but The Dude on the Right and Stu Gotz are back for a "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast since The Dude got home from his visit to the old country late on Monday, so what better day than to do it than on a Tuesday! They talk about "Kung Fu Panda," "You Don't Mess With the Zohan," kids playing T-Ball, a tornado, a hot attic, Jim Cantore from The Weather Channel, and Mama Gotz hating The Dude. Underneath it all is "Echoes" from Pink Floyd, they also talk about Lake Delton not being a lake anymore, and a dog that got transported a couple of blocks thanks to the same tornado that Jim Cantore warned Stu about.

Posted by Rightdude at 8:12 PM | Comments (0)

Back to Our Normal Programming, Almost.

By: The Dude on the Right
Normally there would be a new “Weekend Wrap-Up!” podcast posted, with me and Stu Gotz, but as I am now just settling back into the dude-pad, and sure, the both of us could have done a podcast across the magical land of the internet had I really wanted to, I just wanted to acknowledge that maybe you noticed a subtle lack of postings since last Wednesday, with only our review of “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan” getting reviewed. With that, I’m not blaming taking a visit to the old country to visit my Mom as an excuse, but, in a good way, to be detailed in later conversations with Stu and some blogs, I’m blaming a visit to the old country, okay, it’s just Lorain, o HI o, to visit my Mom, for those lack of postings. But you know what? - Chicken butt! The thing is that visiting Mom is always much more important than posting stuff on my web site, and the weird part is, even though I am 41 years old, I still asked Mom for permission to go and see said “Zohan” movie when I was at home. She told me to go and see the movie, but “Don’t be late for supper.”  I wasn't.

My weekend, though, was kind of weird, but leaving Illinois towards Ohio always goes through Indiana, sometimes leads to meeting up with some old friends from Lorain (but not this time), and even though I wasn’t the prepared Boy Scout that, well, I am not, when I went home, namely not bringing my camera gear, Lorain almost has some sparks of niceness getting back to it (I like the pavement of downtown Broadway), but if they end up defeating the “Oh my God, how am I going to afford the extra $15 for my license plate so that our roads are better” issue, I will then know that there really isn’t any hope for my hometown, and I will be sad (and more might be written about that later).

I did take some crappy photos of my lilac bush, tree, or whatever the thing has grown to be, but sadly, my lilac bush, tree, etc, lost most of its blooming with the oppressive heat Lorain was getting, just before my arrival.

Last night, though, I got back in the Chi-Town area, missing the numerous storms that have rumbled through over the weekend, with a slight power outage impacting me while I was gone, as far as I can tell, but a summer of discovery is ahead of me, and don't let me even get into how I'm trying to transplant a rose bush!  That is definitely a story for another day!

Normal Internet programming should be returning this week!

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 8:57 AM | Comments (0)

June 3, 2008

Hannah Montana. Who Knew?

By: The Dude on the Right
I hate to sound like Andy Rooney, but did you ever get to the end of the night, tired and ready for bed, but then decide that you should send an e-mail?  And did you ever type that e-mail, attempting to be creative, sure, maybe addressing something on your mind, but missing a larger point?  And then, did you click on the "Send" button, groggily think to yourself "Did I just write that?", so you check your "Sent" folder, re-read the e-mail transporting through cyberspace, and say "Oh, that probably just comes off so wrong."?  Yup, I did that last night, and now you are probably wondering "Dude, what the hell does this have to do with Hannah Montana, and you do know that she's a fictional character played by Miley Cyrus, don't you?"  My answer is that "Yes, I do know Hannah Montana is a fictional character," but be patient, because how "she" equates to a late night e-mail will be fully explained.

So, yea, last night I sent off an e-mail that, after re-reading it, after I had already sent it, I pretty much figured there was only one way to interpret a portion of it, and really wished someone would invent, you know what, never mind the invention thing, I think I'll keep that to myself, but my options were to attempt, still being tired, sending off an e-mail saying "Please don't read my previous e-mail," that, of course, the person will, faster than the speed of light, open the other e-mail and read it, or try to send an "Okay, let me explain the comment in my previous e-mail better," but being tired, needing sleep, and with the e-mail already on its way, my last option was to just head to bed, going to sleep saying "You know better than to send an e-mail, and try to be creative with it, when you are tired."  And eventually I fell asleep.

Then, of course, morning had broken, or rather my alarm went off, I woke up, instantly remembering the e-mail from the night before, and then kept kicking myself in the ass for sending said e-mail, much as I was kicking myself in the ass before I went to bed the night before (I so over-analyze things a lot).  But it was time for exercising, hoping that maybe it would take my mind off the e-mail for a bit before I might get a reply, so I'm into my shorts and t-shirt, the heart-rate monitor is fired up, the earphones are plugged into my iPhone, I select my "exercise" mix, and then, because I think Apple has put a cyber-brain into their products at times, giving them a life of their own, my iPhone "exercise" mix started to hit me with every song on it that screams "What the hell did you do?"  An Offspring "Why Don't You Get a Job,"  Evenescence's "Going Under," "3 AM" from matchbox 20, "Folsom Prison Blues" from Johnny Cash, Neil Diamond's "I Am... I Said," and "My Last Yeehaw" from Cowboy Troy kept infiltrating my music mix, which on any other morning would just keep my exercise-bicycling fired up, but this morning, just kept me thinking about the e-mail I sent the night before.

So I was about 20 minutes into my planned 45 minute exercise biking when I was close to bailing on the exercising, especially since my iPhone seemed to just want to torture me, and just getting on with my day seemed just a challenge enough.  But then, low and behold, came bouncy girl-pop music, "Don't let no small frustration, ever bring you down," and yes, as I am comfortable enough to say I liked the "Sex and the City" movie, yes, I have Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus on my iPhone.  There it was, singing through my earphones, the song "Life's What You Make It," and as I turned my focus to the lyrics, I started to realize that fine, my e-mail might not have been exactly how I wanted to word things, but I couldn't let it ruin my day, because life is hard or it's a party, the choice is up to me!

My exercising done, and Hannah Montana (yes, I know it's Miley Cyrus) singing in my head, there it was, an e-mail for me, pretty much stating exactly how I figured she would have interpreted the e-mail from the night before.  I still have to reply, but I suppose I won't try to get make it all "creative" and stuff, and not send the e-mail when I'm tired and groggy.

My day had a lot of potential to be crabby, at least in my head, but a fictional star snapped me back to reality.

"Life's what you make it, so let's make it rock!"  Hannah Montana.  Who knew?

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:18 PM | Comments (0)

June 2, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! A MySpace Page Change, Catch and Release, and "Sex and the City."

The fallout from The Dude on the Right changing his MySpace page began after recording this episode of "Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast, but Stu Gotz kind of preambles it by setting up The Dude with a music clip, only so that Stu won't have to ask a question he has repeatedly tried to get an answer to.  Stu's weekend was filled with family time and how snagging some "canal-chats" can be fun, complete with showing the kids that you can throw wounded fish back in the water, while The Dude saw "Sex and the City" with his BFF, expanded his culinary horizons, and heard opera at a gospel fest.  There is also some talk of wondering how some people don't get sued, and Stu ditched The Dude during part of the podcast in search of some nip-slips from the 2008 MTV Movie Awards Gold-Carpet broadcast.  Such can be Stu Gotz.

Posted by Rightdude at 5:51 PM | Comments (0)

May 29, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: The World's Greatest Nephew Needs a Nickname, Some Politics, Some Eddie Murphy, and Some Toilet Talk!

The World's Greatest Nephew is still in college, so The Dude on the Right might have to send him a few bucks to get a new headset, but even though the audio quality isn't the greatest, The Dude is happy to be able to do a podcast, through the magic of the internet, with his nephew. The WGN is pretty much tired of politics, but that doesn't stop The Dude from playing a clip of Father Michael Pfleger, but then they nicely settle into some banter about college, summer, movies, sex, and toilets. What better things are there for an Uncle and his nephew to discuss?

Posted by Rightdude at 8:05 PM | Comments (0)

May 28, 2008

Screw TV, except for, of course, "The Bachelorette," but I'm looking forward to the summer!

By: The Dude on the Right
Tomorrow night is the season finale of "Lost," "Battlestar Galactica" is slowly fading away, but it was tonight that I realized my TV viewing season is over, at least for now, especially since I don't have "American Idol" to blog about anymore, and other than, well, "The Bachelorette," which I now find myself fascinated watching because as much as I love seeing dudettes get uber-emotional about a dude they have only met for a couple of days, seeing dudes be uber-dorks in trying to get the hot girl is almost as fun.

But with the TV season done I realized this summer just might be a time for getting stuff done, just like when the "Writer's Strike," well, struck, and suddenly I found myself productive.  I have DVD's to review, I am doing my best to get back into the concert reviewing scene, and damn it, I will finally finish our "Stu & The Dude Reviewin' the Movies for You!" episode of "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of umm, a street, somewhere, in London, with a meat pie shop, whatever the hell that is," even if that movie did come out, like, last year.  Maybe Stu and I will even do another animated review, and I just had a brain infusion of what it might be, and oh my God, it might actually have to be about a, well, something both of us are familiar with, and if he doesn't remember, for some messed up reason I remember him and Mama Gotz eating sushi from Dominicks (a grocery chain here in Chicago), which would bring up another topic about sushi but I'm not going there, yet, this summer, although I might actually try sushi, this summer.

Oh man, this summer is looking to be confusing, this summer is looking to be fun, and if luck has it, I'll get to see Neil Diamond again!

Screw TV, except for, of course, "The Bachelorette," but I'm looking forward to the summer!

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 8:04 PM | Comments (0)

May 25, 2008

What's New? The Dude sees "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" and Fireworks, Stu Wonders if He Can Get "Wii Fit."

The Dude on the Right saw "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" with someone who doesn't really like bugs, which, because The Dude is weird, actually made the movie experience bring a bigger smile to his face, but in the end it's all about the review, and The Dude does what he does.  Stu Gotz, though, is back doing some typographical reviewing, maybe because his kids might be a little too young to see the "Crystal Skull" movie, but that doesn't mean his family, or at least just him, can't get in shape thanks to the Nintendo "Wii Fit."  Hopefully Mama Gotz won't let Stu shove the thing under the couch to collect dust bunnies.  The Dude saw movies and fireworks, Stu is probably trying to figure out how to dry a sweater on a "Wii Fit."  Such are different weekends.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:31 PM | Comments (0)

"Wii Fit" Probably Won't Help Me Lose Weight, but Thank God for those McDonald's Trans-Fat-Free Fries!

By: Stu Gotz
I always knew the Wii had exercise potential…
Well over a year ago, when I woke up at 4:30am to be in line by 5am to try a purchase one of a promised 12 available Wii units at my local Target, I never thought the Wii could be anything more than the next generation, cool, video game console. That notion quickly changed the day I brought the console home and became out of breath after loosing 3 rounds of boxing to my 5 year old. I joked to the wife that day that Wii Boxing was a great workout, and I should start a regimen. Did I?  No, and I’m still a lard-butt over a year later, but all that's gonna change!!!

Reading the Sunday sale's ads in bed on a Saturday night…
While checking out the weekend sales ads I stumbled across the newest, must have, Wii accessory - Yup, there it was, the new Wii Fit, along with the optional Wii Fit Yoga Mat, available exclusively at Target, and they were going to be available on Wednesday. Perhaps now I could realize my fitness goals by playing Wii games? Figuring that there would be a rush to get the new Wii Fit, I planned my workweek to get me close to a retail outlet when the doors opened.

Would my Wii Fit dreams be dashed???
Wednesday came and I was running late. My Target store opened at 8am, and I was pulling into the parking lot at 8:12am. That’s ok… In a worst case there was a Best Buy across the parking lot, and they opened at 10am. I was feeling good about my potential of getting a Wii Fit as I strolled past the automatically opening doors of my Target, and I was faced by no less that 8 people checking out with Wii Fits. As I walked the aisle to the game area I was passed by 3 more people with Wii Fits tucked into their shopping carts. Then I saw the end cap... There were only 4 left! I rushed to grab one and felt a sense of accomplishment as I checked out with my new Wii Fit complete with Wii Fit Yoga Mat.

The Wii Fit family unpacking event…
After dinner I assembled the family together to unveil our new "game" to them. At first the kids didn’t seem too excited about the whole thing until their mom informed them that we could get a snow boarding game to play with the Wii Fit, and suddenly they were onboard, so to speak. Setting up the Wii Fit is simple, strait-forward, but does take a bit of time. One aspect of the set-up is that the Wii Fit assigns you a "Wii Fit Age" based upon your height, weight, age, and balance test. I faired better than the wife as I was assigned a "Wii Fit Age" of 45 and she was assigned an age of 49. We’re both 40. The Wii also took the customized Wii characters the wife and I had created, and in my case porked "me" out while slimming up Mama Gotz.

What’s this thing gonna do???
The Wii Fit is set up to be a fitness partner in 4 training areas: Yoga, Balance, Strength, and Aerobics. The family and I spent several hours familiarizing ourselves with all the areas, and the first thing we have come to find out is that we all lack balance, at least according to the Wii Fit.  Mama Gotz was the first to advance in the Balance Games and open the first bonus game, "Tightrope," although now she seems to be stuck there, because, like many other Wii games, the Wii Fit is set up to train the user and reward them upon mastery of a particular skill.

Bottom line, is this thing really gonna work???
Yes and no. The Wii Fit definitely has the potential to add an additional element to an exercise regimen, but if you don’t have a regimen already then I really don’t see this thing being a motivational source for someone to start one. Actually, I take that back, you’ll start one, but see my final paragraph, "The real bottom line…," below.  That being said, though, if the Wii Fit is shared by people with a friendly sense of fun and competition, you might just get motivated, but it just won’t be as much about reaching a fitness goal, rather one of who can take 1^st place in an area, or who can go on to the next level, therefore opening a new game or exercise.

The real bottom line…
Go look in the mirror - Are you either fat or just in need of some muscle toning? Now go look around the house - Do you have unused exercise equipment (drying your sweater on the treadmill does not constitute use)? Now search your mind – You can’t remember the last time you hit the gym or went for a jog, correct? If you answered, "Yes" to 2 or more of the previous 3 questions, then I have a feeling your new Wii Fit will be destined to collect dust bunnies under your sofa. Prove me wrong!!!

I'm Stu Gotz!  ‘nuff said!

Posted by Rightdude at 5:53 PM | Comments (0)

May 22, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: The Best Singer on the "American Idol" Finale Didn't Win, and Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

The Dude on the Right is still flustered about yesterday's "American Idol" finale during this podcast, and it's not because David Cook beat David Archuleta. Nope, the The Dude is flustered at wasting 2 hours and 5 minutes watching a 2 hour and 2 minute commercial for Fox related programming, or singers we don't care about. Luckily Ryan Seacrest was able to announce the winner before the TiVo programming ran out, but more luckily was that Renaldo Lapuz was given the chance to regale us all with his version of "We're Brothers Forever," or "I Am Your Brother," or who cares, he was great. Other than "Lost," the Spring TV season is now over. Hooray?

Posted by Rightdude at 7:14 PM | Comments (0)

May 21, 2008

David Cook: This is your American Idol!

By: The Dude on the Right
For you west coasters, wondering who won "American Idol" this year, I would like to apologize for spoiling it for you, but for the love of any God, space alien, or cosmos wondering about how we are here on this planet, PLEASE DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME WATCHING THIS FINALE!!!!! (Although, if you TiVo it, head straight for the one hour and eleven minute mark to hear the greatest Idol singer ever).  I watched (some) of it, and here's how it went.

Yes, Ryan Seacrest bragged about how many votes were cast (something like 97.5 gabajillion, or at least 97.5 million votes), split between 56% for David, and 44% for the other David, they did a "here's what's happening in their hometown" clip, and then another lame sing-a-long.  Then David and David did a bad duet of Chad Kroeger's (he's the lead singer dude from Nickelback) version of "Hero," and then a bizarre, crappy, piece of shit, plug for the next Mike Myers film "The Love Guru,", trying to say that Guru Pitka is actually a real person, influencing our two finalists.  Oh my f-ing God!  What in the hell is this total crap? Mike Myers, you are no Sasha Baron Cohen.

The Idol folks then let Syesha come out to show she probably should be the winner, doing a duet with Seal of "Waiting for You," with, of course, Paula Abdul dancing her butt off.  And after about about a 4 minute commercial break we got Jason Castro back, singing "Hallelujah," again.  Yippee, although most of us probably already bought the Jeff Buckley version on iTunes.  And here we go, it's just want we want to see after another song, a product placement commercial for some Ford cars!  Another "Yippee" is in order!

Now we get the girl contestants singing Donna Summer's "She Works Hard for the Money," in group fashion, only letting us remember how hot some of these dudettes were before they got booted from our memories because they couldn't really sing that great, and then, for more lameness, having Donna Summer come out looking almost dazed and confused singing what is going to be her new single.  Do we really want Disco back?  Out of the groove of her latest "hit," Donna's now into "Last Dance," with her having the excitement of, well, I'm sorry for being mean, but having none, letting Syesha show that yes, she is actually a singer.  And now, with the Donna Summer debacle done we get a Diet Coke commercial from like what, 3 summers ago?

Uggghhh!!!  (Can you tell I'm really flustered watching this show?)

At least we got a T-Mobile commercial from like a year or two ago where Dad says to his daughter "Maybe you should have uglier friends."  And then with another commercial break I TiVo'd through, we get Carly Smithson and Michael John singing an overproduced and "why the hell is this being done as a duet" version Joe Cocker/The Box Tops "The Letter."

And at the 43 minute mark, thank the Lord for Jimmy Kimmel!  Oh, my God, it's only the 43 minute mark!  That means there is probably another hourish left before we actually get to find out who is the next American Idol.

Now the guys get to sing Bryan Adam's "Summer of '69."  What the hell is it with having Ameircan Idol people sing songs released when they weren't even born yet, and now, yes, we actually get Bryan Adams to sing something new from him, "I Thought I'd Seen Everything."  Don't get me wrong, I like Bryan Adams, but Bryan Adams?

Yay, now David Cook gets to sing with ZZ Top, doing "Sharp Dressed Man."  For some reason, I don't think I can actually hear David's guitar.

Oh my God, I just can't take it anymore, now I'm getting Graham Nash singing "Teach Your Children" with Brooke White.  Actually, I almost like this performance, but I still can't take it anymore, can't blog about this anymore.  I'm going to watch some baseball now to see if the Cubs, White Sox, or Indians win, and will be back later to just announce who won.

Thank God for TiVo!

Okay, yes, I couldn't resist, I checked back, seeing that the Cubs were losing, and I'm torn between the White Sox and the Indians winning their game, and what do I see back on American Idol, but the greatest singer of all time, the "I Am Your Brother" dude, Renaldo Lapuz.  I actually have him as ringtones for some of my friends!  Screw Fleetwood Mac, Renaldo singing "I Am Your Brother" with the USC Marching Band is a hell of lot better than "Tusk."

It's back to baseball....

Okay, the baseball is boring, it's back to Idol.  Oh crap, it's Jordin Sparks showing, and damn, I hate to be mean again, but why can't she lose a couple of pounds to make herself a totally hot singer?  There's that, and I'm no fashion guru, but what's up with the outfit that explodes her hips?

Oh, thank God, another "product placement" commercial filtered in to the American Idol broadcast.  Yup, there's a movie coming out called "Tropic Thunder," and you might know it now.

Okay, never mind, Carrie Underwood is now on the show, showing why I might want to convert to vegetarianism, with a skirt that, well, umm, I'm going to pause this really quick.  Did I say I love my Tivo yet?

Okay, I'm back, that was quick....

Another group song - it's back to baseball...

The Cubs are still losing, the White Sox are now beating my Cleveland Indians with a home run, I guess I'm back to Idol...

Ughhhh!  Just give me the winner already!  It's been an hour and 47 minutes already!  This is really why I'm starting to hate this show.  And oh my God, they just brought out George Michael, who, surprisingly enough, has a tour to promote, and he's singing "Praying For Time."  Okay, he did a nice job with that.  But, of course, we have to promote his tour!

Finally, please, oh for the love of God, please, just tell me who in the hell is the winner!

Final thoughts from me - get back to why we actually watch the show, quit with the crap.  The result's shows should only be a half an hour long, the contestants should be able to sing full versions of the songs and be given a chance to be performers, and if you are getting mentors for these people, get actual mentors.

And so, David Cook wins "American Idol."  Good for him!  I'm tired, I have to get this posted, and I hope you didn't waste your time watching this two-hour, bloated, version of a finale, and just TiVo'd your way to the end.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 9:04 PM | Comments (0)

May 20, 2008

Who Will Be Your Next "American Idol"?

By: The Dude on the Right
Yippee!  We are down to the two David's, Mr. Archuleta and Mr. Cook, and I'm only still here because, well, it's a Tuesday, there really isn't anything on TV, and I've been doing this damn "American Idol" recap for the entire season so I might as well hang in there for the last of the singing.  Who will win, who will you vote for, will any of them trip and fall on their face (God, that would be great, wouldn't it?), and how much did they have to pay Michael Buffer to say "This... is... 'Americaaaaan Idooool...'",  so...

Let's go...

First thought, quit with the "Oh, we need a theme, let's make this like a boxing match" motif.  We don't care.  We just want to hear them sing, and why are we still going back to Andrew Lloyd Webber?  Yes, I admit, I like "Cats" and "Jesus Christ Superstar," but how many 12 year old girls do?  Just frackin' sing!  And it took them over 14 minutes to get to the ...

1st Round of Songs - Picked By Clive Davis
David Cook
 - Sings "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by U2
 - It finally looks like he might actually want to be a performer instead of just a singer.  He sounds good enough, is working the stage, and little David might have some problems if big David keeps the night like this. 

David Archuleta
 - Sings - "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on My" by Elton John
 - This song so much fits into his wheelhouse, and he's trying to keep his eyes open and not squint, but he fades back and forth on the eye-squinting thing that I just can't help but notice it.  He finally worked to break out of his shell, also, actually being a performer, but you still see a little more apprehension, mostly just from lack of experience, I suppose.

Here comes the...

2nd Round of Songs - From the Song Competition
David Cook
 - Sings "Dream Big" by Emily Shacklton?
 - David gets to play guitar, to a song I actually like, in the pop-rock kind of way.  Man, this could almost be a song by Jim Peterik for a "Rocky" soundtrack.  It's kind of cheesy (in a good way), but one, with the right band, could end up on every iPod of people who exercise for inspiration.  I'm guessing Simon isn't familiar with any of the "Rocky" soundtracks.

David Archuleta
 - Sings - "In This Moment" by Ryan Gilmore?
 - Oh crap, David A. is back into his "I need to be the next Josh Groban" moment.  The song is nice enough, but we know exactly where Mr. Archuleta is looking to take his career - to an Oprah Winfrey performance hoping to supplant Sr. Groban.  He is still trying to open his eyes, but it still isn't working.

Here comes the...

3rd Round of Songs - Picked By The Singers
David Cook
 - Sings "The World I Know" by Collective Soul
 - Dude, if you win this thing it will only because you have the most loyal fan base because why in the hell do you pick a sort of obscure song for your finale?  Sure, you sang it nice enough, but do you actually think any of the viewers who would actually vote for you know a song that was popular in, what, 1995?  Let's see, the 13 year old girls weren't even born yet.  So much for converting any of them to your side.  I think Simon still realizes that David Cook, right now, has the best potential for a music career.

David Archuleta
 - Sings - "Imagine" by, umm, duh.
 - Oh, hell, who cares anymore?  He still squints, he still "croons," and the 13 year olds who aren't voting for David Cook probably heard their parents actually play the original version of this song, and are voting for this David anyway.

Let's wrap this up...
I think David Cook is the better performer, David Archuleta needs to really learn how to open up his eyes (that comes with experience), but the more curious thing will be to see, in the year 2013, who might still have a career?  I'm guessing it will be Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Daughtry, and Kellie Pickler.  And maybe next year's "American Idol."  One of these David's will win, but I just don't see long lasting careers in front of any of them.  Maybe they'll prove me wrong.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 8:46 PM | Comments (0)

May 19, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: I Could Have Won $0.40, or even Millions, I've Got Too Much Stuff, and Here Comes Indiana Jones!

The Dude on the Right realized, over this weekend, that he has too much stuff, and some of that stuff should have been thrown out years ago, like a phone book from 1995, so for this podcast he laments on seeing a movie he didn't care that much about, namely "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian," how he didn't win millions, or at least $0.40, and wonders why he still has a hand-held scanner that only scans in black & white. At least he still has a film idea on a 3 1/2" floppy and his hope that "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" will be good.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:59 PM | Comments (0)

May 15, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Shania Twain is Unattached, Starbucks Almost has Nudity, David Will Win American Idol, and a Tease for Monday.

The Dude on the Right is trying to figure out, during this podcast, how he will skirt the authorities in his trying to woo Shania Twain in either Switzerland or Canada, since he doesn't have a passport and she is breaking up with her hubby. He also steals a story from "The Roe Conn Show" about Starbucks and their naked mermaid, gets some audio he heard on "Howard Stern" as a tease for Monday's podcast, but does know that David will win "American Idol."

Posted by Rightdude at 6:41 PM | Comments (0)

May 13, 2008

A Judge's Pick, A Personal Pick, A Producer Pick, and Yes, Ryan, We know, This is "American Idol."

By: The Dude on the Right
So we've got the final three, it's David Cook, Syesha Mercado, and David Archuleta, and I'm starting to not care that much because this show really has lost the reason why we watch it. 

Let's go...
1st Round of Songs - Picked By The Judges

David Archuleta
 - Sings - "And So It Goes" by Billy Joel
 - So, Paula Abdul tosses David a bone for this song, because all David can sing well seems to be ballads, and David thinks it is a really pretty song.

He still can't open up his eyes if it could save the world, he's pigeonholed himself into his recording contract as a balladeer, and the underlying problem is still that he can't actually be a performer or work the crowd.  He sings nice, he squints, he just can't seem to approach the audience and get the girls to toss their underwear at him.

David, open up your f&#$ing eyes!

Syesha Mercado
 - Sings - "If I Ain't Got You" by Alecia Keys
 - Randy Jackson throws a song into the wheelhouse that is Syesha, and she does her hair right keeping it straight, and dresses nice, and more importantly she sings nice.  I do wish she would have "performed" a little more, but the only problem I had was she let her "glee" at being there mess up the "emotionish" of the song.

David Cook
 - Sings "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" by Roberta Flack
 - Simon actually gives someone a challenge, and David Cook took this song and almost even made me want to download it.  What the hell is wrong with Randy?  Simon actually knows how this contest works, and...

After the first round I'm going, in order, David Cook, Syesha Mercado, then David Archuleta

Here comes the...

2nd Round of Songs - Picked By The Contestants

David Archuleta
 - Sings - "With You" by Chris Brown
 - He decides for something new, and who the hell told him that this would be the song to make him a star?  He looks so damn uncomfortable now trying to be a performer/singer, and, I'm sorry, he dances like a white guy.  He sings nice enough, but damn, he needs a few more years under his belt to actually be a star.  Sorry, I know the young girls and grandmas like him, but Randy and Simon called things right for him.  He better hope the Producer people pick the perfect song for him or else he better hope his fan-base is super-strong.

Syesha Mercado
 - Sings - "Fever" by, Peggy Lee
 - She needs to quit smiling, although I can understand how happy she might just be to be there in the final three.  She breaks character to be happy, then flips back into serious mode, then back into happy mode.  She's flaunting her voice, flaunting her, hmm, dress and body, but can't hold the "performance" side.  Quit smiling, stay in the "serious" character, and it would have been perfect.

David Cook
 - Sings "Dare You To Move" by Switchfoot
 - He still likes picking slightly obscure songs, decides he'll try to be a rocker with the guitar strapped around his neck, and does his best to rock it out, but sadly, someone has done this before on "American Idol," and they don't give him enough time to actually develop the song.  He could have been great with this song, if he could have actually done the entire song, but if the "American Idol" folks want to know why we are tired of watching the show, it's because the only get half a song to sing.  He could have been so much better.

Second Round: Syesha, David Cook, and then David Archuleta

Here comes the...

3rd Round of Songs - Picked By The Producers of the Show
And "American Idol" Producers, you have now put yourself into "We have to cram as much as possible into this one hour show so we can't actually let them sing a full song and actually develop it, so lets rush right into...

David Archuleta
 - Sings - "Longer" by Dan Fogelberg
 - He squints, but who cares anymore?  I'm almost wondering if he has eyes under those eyelids.  A lame song, he still can't be a performer for it, and still just sits there, on a stool, instead of hitting the end of the stage and wooing the girls.  And no, Randy, he can't sing the phone book.

Syesha Mercado
 - Sings - "Hit Me Up" by, Gia Farrell?
 - So, the "Idol" folks are trying to turn Syesha into a Beyonce/Rihanna?  Do you people even know what you have here?  Gosh, she tried to work it, she worked to sing it, but this is not a song you give someone who you want to be the next Beyonce/Rihanna to try to pull off in a minute and a half, nor try to rehearse in less than a week!  Ughh you "American Idol" producer people, Ughh!  Syesha tried so hard, though, unless David Cook becomes a magic man, I want Syesha to win.

David Cook
 - Sings "I Don't Want To Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith/Diane Warren
 - He's screwed by a lame arrangement with the "American Idol" band, and he is so trying to work it.  The orchestra sucks, he only has 90 seconds to work it, and as much as he tries to promote it, I thought it was kind of lame.  I guess it sounded better on the Idol stage, because in my home, well, I hated it.  I've seen Steven Tyler sing this song, and David Cook is no Steven Tyler, mostly thanks to the band.

You know what, I'm tired of trying to figure out who might win this thing...  So...

Let's wrap this up...

My advice for the "American Idol" folks is to simply quit trying to make the show complicated, quit with not letting the singers sing full versions of songs, and I want Syesha to win because if anyone has grown during this competition, has come out of her shell, and has actually worked to be a performer, it is Syesha.  If you want my opinions on how to get "American Idol" back to actually getting people to watch, I'll just say something simple - quit with the crap, let every contestant sing the full version of the song, and keep the results-show to 1/2 hour.  All we care about on the results-show is who is getting booted.

If you want someone who is a pop-idol, that person is Syesha.  I'm rooting for her!

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 8:45 PM | Comments (0)

May 12, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! "Speed Racer," The Dude Leaves his Bunker, and Baseball Nuts.

The Dude on the Right and Stu Gotz are finally reunited for a "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast, and they've got a lot to talk about. Sure, Stu saw "Speed Racer" and gives his review, The Dude has to explain that he had a great time shirking his duties and meeting up with a dudette from his school days, and Stu relates that he still can't understand sport uber-fans. The two of them talk about "Survivor," about "American Idol," and Stu tries to give a Netflix review of a movie that The Dude could care less about. Ah, such are Stu & The Dude!

Posted by Rightdude at 6:09 PM | Comments (0)

May 11, 2008

Eavesdropping in Millennium Park and Shirking My Duties!

By: The Dude on the Right
First off let me apologize for shirking my reviewer duties this weekend, but my Saturday turned out much better than I read "Speed Racer" might be, and I really didn't care about seeing "What Stays in Vegas" today, especially since today was a blustery, rainy day leaving some cleaning of The Dude-Pad actually a funner option since all of the reviews I read about the Vegas movie were mixed as well.  Stu Gotz, though, did see "Speed Racer" and promised to fill me in, and all of rest of you, during our "Weekend Wrap-Up Podcast" tomorrow, and I guess I'll have to give Stu some insight into my happily blowing off the movies for a day in the park and cleaning.

I suppose I should also fill Stu in with my latest obsession.

No, my obsession is not about my favorite sport's team, it's not about soap operas, it's not about searching for for information if Hillary has any chance in hell of beating Barack, and it's not even about internet porn.  Nope, I am slowly becoming obsessed with eavesdropping on people in public places.  It started the other day while I was hanging out in a Starbucks, with like, so, this girl who was so, like in the business world who, like, just liked to say "like" a lot, and "so" a lot, and I couldn't help if maybe the secret to advancement in the the corporate world, and maybe "The Hills" on MTV, was simply commenting about things with "like" and "so."

But then I spent some time in Millennium Park on Saturday, and I couldn't help but hear, while sitting on a bench, quips (with my initial thoughts) like, so:

• This is really a beautiful park area...
  Duh, it's Millennium Park, finished after the millennium, but you really would be shocked to see what is actually under the park!
• Maybe we should walk over to The Art Institute.  Which way is it?
  Doesn't anyone actually use a map anymore?
• Do you think those cigarettes are making us out of breath...
  Look, Mr. Skateboards, I know how you ripped your jeans, but do yourself a favor and Google "lung cancer."
• We found "The Bean!"
  Hey, that's "Cloud Gate" to you little skippy!
• Are your parents in Morocco?  Have they come to visit?
  He had a huge accent, she seemed Midwest, I'm guessing he'll never let his parents meet her.
• A baby was screeching loudly
  Actually, there were quite a few babies in their strollers crying/screeching, which is what babies do, especially when they are being strolled through a park they will never remember and just want a bottle, or their diaper changed.
• Now this I've never seen before...
  I wish I was actually looking at what this dude was seeing!
• The last time I was down here it was cold and gray and generally unpleasant.
  What in the hell are you doing visiting Millennium Park in the summertime?  Oh, I'm guessing it might have actually been winter.  :-)
• The Sound of Breaking Twigs...
  A dude with a ratty backpack, maybe looking for some inspiration, sat at the other end of the bench I was on, breaking twigs.  Bruce Springsteen has a song called "Thundercrack" on his "Tracks" compilation, but I'm thinking "Twiggycrack" won't have as much an impact.
• This is a dead end.
  There's a sort of fake sidewalk behind where I was sitting that people thought would lead them across Columbus Drive.  People, just take the "Snakey bridge"!
• Something was said in Spanish...
  My Spanish isn't what it used to be, actually it's not even close to what it used to be other than "Hola," "Dos Cervezas," "Donde el banyo," and "No hablo espanol," or something like that but with all of the appropriate accent marks, but there were some tourists speaking foreign languages.  Welcome, Bonjour, Aloha, Hola, Kon-nichiwa, and any other way we can say "Hello" to our foreign visitors!
• Daley Bicentennial Plaza
  She was tired, she just needed to sit down, and all she could read off of the sign was "Daley Bicentennial Plaza," which hopefully won't someday read "The Children's Museum that Should Have Just Stayed at Navy Pier."
• Yes, we flew than we drove back with them...
  I wonder who are "them," and were they safe drivers?
• You should see what is in his refrigerator now...
  What, human heads?  Maybe some Dijon mustard?  Is he all of the sudden a health nut stocking his refrigerator with fruits, vegetables, and vegetarian eggs, which I still wonder how eggs can ever be "vegetarian" no matter what they have been fed?

I know I shirked the fake, movie world this weekend, but sometimes reality can become so much more interesting when you have to use your imagination to finish some stories, especially when all you get is a sentence or two.  For me this weekend with "one sentence" stories to fill in, other stories about reality, and a few "No shit!" stories, was a hell of a lot interesting than anything I could have seen on a big screen.  It was a weekend where "life" was more exciting than "pretending about life," and I liked it.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:20 PM | Comments (0)

May 8, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: So, Like, It's Like Idol, Survivor, TV, and Like, So, Girls Just Want to Have Fun!

The Dude on the Right was mesmerized during this podcast because he was intrigued by a dudette who liked to say "like" and "so" a lot while he was eavesdropping on a conversation at Starbucks. The Dude is also a little melancholy about the end of the TV season, what with "Survivor" wrapping up on Mother's Day, and "American Idol" coming to a close soon, but thankfully the Jack Johnson wannabe, Jason Castro, is done singing.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:41 PM | Comments (0)

May 6, 2008

Umm, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame week? What the Hell is That?

By: The Dude on the Right
Ryan Seacrest says we must vote, and I'm saying I don't care how poorly Syesha might do, but vote for Syesha because do we really want a top three finish of all dudes?  It's obvious we don't always vote for the best singers, so for the love of God, don't let "American Idol" become a sausage fest!

It's "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" night, which I really don't understand, except I guess it's songs you can pick which are from the R&R HoF.  But why are the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions still held in New York City instead of Cleveland which is where the Rock Hall is located?  I guess that is a story for another time.  And Paula must be happy because the format is back to normal where she only has to do her talking one performer at a time.  Hooray!

Let's go...
1st Round of Songs

David Cook
 - Sings "Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran
 - He is singing okay like he usually does, but he has all of the charisma of, well, he has none.  And why in the hell do you pick a song where the lyrics we all know are "Do do do do, do do do, do do do, do do do, do do...", or something like that.

Syesha Mercado
 - Sings - "Proud Mary" by, Tina Turner
 - She is so much looking better with the straight hair, has nice gams, and almost has seemed to have come into her own as a singer and performer and might now just be the person to be reckoned with if the dudes don't step things up in a big way.  VOTE FOR SYESHA!  Simon didn't like it, but the heck with him, every week is a bad interpretation of someone famous.  Let's just revel in the fact that someone seems to actually want to perform.

Jason Castro
 - Sings - "I Shot the Sheriff" by Bob Marley
 - Yea, go figure, Jason Castro thinks he can sing Bob Marley.  He's trying to finally be a performer, but he's smiling during lines like "I shot him down."  We will see if people don't give a crap about his singing because if after this performance he stays alive well, we know all of the stoners are voting in force.  Simon was dead-on with "utterly atrocious" and "the only similarity was the hair."

David Archuleta
 - Sings - "Stand By Me" by Ben E. King
 - He's still squinting, but at least is trying to perform.  I'm not saying he should get all "crazy eyed," but dude, get used to the lights, open your eyes, and this performance would have been a hell of a lot better.  David's singing is good, but he's still got to learn to work the girls in the front row.  If he worked just one girl to show true confidence with the ladies it would have been fantastic, and his possibilities would be endless.

2nd Round of Songs

 David Cook
 - Sings "Baba O'Riley" by The Who
 - No, this song is not called "Teenage Wasteland," though many people think it is, and sadly for David he only had a short amount of time to actually sing this song.  What is really starting to piss me off about "American Idol" is they are not having the show done so the contestants can actually perform a song.  This is a song that can't be chopped into pieces for a couple of minute piece.  Ugh, the AI people are ruining this show because I almost thing David could have made this song great had he not had to chop it up.

Syesha Mercado
 - Sings - "A Change in Gonna Come" by, Sam Cook
 - Well, Syesha is starting to show she might actually be the person out of all of these contestants who could actually have a recording career because she was fantastic.  Screw you Randy, Paula loved her, and Simon actually agreed with Paula.  As much as I say VOTE FOR SYESHA!, it might almost be better if she gets booted so she can get out of the "winner of the "American Idol" spotlight" and develop a career like Chris Daughtry.  In any case, Syesha, if you do win, don't let them drag out your career like they did with Jordin Sparks.

Jason Castro
 - Sings - "Mr. Tambourine Man" by Bob Dylan
 - He forgot lyrics, he just doesn't seem to give a damn about being in this competition anymore, and how in the hell did he even think he could pull off Bob Dylan and Bob Marley, so if he is not the one getting booted tomorrow we have found out that this show doesn't really matter anymore because the public just likes a pretty boy, or a stoner-looking boy.

David Archuleta
 - Sings - "Love Me Tender" by Elvis "and do we even need to end that with Presley?" Presley
 - Wait a minute, did he just say, or was he mocking me, that "I haven't really sung a romantic love song on the stage before?"  He's still squinting, the little girls and old ladies still probably love him and will text their hearts out for him, and I'll give him a few props for changing the arrangement a tad, or give credit to whomever might have changed his arrangement.  Whoever did the changes knew David would only have a short time to put this song out and hopefully made it work.  David, dude, you still need to learn how to open up your eyes.

Let's wrap this up...

All I can say is that the "American Idol" producer/director/whoever the hell is in charge of this monster is really screwing this up.  I say that because between last week and this week our contestants don't actually get to sing, nope, they get to sing a bitty-small portion of a song instead of actually getting a chance to perform a song.  The culmination of this was David Cook singing the worst, chopped version of "Baba O'Riley" ever.  Idol people, please, stop.  Get this show back to how we loved it in year one and two, because if next season is like this, well, I don't know if I can stick with it.  "Dancing With the Stars" lost my viewership, my Mom has already ditched "American Idol," but if you don't get back to actually letting the contestants learn to be performers, or at least sing an entire song, I might be done with it next year.

In any case, VOTE FOR SYESHA!  And other than being a dudette, she actually deserves it.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 8:17 PM | Comments (0)

May 5, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: "Iron Man," I'm Sad, I am Tired of Politics, and My BFF is Getting Demoted.

The Dude on the Right is happy for this podcast because he had a nice birthday weekend and saw "Iron Man"; The Dude on the Right is sad for this podcast because Van Wilder is marrying his dream girl, he had to demote his BFF, and he saw "Made of Honor"; And The Dude on the Right wonders if you know how to pronounce "Yahoo!"?

Posted by Rightdude at 6:49 PM | Comments (0)

May 1, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Happy Birthday to Me!, Vote for Syesha, Jason was Dumber, and Here Comes "Iron Man!"

For this podcast The Dude on the Right talks about getting a haircut, in anticipation of his birthday and having to renew his driver's license, by a dudette who blamed her sounding like she was stoned on a cold rather than, well, being stoned. He is also throwing all of his support to Syesha on "American Idol," thinks Jason might be the dumbest "Survivor" contestant ever, and wonders who he would beckon to visit him during "family reunion day" had he been a "Survivor" contestant. But as his birthday looms, and he gets out of his 40's, The Dude knows it is now movie season, and he can't wait to see "Iron Man" over the weekend.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:22 PM | Comments (0)

April 29, 2008

Neil Diamond is In the American Idol House! But Why?

By: The Dude on the Right
I love Neil Diamond.  I've seen him in 1996, 1998, 2001, and 2005. I've taken some nice photos of the man, I've done some cartoon drawings of the man (scroll down for it), and I have even taken my Mom to his concert back in 2001 which would have been a better experience for her (but maybe not so much of a story), had I splurged on a limo.  He is a singer, he is a songwriter, but hopefully for our last five folks in this contest it will be his performing skills that he can impress on them.  We'll have to see how that goes as the show goes on, so let's just get to it, and here's how I thought the five folks did...

ROUND 1
Jason Castro
 - Sings - "Forever in Blue Jeans"
 - Good choice for him.  It's bouncy, light-hearted, and works with him playing guitar, but he still isn't being much of a performer. 

David Cook
 - Sings "I'm Alive"
 - Good, pick obscure Neil Diamond songs people don't know by a performer who most people know all of his hits.  David did good with the "I'm Alive" song, but most people probably don't want to hear Neil Diamond songs they don't know.  Quit trying to be so "original."

Brook White
 - Sings - "I'm a Believer"
 - "I'm a Believer" is just so wrong for a song for her to sing.  She couldn't hit the low notes, it might have been in the wrong key, and these people playing their own instruments limit themselves because they are stuck behind the mike and can't actually work the crowd.  So far the performing side of anything isn't coming out.

David Archuleta
 - Sings - "Sweet Caroline"
 - So David tried to bust out of his melodic groove with maybe the biggest karaoke song in existence, and he didn't even fill in the "So Good, So Good, So Good" part.  He almost wanted to work the crowd for this song, but then hunkered back to just singing, almost seeming to hope he wouldn't forget the words.

Syesha Mercado
 - Sings - "Hello Again"
 - It's nice enough, but just seems to be lacking some kind of punch that Neil puts into it even though it's a ballad.

On a side note, Paula Abdul has finally hit an all-time high for being clueless.

ROUND 2
Jason Castro
 - Sings - "September Morn"
 - Yea, we get the performer you want to be - the laid-back, hippie dude.  We get it, the dudettes probably like your laid-back attitude, and you picked good songs this week even though I found you lame.  You're lucky the chicks probably dig you.

David Cook
 - Sings "All I Need is You"
 - Yup, another obscure Neil Diamond song, what the hell are you thinking?  Sure, you might be trying to separate yourself and be original, but in a week you had two songs to pick maybe you should choose an obscure one for the first song (good choice though), and then bring reality back with a Neil Diamond classic so everyone could remember that.  You're probably lucky that you are a pretty-boy, rocker-dude, because that is the only thing you bring.

Brook White
 - Sings - "I Am, I Said"
 - You know what, I hate the fact that the band actually joined in because for her, doing this solo, on the piano, was really working for me.  The back-up band ruined it, because as a solo song this was actually a song I liked.  I still hate that she won't shut up when the judges give her their critiques, and I only wish I could see her do this song in a smoky bar, all alone on a piano, just being herself.

David Archuleta
 - Sings - "America"
 - I know you are young, but who in the hell is coaching you on the songs for you to sing?  Of all of the Neil Diamond songs this is probably the worst choice in my head for you.  I guess it sounded better for his live performance because on my TV I didn't like it at all.  Am I hearing something different?

Syesha Mercado
 - Sings - "Thank the Lord for the Night Time"
 - She's at least coming out of her shell and trying to also be a performer, but I think it might be a little too late because, as I'm listening to her, Syesha could have probably turned "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show" into a fabulous number, but the problem is the American Idol folks forced these people to do two songs in an hour.

Let's wrap this up...
As much as I love Neil Diamond I still have absolutely no idea why he was involved in this show.  The crappy part is that our contestants didn't need to try and fit two songs each into an hour, they really needed just one song each to fill in this hour - and perform the hell out of that song.  I hate to say this but the "American Idol" folks haven't seemed to realize why we love this show, and it's not for seeing people sing a verse and then a chorus and then being judged by Randy, Paula, and Simon, clipped because of time constraints.  Our time is precious, don't let us feel cheated.

I've pretty much given up on "Dancing with The Stars," and now I'm almost not caring about "American Idol."  Idol Producers, at least let these people try to sing.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 8:24 PM | Comments (0)

April 28, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Miley Cyrus and Mindy McCready being 15 Years Old, Roger Waters has a Pig, and Happy Birthday Theta Xi!

The Dude on the Right doesn't really relate how joining Theta Xi in college actually led to this podcast, during, well, this podcast, but he does so in his summary, and part of it was that something in 1864 led him to meeting The Dude on the Left in 1985, which eventually led him to having this podcast. Wow, how is that for confusing? The Dude on the Right at least keeps things simple for most of the rest of it, talking about 15 year old confusion, at least for maybe Miley Cyrus (aka Hannah Montana), and Mindy McCready who was 15 many years ago, but a story about the death of Cheri Oteri's father also fascinated him, especially since it seemed both sad yet bizarre.  He still wonders why Roger Waters' letting an inflatable pig fly free during Coechella is news, especially since Roger has been doing this since at least sometime in 2006, but maybe The Dude on the Right will be back to normal after seeing "Iron Man" this weekend, hopefully, the day before his birthday.

The Dude on the Right is fascinated by some of the strangest things sometimes.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:48 PM | Comments (0)

April 27, 2008

I Should Have Just Stayed in Bed.

By: The Dude on the Right
With my weekend movie reviewing completed a day early after seeing "Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay" on Friday and "Baby Mama" yesterday, I was looking forward to a day to get things some things done around The Dude-Pad, and as Sunday's are my laundry day, what a great way to start!  That sounds simple enough only that for the first time in I can't even remember, I was in my bathroom, dressed, yet felt naked.  And then it occurred to me and I yelled, "Crap," only I didn't yell "Crap," I yelled the word even my Mom would be washing my mouth out with soap had she heard me say it.  And the word came out knowing that yesterday's jeans were the first article of clothing in the washer, therefore as the washing machine was still filling up, my wallet was toast, being soaked in a combination of warm water, floating dirt, and laundry detergent.  So I'm digging through my washing machine, looking for the jeans at the bottom, and sure enough, there it was, my wallet, soaked, and then the fun part came, actually reminding myself of all of the things in my wallet.  The simple things were there - driver's license, credit and bank cards, health insurance card, an expired Extended Warranty card for my car, and some grocery store cards.  Then I remembered some of the other stuff I knew might disintegrate, namely an old card to the lady who used to cute my hair, old pictures of my niece and nephew, and some receipts I didn't yank out of my wallet for expense purposes.  Luckily, happily, the disintegration didn't occur, most everything was saved, and the pictures of my niece when she was in Kindergarten and my nephew in 4th grade survived (sure, these pictures are from 1996, but they are both so much cuter back then)!  The only thing washing my wallet did do was remind me that I need a new wallet, as it has been slowly falling apart over the last six months, but damn, I love that wallet!

And sure, a wallet in the laundry isn't a catastrophic moment for the day, I just thank God it wasn't my iPhone, so I continued my day.  Sunday newspaper - Check!  Breakfast - Check!  A quick TiVo through "Ebert & Roeper At the Movies" to see how they, or at least Richard Roeper, felt about the movies I saw this week - Check!  Let's keep working on the newspaper while watching "Battlestar Galactica" - No check.  It turns out my cable system didn't seem to want me watching the show even though my TiVo actually changed channels this time, leaving me with a "Searching for signal message," or something like that, for an hour on my TiVo.  Uggh!  Now I have to call Comcast this week, and that is always such a joy.

Breakfast done, Sunday paper done, laundry started, all that was left for my day was cleaning the first floor of The Dude-Pad.  The breakfast nook/storage area for my fish-tank cleaning and maintenance stuff went fine, I found a spot for an old radio in my kitchen which would work nicely when I cook my extravagant meals, and I was looking forward to rearranging some photos around my living room area, doing some much needed dusting, and it occurred to me that I had an old photo I wanted to hang up but needed a frame that I knew I could pick up when I went to either A) The hardware store where I needed to pick up a new set of blinds for my living room window, or 2) Even at the grocery store while getting sustenance supplies for the week.

I measure the blinds I would need, 51 inches wide, I have my grocery list, I head out in the Dude-Mobile to the Home Depot, buy blinds that are 51 inches wide, and they even have three-packs of air filters for my furnace!  Bonus!!  I get to the grocery store, my shopping is complete, and then I get home.  I look down and there is the picture I needed a frame for that I didn't buy.  Alright, let's move on.  I bought liquid soap for my kitchen and bathroom dispensers, only to find the bathroom one seems to have issues, necessitating an improvising for some fixing, therefore slowing down my cleaning schedule, and before I cleaned my living room I figured hanging the new blinds would be the first step.  I'm up on a stool, the old blinds are down, the new blinds are up, and then I realized I couldn't walk around naked in my living room (not like I ever do, but I like knowing I have the option), because although the blinds I bought were wide enough, sadly I didn't pay attention to the length.  Uggghhhhh!  I was finally spent, too many things wrong, let's just watch cars driving left so I watched the end of the NASCAR race to clear my mind and said to myself, "Self, the living room cleaning will wait until another day.  I've had it."

So, resting on my couch, watching cars go round and round and then crashing, I didn't think my day could get any more into "I should have just stayed in bed" mode until my bed sheets came out of the dryer, and as I went to put one of my pillows back into a pillow case, the pillow case tore in places I can't even figure out how to mend.  Uggggghhhhh, again.

So, my Sunday, which was supposed to be all about me, turned into, still, all about me, but not like I pictured.  I washed my wallet, my cable company doesn't want me watching "Battlestar Galactica," I can't walk around in my living room naked, and I was reminded I need a new wallet and bed linens.  It is, as a day progresses like this, that I sort of wish I had a girlfriend, like Jewel, who would just utter the simple line, "Come on darlin', let's go back to bed."

I will say, that today, I did at least mount the bust of a moose, or maybe a reindeer, on my wall, but tomorrow will be Monday, and oh, that looks so promising, and I mean that in a totally sarcastic way.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:11 PM | Comments (0)

April 24, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Lee Elia Rants, Carly Smithson is Booted, and RIP Kenneth Keith Kallenbach.

After hearing about the passing of Kenneth Keith Kallenback during The Howard Stern Show this morning, The Dude on the Right realized he actually has a "blowing smoke through his eyes" story, and doesn't do his best to tell the tale during this podcast. He does, though, warn you as you are listening that you might want to watch your podcast volume during his visiting of the Lee Elia tirade about Chicago Cubs' fans. The Dude is also happy TV is back in full bloom, happy that Carly Smithson is finally off "American Idol," and is looking forward to seeing Neil Diamond as the A.I. mentor next week.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:01 PM | Comments (0)

April 22, 2008

It is Andrew Lloyd Webber Week. Shouldn't We Be Paying Attention to the Pennsylvania Election Results?

By: The Dude on the Right
So as a good American I suppose I should probably be hunkered down watching the Pennsylvania Primary Results to see if Hillary Clinton somehow pulls out a chance to solidly beat Barack Obama if only to further confuse who will be the Democratic nominee for President, but, dammit, it is Tuesday night, it is "American Idol" night, and there is more important voting going on in just about an hour.  Sure, it is Andrew Lloyd Webber Week for A.I., and Andrew Lloyd Webber is fantastic, legendary, a mega-force when it comes to musicals, and fine, I'll admit it, I'm a fan of "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Cats."  Hell, I even saw "Cats" on Broadway back in 1985, although part of it is blurry as we took a high school bus ride from Ohio to New York City, and since I can't sleep on moving transportation and "Cats" was the first play we saw out there the evening we arrived, let's just say I was nodding off during part of it, at least I think so.  Man, some of those memories are blurry now, and unless my mind is really messed up, we also saw "Noises Off" out there, which I can still watch today and laugh my ass off if done even close to right.  But I digress.

So as much as I do appreciate the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, maybe the "American Idol" folks realize no one there has the personality/performance quality to make it as a pop singer so they're trying to see if they can make some money with them on the Broadway stage.  Maybe Andrew Lloyd Webber will actually get these shlubs to be performers, but I'm still praying for "Bruce Springsteen Week" when he can teach this group about performing, and then Artie Lange from The Howard Stern Show, now that he reneged on his resignation, will have to answer to this equation:  Bruce Springsteen + American Idol = Ball Shocking.

Enough reminiscing, enough praying, let's see how our last six folks sing...

Syesha Mercado
 - Sings - "One Rock 'n Roll Too Many"
 - My prediction is that even though she sings nice enough, and she is trying to perform it as if she were on stage, she's the first singer of the night and only her diehard fans will stick by and vote for her.  Sadly, or maybe happily, she has shown she will be able to make it on Broadway, just not the pop/Idol scene.

Jason Castro
 - Sings - "Memory"
 - This is not a song for "laid-back"-ness, which Jason Castro is all about.  The thing is that people who know the song (like me), will probably think it sucked, but fans who have no concept of the song might actually love it.  He needed to hit the "Jesus Christ Superstar" soundtrack and become Jesus, rather than singing anything from "Cats."  Horrible song choice.

Brook White
 - Sings - "You Must Love Me"
 - Does "forgetting the song" lend her to the bottom of the pack?  Does singing a Madonna song save her?  Once she got over forgetting the lyrics she did okay, but the performance aspect waivered.  Paula seemed crushed, Simon was correct about the stopping thing, and now we will see how strong her fan base really is.

David Archuleta
 - Sings - "Think of Me", I think.
 - So Andrew Lloyd Webber gave David the best bit of advice ever - to open his eyes, and yet he can't.  I guess he's a squinty dude who can sing well, but still lacks the performance skills because if the dude just approached the front of the stage, worked the girls in the front row, he would have shown everyone that he is better than just a good singer.  Simon again is correct.  David has to break out his shell and be a performer - quit standing in the center of the stage.

Carly Smithson
- Sings - "Superstar"
- This song fits in her wheelhouse, but there is still something about her that makes her "over-the-top" for the show.  She still shouts too much, she still seems to have this attitude of "I deserve to win this," and this song was probably a better choice for her, even though I still didn't like it that much.

David Cook
 - Sings "Music of the Night"
 - Yea, fine, you could be on Broadway, too.  You will probably stick around for another week, and at least you seem to try and work the crowd a bit, but you have shown that there isn't a pop-idol in this group.

Let's wrap this up...

Great, this week has shown that we've got six people who could probably be on Broadway, but not one of them has shown that they have the star power to be a pop singer.  Sorry, but I really don't care that much about these people anymore.  We don't need Mariah, we don't need Broadway, now we just need to see if these people can perform, and as I have been re-iterating from week to week, we really need a performing mentor for these folks.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 9:15 PM | Comments (0)

April 21, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Movie Talk, Artie Lange Talk, End of the World Talk, "Survivor" Talk, and more Talk.

The Dude on the Right is flying solo for this "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast, mostly because of his own fault, but he still tries to blame Stu Gotz a bit even while he talks about penis and "Forgetting Sarah Marshall." The Dude also talks some martial arts with the movie "The Forbidden Kingdom," how he is happy Artie Lange is back on The Howard Stern Show," that the end of the world is coming, and last week might have been the best tribal council on "Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites." The Dude also gives his tribute, sort of, to Pope Benedict coming to the United States of America.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:11 PM | Comments (0)

April 20, 2008

At First I Wondered "What Was I Thinking?" An Hourish Later My Legs Weren't Screaming "Frack!"

By: The Dude on the Right
Today was one of those weird days when I had everything planned.  My normal morning routine would easily be in place, complete with starting laundry, reading the Sunday Chicago Tribune while eating breakfast, and, at the same time, catching up some some TiVo viewing.  Okay, I realized I still can't seem to get recording the new "Battlestar Galactica" correct, muttered "What the frack!", then tried to set up a season pass I screwed up before, hoping it didn't miss this week's episode forever, or at least until the DVD season comes out.

But my Sunday also had a lot of errand-running planned, which, I know, is kind of lame, but the Sunday also had planned a one hour walk in my favorite Springbrook Prairie Forest Preserve.  I was sort of curious to see how things were looking after they torched the place a few weeks back, except with a slight wind blowing from the northwest I knew heading north would make my walk back a little easier so I wouldn't get to see the result of the torchness.  And I'm walking, and I'm walking, and I get to the thirty minute mark and realize that I'm feeling good, my legs feel spry, I've got over half a bottle of water left, and I say to myself, "Self, why don't you just do the entire loop?  Why turn back now?"  Then I said to myself, "Self, What the hell are you thinking?  Do you realize that it will add another hour to this walk and your Sunday is already scripted."  Then I said to myself, "Self, it's a gorgeous day, with a slight breeze, and it hasn't started to heat up yet."  Then I said to myself "Self, shut the hell up.  We're going for the six miles."  Yes, I'm nuts.

And so I did my first six-mile walk of the year and it felt great.  I mean, my legs didn't get fatigued, I planned my water drinking properly, and it was actually more refreshing walking into the slight breeze on the backside of the loop than letting the breeze bring me home.  I also got to see that the crispy prairie was starting to turn green, the recent warm weather has instantly put trees into budding mode, and sure, there might be one more cold snap, or a crappy day or five here, but it looks like we have really, finally, turned the corner into the Spring and Summer season.

And also and, the walk was not perfect because there was one miscalculation, especially since my original plan didn't include a six mile, one hour and fifty minute walk, and that was I was wearing jeans.  I woke up this morning, didn't get myself a gun, didn't figure for the six mile walk, and haven't put myself back into "shorts mode" yet, so I pulled on my Levi's, put on a t-shirt, embraced the subtle, slight chill in the air, not thinking that less than two hours later I would be a little sweatier than I planned, had people on the trail looking at me like "What the hell is that dude wearing jeans for?", but you know what, at the end of it all, I got to see some deer frolicking in the prairie, and sure, you can't see the mallard in the upper picture of the pond but I did (I so have to bring my better camera gear), and the burnt prairie is starting to sprout grass.

So what if my running errands were bumped by about an hour.  So what if I was the dork wearing jeans on a six mile walk.  And so what if my iPhone photos aren't up to my normal standard.  It was a beautiful day, it was great to enjoy it, and it's almost time to get my white, pasty legs in some shorts.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 8:30 PM | Comments (0)

April 17, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Kristy, Priscilla, and a Cougar are Gone. But Not Google.

The Dude on the Right is in a lamenting mood for this podcast. First he's sad that Kristy Lee Cook got booted from "American Idol," then he really doesn't care that Priscilla Presley got booted but is still sad that Adam Corolla was knocked out of "Dancing With the Stars" competition, he is a little torn that a cougar got shot to death in Chicago, but what makes him most sad is that Google profits makes him remember that he could be worth about $50 million bucks.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:49 PM | Comments (0)

April 16, 2008

The Gloves are, Umm, Sort of Off?

The Gloves are, Umm, Sort of Off?

By: The Dude on the Right
So as I'm updating some stories over on the "Mostly Entertainment" site while I'm waiting to see who is getting booted from "American Idol," I've got the Democratic debate between "Crazy Eyes" Clinton and "Don't Call Me Osama" Obama on, and as far as I can tell it's still the same old crap: A question is given, the candidate responds and then somehow shifts their answer to because I will help "Bring back the troops," "Save the economy," or "Fix health care," no matter what the question was. Just once I would like some fire and brimstone, and one of them, or at least in this case Barack, to just slam back "Who taught you how to down a shot.", or Hillary to blast "Nice bowling form."

At this phase I almost just really want "down and dirty."  John McCain is just kind of floating around, like "La, la, la, you know what, if I am President I'm going to get rid of the gas tax!  Won't that be swell!"  Why, because right now he has no competition, he doesn't know who he is running against, and he just needs to try to stay in the news.  Hillarity and Barackability keep going back and forth, subtlety trying to say "I'm better than they are, nyah, nyah, nyah!", but deep in their heart don't you really want to know what they really might want to say, something like:

"You're Pastor is an idiot."
"Oh yea, let me go and videotape your Pastor for a bunch of sermons."
"Well, your wife is finally happy to be an American."
"Yea, well your hubby got his pickle whistled right under your nose."
"Fine, I hate 'Crown Royal.'  That's why I didn't down it."
"Me neither, you know why?  It's from Canada!"
"Ha, ha, ha, ha!"
"Look, let's just go to the corner bar and get a shot.  You in?"
"You got it buddy.  What do you suggest?"
"The old Number 7, a shot of Jack Daniels."
"Ummmmmm, Jack Daniels."
"You do know why the bottle is square?"
"No, why?"
"So that when you get pulled over by the cops it doesn't roll out from under your car seat."
"Wow, that's cool.  How did you learn that?"
"In colle.. I mean, on the internet.  Yea, on the internet.  Man they've got a lot of good information there.  So truthful."
"Look, I'm sorry about that 'elitist' remark."
"Yea, I'm just sorry I wasn't a better bowler."
Both together: "Over the lips and through the gums, look out America here we come!"

Look, that is a joke, but everyone, in a Presidential race, especially as I have been paying somewhat attention to these races over the years, just tries to tell us what they think we want to hear.  For a change I really wish someone would quit with the posturing and just be a real person.  The sad thing is that person has no chance to win.

And if Hillary plugs her website once more during this debate, I'm going to puke.

I've got to go now and see who gets booted from "American Idol."

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 8:37 PM | Comments (0)

April 15, 2008

It's "Mariah Carey is in The House!" in Your Best Randy Jackson Impression Week

By: The Dude on the Right
I used to be a fan of Mariah Carey back in her singing days, when she was soulful and just different enough from Whitney Houston to make me like them both.  Now she seems to be a lot more about club and dance music, but I guess that's where the money is at.  She's the mentor of this sad-sack of singers, and, fine, most of them aren't sad sacks, but most of them really need to learn how to perform because they can already sing.  I wonder if Kristy Lee Cook will turn a Mariah song into a country song... I guess we'll find out as the show goes along.

Let's go...

David Archuleta
 - Sings - "When You Believe" by Mariah/Whitney?
 - Mariah thinks his singing is just beautiful, and David keeps things slow, which has become his forte.  Nice leather pants, he knows his element and is working it (though I would like to see him branch out and try to rock).  Right now the biggest problem I have with him is he can't open up his eyes enough to look like he is confident.  He's a squinty guy.  Hopefully being first won't hurt him so people don't forget about him by the end of the night.

Carly Smithson
- Sings - "Without You" by Badfinger/Harry Nilsson
- She covered up the tattoo, which is nice, and she picked a song that isn't really a Mariah song which lets her sort of get out the shadow of Mariah for us older folks.  She did good, looks better tonight as a singer, but this is a song that needs a performance, which she didn't give.  Her hope is that Mom's are remember this song from its original heyday, and vote for her.

Syesha Mercado
 - Sings - "Vanishing" by, well, Mariah Carey
 - Sings nice enough, but this song doesn't lead one to be a performer.  I think I'm stuck on the performer part because so far, for the many weeks, no one is looking to be one.  She's "whoa, a whoa, a whoa-ing" all over the place, but even though she sang nice enough, where is the being a star?

Brook White
 - Sings - "Hero" by, umm, Mariah Carey
 - Boo hoo, so your sister didn't plan her wedding properly to not interfere with your being on "American Idol" plans.  She kept it in a key she could sing, did the smart thing and stuck herself at the piano, which I liked but don't know if the public will like it.  She sang nice enough, but there are only a few piano players who can connect with an audience, and she's not there yet.  And she still won't shut the hell up when the judges give their opinions, and now there is some kind of reference to a juicy burger in a bun.  Hmm?

Kristy Lee Cook
 - Sings - "Forever" by, let me guess, Mariah Carey
 - What the hell kind of hug was that, the one she gave to Mariah?  The key seems to be to sing songs no one knows on Mariah Carey night, which makes us not give a damn.  You know what, we want to compare these people to Mariah Carey, and we want them to sing Mariah songs we know even if they are from over ten years ago.  She still looks good, the performance was bland, but I don't mind her sticking around because, well, she is purty and probably has a nice career ahead of her on the country side if she doesn't screw it up.

David Cook
 - Sings "Always Be My Baby" by damn, Mariah Carey, again.
 - Yup, the dudes do have it easier this night because there is no way we want to compare them to Mariah.  His problem is the key seems wrong, just a tad too low, so he can't punch it up to the level this song could be.  He tried to do it at the end, but it's either too flat or too sharp (I always had problems figuring that out).  Sorry David, Daughtry would have done this right.  I guess it sounded better in the studio because Simon, Paula, and Randy loved it.  I found him droning. 

Jason Castro
 - Sings - "I Don't Wanna Cry" by, who would have guessed, Mariah Carey.
 - Good enough, especially for the last song so everyone will remember him, but as nice as it sounded I found him boring as hell.  It must sound better in the studio than on TV because even Simon like him.

Let's wrap this up...

I'm past the singing part because all of us know these folks can sing otherwise how in the hell did they get here, and thankfully Kristy Lee Cook seems to have gotten over her "not being able to sing" stage and is starting to dress hotter, but the bad part about this year is none of them are transforming themselves into performers.  The other crappy part is that they don't need a singing mentor, like Mariah Carey, pimping her new album, nope, these boys and girls actually need someone who can teach them to the next level, of how to touch the audience, and as much as I've been pimping Bruce Springsteen showing up on "American Idol," I'm thinking Neil Diamond, who has a new album coming out that he can promote, might not be that bad a choice, either.  Skip the "Here's how to sing" crap, let's get to "Here's how to perform."

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 8:33 PM | Comments (1)

April 12, 2008

But on What Occasion Would I Wear a "MILF Island" T-Shirt?

By: The Dude on the Right
So I'm watching the TV show "30 Rock," as I am wont to do because I enjoy it, and the episode dealt partly with the "finale" of "MILF Island," with "20 super-hot moms, 50 kids, and no rules," and the first part of me, as a fan of "Survivor," knew that if there was actually a TV show called "MILF Island," I'm sure I would be watching.  The second part of me knows, now that NBC has screwed it up and probably copyrighted the concept somehow, FOX won't be able to actually make it a series, nor will CBS, who did their own exploitation of children with "Kid Nation" and all they would have to do would be add some super-hot moms.

In any case the episode of "30 Rock" made me laugh, but then quickly reminded me that I am old.  Why?  They advertised that you could actually buy a "MILF Island" t-shirt, I found that very funny, and I even thought of jumping online to order one.  Then I quickly caught myself saying "Self, you're not in college anymore, even though you may think you are.  Where in the hell do you think you could actually pull off wearing a 'MILF Island' t-shirt?"  And in listening to myself I realized there isn't any place in the entire Universe where I could pull off wearing that t-shirt, although it would be sort of funny to try, especially if I could be a fly on the wall, listening to the comments wearing it had brought about.

I might still buy it anyway since I need a new t-shirt to wear while I'm exercising at home, and I know that every time I would look in the mirror while wearing it, well, it will make me laugh, but could I wear it in public?  Maybe I should just buy one for Stu Gotz. I'm sure he would wear it, out in public, and be able to make the ladies laugh.  He has that way.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 6:20 PM | Comments (0)

April 10, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Artie Lange, Tiger Woods, and Paula Abdul. How About That Mix?

Lucky for The Dude on the Right he was listening to the West Coast Feed of The Howard Stern Show, so he was able to hear the entire Artie Lange meltdown, resigns, quits episode during the show, especially since it appears Howard might have put the nix on the replays of the show during the rest of the day. With no new information on the fate of Artie Lange, during his Thursday podcast, The Dude talks about it, doesn't relate his theories on what is going on well, but there will probably never be another day when "Artie Lange" and "Stern Fan Network" are #1 and #2 on Google Trends. Tiger Woods and The Masters were dropped in rankings, thanks to Artie, and from The Dude's observation, Kristy Lee Cook did not have a nip-slip during last Tuesday's "American Idol." Neither did Paula Abdul, but the podcast does have a new edition of "Paula Abdul Clips of the Week."

Posted by Rightdude at 6:58 PM | Comments (0)

April 8, 2008

It's "Inspirational Song" Week - Oh I Hope Someone Sings "Gonna Fly Now!"

By: The Dude on the Right
Because this is the week we are supposed to give money to the "American Idol" crusade of "Idol Gives Back," to make them look or maybe just feel better about themselves even though the Idol folks, Fox, and AT&T are making boatloads of money off of us just by our watching and texting in our votes, (can you sense my bitterness at their crusade), this week our contestants will be singing "Inspirational Songs."  I'm wondering if one of them will really put the concept over the top and sing "You're the Inspiration" by Chicago.  I'll guess we'll just have to wait and see and then, tomorrow, give all of our money to "Idol Gives Back" instead of paying our mortgage, because who pays their mortgage nowadays even though they have a big-screen TV to watch "American Idol."  Can you still sense my bitterness in their having a charity and asking us to give them money?

Anyway, let's go...

Michael Johns
 - Sings - "Dream On" by Aerosmith
 - Good song choice for him, but he's no Steven Tyler.  Any singing issues could get tossed aside if he was a better performer, with a better outfit.  He so needed to work the crowd better, somehow.  And Paula won't shut up.  Please let her keep it up, this could be a banner week for Paula quotes.

Syesha Mercado
 - Sings - "I Believe" by Fantasia
 - So, let's suck up based on a previous Idol contestant, that I would say a majority doesn't know her music anyway.  Again, singing well enough, she did hit the high note, but I don't think she performed or connected with the crowd the way she needed to in order to make her a star.

Jason Castro
 - Sings - "Over the Rainbow" the Israel Kamakawiwo'ole version.
 - I'll leave out the "Meet Joe Black" reference, and the fact that I know the version he is doing first because of the radio dude Steve Dahl, and the fact that you would never picture a dude like Iz singing this song, which is actually wrapped with "A Wonderful World," but Jason did a version consistent to the surfer dude he portrays, and Iz would probably be proud.  Too bad he didn't have enough time to do the full version Israel does - do yourself a favor and get Israel's version from his "Facing the Future" album on iTunes.  Make sure you get the right version with both songs.

Kristy Lee Cook
 - Sings - "Anyway" by Martina McBride
 - Sticks with the totally country side, which works for her, but unless the country fans rally behind her, this song might be her downfall because she still doesn't perform.  She sings well, she looks well, but I don't give a crap.  I guess I had to be there because she didn't come off as a performer which is where I think all of these folks need to now work now.

David Cook
 - Sings "Innocent" by Our Lady Peace
 - Can these people pick any more obscure songs?  What the hell are you doing?  He's probably got enough of a fan base to keep him here, but this is a song that is all over the place musically, the band and singers had no clue how to pull it off, and maybe it's one of his favorites, and I will give him credit for probably being the best performer so far, but this was just too all over the place.

Carly Smithson
- Sings - "The Show Must Go On" by Queen
- First off, how do you not tell the history of this song when Freddy Mercury was dying at the time he sang it.  Sure it's inspirational, but Freddy's story about this song is more inspiring.  She's a singer, she knows what she's doing, and she's got a fan base.  This will keep her floating around for a while, she overdid it, but if you want to know about this song, and the ending days of Queen, head to the Wikipedia article.

David Archuleta
 - Sings - "Angels" by Robbie Williams
 - I'll give the dude credit for pulling out songs that people won't really remember until the chorus, and then singing them nicely, and this week he almost put an "Elton John" vibe into his performance thanks to staying at the piano.  The thing though, is if you look at his eyes, he still looks a little lost, in a "How and why and I'm here?" mode.  With this performance, though, he's back to being the one to beat.

Brook White
 - Sings - "You've Got a Friend" by Carol King
 - She sings purty, she looks purty, and you can connect with her.  It was a nice, slow song, but she still doesn't shut up when the judges critique her.  There still seems to be the lacking of performance with her.

Let's wrap this up...

The week was about inspiration, no one sang "You're the Inspiration" or a song from a Rocky movie, and for the most part, none of them, sans David Cook, seems to know how perform outside the safety of the microphone stand.  Carly had a chance but she blew it, and if David Archuleta wins, I don't care what any commenters post, he seems to be trying to set himself up as the next Josh Groban instead of, well, being better than Josh.  Rumors give David's life a complicated story, which is perfect for "Oprah."  His goal should be to get there.

Real singers show up on tomorrow's "Idol Gives Back," or at least popular singers, and then we are back to these people who sing nice enough but can't perform.  Now I've got to go back to my TiVo to see who got booted from "Dancing With the Stars."

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 8:37 PM | Comments (0)

April 7, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! Prairie Fires, Movies, Dieting, and Poop.

Luckily The Dude on the Right wasn't engulfed in flames over the weekend, and Stu Gotz hasn't gotten the poop beaten out of him by Mama Gotz yet, so the boys are here for a "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast. With the weather being nice outside, both The Dude and Stu made the most of it by staying inside and watching movies. Also during the weekend, while The Dude was grilling a steak, it appears Mama Gotz was on a diet, at least according to Stu, (Why she's on a diet The Dude can't understand because he doesn't think she needs to lose any weight. Stu, on the other hand...) though the diet Mama Gotz is on might have failed to mention an important aspect prior to measuring your waistline.

Posted by Rightdude at 5:10 PM | Comments (0)

April 5, 2008

Spring has Come! Spring has come! Hallelujah! Spring has come!

By: The Dude on the Right
Let me repeat the title of the blog!  Spring has come!  Spring has come!  Hallelujah!  Spring has come!

Finally, after months and months of snow, cold, more snow, and a sneaky 60 degree day in January sparking warnings of "Here comes Global Warming!", it almost looks like Spring has sprung here in Chicagoland.  Sure, this is a time when, depending on the direction of the wind, Chicago proper can still find itself almost in winter temperatures, but out here in the suburbs, and with a southwest wind, all of us were enjoying temperatures in the 60's, just like a day in January, with a lot of sun.  It's the kind of day that reminds me of college, when a day like this, especially if it were a weekday, would cause many of us to venture through the roof hatch of the fraternity house and blow off classes, enjoying a welcome day of sun, an evening of coolness, and beverages provided by the father of one of the brothers.  And although this day reminded me of camaraderie on a roof, I took to enjoying it in other ways, namely being stuck indoors for a couple of hours watching a just okay movie called "Leatherheads," but making a point to enjoy the day with a walk in my favorite forest preserve, Springbrook Prairie, mostly because it's my closest forest preserve with a great walking trail, and  later sparking up the Weber for a nice steak.  The sparking up the Weber of the story will probably wait for my weekend wrap-up with Stu on Monday because of a Home Depot experience, but my walk made me wonder:

Why are they setting the Springbrook Prairie on fire, and why didn't I bring my real camera gear?

As I am wont to do sometimes, especially when the weather warms up, I like to pop in the headphones, fire up my iPod (which, I'm sorry, doesn't seem to have "random" but seems to have its own musical preference for the day because I only own one Smashing Pumpkins CD, "Siamese Dream," and with 13 songs it is about .205% of the music on my iPod, but Mr iPod decided it was in a "Smashing Pumpkins" mood, playing 3 songs from the CD in one hour, and not even "Disarm" which is actually why I bought the CD in the first place, and I'm sorry, I digress, back to fire).  So I start-up my iPod, start my walk, and see smoke in the air.  Yup, it is time for the prairie folks to do controlled burns, and as I am continuing my walk I wonder why.  I mean, come on, this prairie preserve is pretty big, yet for some reason the forest preserve powers that be seem to burn part of it every year?  My desire for finding out why will have to come later, when I get home, but as I'm walking, in the distance is a pack, a group, oh hell, a bunch of deer.  They seem confused, they are grouped outside of the fire zone, seeming to look at each other saying "What the hell is going on?"  And then the moment of wishing I had my camera gear came because even though I tried to snap a picture of the deer with my camera phone it came out like crap, so it isn't here.  The deer were jumping, scrambling, and looking for a place to get away from the smoke and fire, and with my real camera, well, I might have had a nice shot.  Instead I've got these few photos of the work the forest preserve is doing to make a meandering creek, how the prairie is still in "We're just getting over the winter" mode, and lots of smoke over the prairie, complete with the edge of my finger.

Missing a great picture of the frolicking deer aside, it was great to finally get back to the forest preserve this year because as much as movies are sometimes an escape from reality, there are portions of the trail when you can look and not see civilization, except, of course, today, when they were setting it on fire.

I did do some looking as to why they do these controlled burns, and as much as a Minneapolis site seems to have the best explanation, the site for the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, which owns the Springbrook Prairie, does state “The District uses prescription burns, in part, to remove invasive, nonnative vegetation. This improves conditions for native species, which possess a natural advantage, having evolved to coexist with fire.”  Now I just wonder how I can evolve to coexist with fire.  Wouldn't that be cool?

Sometimes I wish God had made a place as perfect as Chicago on a high 60/low 70 degree day.  Oh wait, I think he did, it's called San Diego (Big Cooter, it might be time to plan, for us, you're 5th year wedding anniversary party), but you know what, at least our prairie fires are controlled, usually.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:06 PM | Comments (0)

April 3, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: An NKOTB Warning, Adam's Still Dancing, and Paula Abdul Clips of the Week!

Even though The Dude on the Right is kind of lonely, he does find the time to put together another podcast complete with a quick warning about the return of NKOTB. Boy bands unite! Warning aside, most of his podcast is about TV with the return of "Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites," no London Bachelor, the booting of Steve Guttenberg while Julianne Hough is wearing too many clothes on "Dancing With the Stars," but, most importantly, The Dude got off his ass, or at least paid attention to his TiVo, and brings back "Paula Abdul Clips of the Week!"

Posted by Rightdude at 6:25 PM | Comments (0)

April 1, 2008

As Much As I Love Dolly, These Singers Need Bruce.

By: The Dude on the Right
Tonight's mentor was Dolly Parton, and I know if I were there as a contestant I would be screwed because rather than listening to anything she said I would be just mesmerized with her, umm, voice.  Yea, her voice.  The only thing I would be focusing on would be her big, giant, voice.

In any case, these contestants overcame Dolly's voices, I mean voice, and here's how I thought they did. (And, yes, the opening "April Fool's Joke" during the she show was really lame.  If they really wanted to do it right they would have teamed up with ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" and have millions of people wondering what was wrong with their TV sets.)

Let's go...

Brooke White
 - Sings - "Jolene"
 - A great song for her, and as much as I like her doing the acoustic guitar thing I think she would be more potent if she wasn't sitting on the stool and able to "work" this song more.  She's already got the fan-base so I don't think it will hurt her, but for "American Idol" this needed to be a "performance" song.

David Cook
 - Sings "Little Sparrow"
 - So David, this week, decides to actually do his own arrangement, and Dolly had nice things to say about it.  The country fans might not like it, I did, and although the singing was off a bit at time, who the hell cares?  His confidence is growing and it shows, and for him, I hate to say it, but like a dude named Daughtry, it might be better if he loses.

Ramiele Malubay
 - Sings - "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind"
 - She sings nice enough, but what a wrong genre for her to be in after last week's issues.  She's not country, and she's not rock and roll; I think she needs a "Rihanna Week" to pull her out of her funk.  Sadly she will probably be gone by that night because even though I like her spunk, but she still seems scared.

Jason Castro
 - Sings - "Travelin' Through"
 - Simple enough song, but I don't think he has the fan base to keep him going much longer.  For me I can't envision him on a big stage, but rather doing a lot of acoustic shows in the smaller clubs, with fans that love him.  He hasn't shown himself to be able to command a 20,000 seater, on a big old stage.

Carly Smithson
- Sings - "Here You Come Again"
- This might sound wrong, sexist, or whatever, but she doesn't have the look to pull off this song.  Sure, her voice is good enough, but this song doesn't seem to to in her genre of music.  Randy and Paula (especially Paula) really liked her, but Simon had his issues.  I agree with Simon.

David Archuleta
 - Sings - "Smokey Mountain Memories"
 - Dolly really loves him, she almost even cried.  Damn, I really like this young dude, and even though his voice cracked a bit, on the slow songs he seems to be fantastic.  I still, wish, that he would do something up-tempo to see if can turn into a true performer instead of just wowing the dudettes.

Kristy Lee Cook
 - Sings - "Coat of Many Colors"
 - Please tell me she is going to get off her butt and sing this song to the audience because she is singing great enough in the country genre.  Okay, she got up, and is still singing nice enough, but she needs to learn a lot about performing, and if she wanted to get any mentoring from Dolly it would be how to be a performer and not a singer - if I were her, for this song, I would ask Dolly how I could touch her, umm audiences.  Sadly Kristy was boring as usual.

Syesha Mercado
 - Sings - "I Will Always Love You"
 - She sings purty enough, and I like her sitting on the piano.  She comes across better looks-wise this week, but I really wish she could have pulled off getting her butt off the piano for the ending of the song to really blast it out for the crowd.  She almost had a chance to blow this song out of the house, but instead just sang it.

Michael Johns
 - Sings - "It's All Wrong, But It's All Right"
 - As much as I didn't like a lot of his carrying on with this song, as a "performer" and not a singer he was probably the best of the night, and since Paula talked to long, and my TiVo flipped to "Dancing With the Stars" and "The Biggest Loser," I'm not sure what Simon said.  Doesn't matter, he did great and should stick around until next week when I can re-adjust my TiVo Season Passes so Idol doesn't get clipped.

Let's wrap this up...

The thing that sort of makes me sad is that pretty much everyone on the show right now is great, or at least good singers, but only a few of them seem to have the personalities to be performers.  Every one of them you can picture singing in a smaller club, with a group of fans, but none of them have shown the step to the next level.  I suppose Dolly Parton week wasn't the time to see that (although a lot of them should have gotten tips from her about being a performer rather than a singer), but if the "American Idol" folks want to truly groom any of these kids, bring on a Bruce Springsteen as a two-week mentor to help them become a small-club person, which most of them already are, to a stadium rocker, which he is.  Pimp The Beatles if you must, but teach them Springsteen or The Rolling Stones.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 8:22 PM | Comments (0)

March 31, 2008

The Cubs Still Suck, but Is It "Lets" or "Let's"?

By: The Dude on the Right

Another year. Another Cubs' Home Opener. Another day of crappy weather.

Alright, fine, in the history of Home Openers, today's weather wasn't that crappy, but a couple of rain delays didn't help the mood, again working to convince me that I need to stop going to Opening Day for the Chicago Cubs, that is, until next year.  And even though my Mondays are usually set aside for podcasts, I'm not in the mood to talk mostly because I will probably do bad things like pronounce Fukudome wrong, or get into a tirade about the help a member of the County Sheriff's department gets when his car overheats (fine, maybe it was on fire, but from the vapor escaping under the hood at the time it didn't look like a fire, but it was enough to warrant two State troopers, a Chicago roller closing an entrance ramp, a couple of IDOT trucks, and an emergency vehicle, all of which caused a traffic delay that caused me to have to risk my car in a lot near Wrigley Field, paying more to park than for my ticket, and I better get off of this subject right now before I really get myself in trouble.  See, I don't need to talk to get into a tirade!).

So today I'm not podcasting, I'm actually writing about how my horoscope was sort of correct, when, as I read it this morning it stated:  "Something weird will catch your eye today. You will find yourself attracted to this weird thing like a magnet is attracted to a refrigerator door."  The surprising thing is that there wasn't one thing weird (at least in my eyes), catching my eyes today, but rather two.

One is simple, and it occurred with where we were sitting, but quickly I noticed three dudettes paying attention to the game and filling in their scorecards, and I think what surprised me most was that these dudettes weren't tween girls being taught how to pay attention to baseball by their fathers, and they weren't blue-haired dudettes, carefully paying attention to every play.  Nope, these dudettes were college-age (at least I'm assuming because they looked like college girls, and were drinking beer), and they seemed to want to make sure their scorecards were filled in properly, especially the one sitting behind us, who got slightly confused when the Milwaukee Brewers had their pitcher bat in the 8th spot, and conferred with my buddy, The Dude on the Left, for the correct scoring of the inning.  Baseball chicks, old style.  Gotta love it!

The other weird thing that really caught my eye, and had me obsessing about it, was that today there was the unveiling of the Ernie Banks' statue outside of Wrigley Field, and as I saw the presentation on the TV at Sluggers, there, engraved on the side of the base of the statue, was the saying "Lets play two."  I didn't see an apostrophe and then I  began obsessing on if it should be "Lets" or "Let's," and wondering if maybe I just missed seeing the apostrophe.  So, after the game, while we were walking around the ballpark and in front of the statue, I made the effort to confirm what I saw, and engraved on the statue base was "Lets play two," at least I think so, unless I was hallucinating.  Now I am obsessed if "Lets" should be "Let's," or "Lets" is okay as "Lets."  My damn horoscope was right.

And on a third note, other than Fukudome hitting that three-run homer to tie the game, the other most entertaining part about the game was watching the ground's crew, their attempt at rolling up the tarp after the second rain-delay (it was very funny to watch, and I think they might need a little more Spring training), and their creating what looked like Egyptian hieroglyphics on the dirt in the infield.  Both The Dude on the Left and I think their has to be a more efficient way to accomplish what they attempted to do, and could be done complete with maybe some sponsoring from a company like ChemLawn.

Another Chicago Cubs home opener.  Another loss.  At least it didn't snow.  And who are these baseball scorecard keeping dudettes?  It's another year of baseball!  Let's play two!  Or should that be "Lets play two!"  Who cares, it just means Spring is hear, at least sort of!

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 10:21 PM | Comments (0)

March 30, 2008

What to Write About: The Upcoming Cubs' Home Opener, or the Sirius-XM Merger?

By: The Dude on the Right
I was debating on whether to blog about going to the Cubs’ Home Opener tomorrow, or satellite radio. Sure, the two topics are at the opposite ends of the spectrum, and since I’m not really looking forward to the ballgame because of the weather I suppose, later this week, I’ll write about another Cubs’ Home Opener with crappy weather. That leaves this blog to wondering if I’m nuts questioning why there has been such opposition to the Sirius-XM merger, even after the Justice Department gave the initial go-ahead. This comes about after reading a story about how 11 state attorneys general want the FCC to put restrictions upon letting the two companies merge.

The story I read references the restrictions of making the merged Sirius sell interoperable radios, an a la carte basis of paying for channels, and the most bizarre, divesting some radio spectrum to allow another competitor into the business, and my wondering comes from my own experience the last time I drove home to the middle of Ohio from my dude-pad near Chicago and because even though I’m a Sirius subscriber, the satellite folks were in competition during the entire day, as they always are.

My trip home began on a Thursday, at about 1PM, which for me means that I was done listening to the West Coast feed of The Howard Stern Show. I listen to the West Coast feed because in the mornings, prior to the 8AM start time, I jump between Steve Dahl and Jonathan Brandmeier, depending on what they are talking about, and even after 8, if Howard isn’t on something that interests me, I’m now bouncing between the three of them. Mornings aside, on my drive, from 1PM to 2PM, I found myself listening to the Stern Wrap-Up Show, leaving me to 2PM where now that Dahl is in the mornings, I’m listening to Roe Conn on the AM dial of my car because I enjoy him more than anything "talk" on Sirius in the afternoon. The problem is that, during the day, the WLS signal only gets me to about the Ohio-Indiana border while driving, leaving me this time with the competition decision of music on some of the Sirius channels or my own music on my iPhone, but you know what, this time I was in the mood for my own music so I put my iPhone into its car dock and listened to my music for the rest of the trip. In the span of the thirteen hours, starting when I woke up, my choices went from two radio personalities I enjoy on my FM dial, to listening to my satellite radio, to listening to music on my iPhone, and then arriving in my homestead driveway and saying "Hello, Mom!"

I guess, at some issue, restricting the merger is supposed to protect consumers and preserve competition, as the article states, but as far as competition, maybe it’s just because I’m lucky that I live in a city with such a great AM/FM radio spectrum (most of which you can actually get streaming on the internet), and I own an iPod-style product, so for me the competition is already there. And as far as protecting the consumer, satellite radio is not a necessity, for anyone, so if there is an issue of protecting consumers I would think Sirius, as an entity designed to hopefully make money some day, knows the price points that people will be willing to pay for their service. Trust me, as much as I like Howard Stern, if suddenly, after the merger, they say getting Howard will cost me forty bucks a month it will be "Goodbye Sirius, hello podcasts!"

But what I find most bizarre is the request of giving up some radio spectrum so someone else can become a competitor in the business. My question is "Why?" After seeing how Sirius and XM have had a hell of a time becoming profitable in competition, who in their right mind would think "Hey, there’s some satellite radio spectrum available! I can program radio better than the already established Sirius. Do you see how popular that Hannah Montana chick is? It will be all Hannah Montana, all of the time, from space! Let’s build a satellite!" Instead, if you really want to protect the consumers, I’m thinking you would leave Sirius with the spectrum satellite radio was envisioned with so they could expand services for the consumer, like the video-in-car system they are rolling out, and incorporating the real-time traffic on your navigation system XM has. And you know what, if they are a smart company, they will develop ways to use the extra spectrum, at a reasonable price, so that consumers win, and the company wins.

I was happy to finally read the Justice Department approved the merger, but surprised to read nearly a dozen attorneys generals now want restrictions. Maybe they don’t have the competition I have in my radio listening because their normal radio sucks, they don’t have an iPod with their own music (Dudes, and maybe dudettes, my 81 year old mom has an iPod), or maybe they don’t realize people are paying for programming, not necessity.

I will say I like the idea of a la carte pricing, but as far as competition, it’s already there. And far as protecting the consumer I would like to think Sirius’ mission statement isn’t "Let’s screw over the customer and drive this company into the ground." I’m thinking, right now, their mission statement should be "We will do everything we can to get Howard Stern, and hell, if this merger gets approved, even Oprah and Opie & Anthony, signed on for five more years after their current contracts are up. Hopefully they won’t want too much of a raise."

People generally need electricity - they "pay" for satellite radio, and will only pay when they find it beneficial and doesn’t cost too much. Attorneys general, maybe you should be worrying about gas prices, about your housing markets (especially you, Mr. Ohio), not something I will, or will not, pay for.

Sorry this blog is so long - I get long-winded sometimes, especially when I don't want the government messing up something I enjoy, like choosing between my local radio personalities, my satellite radio, and my own music preferences.  And damn it, there's a part of me that would like the option to listen to the Oprah channel.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 6:55 PM | Comments (1)

March 28, 2008

You Don't Need "Earth Hour," You Just Need My Mom.

By: The Dude on the Right
So, tomorrow, Saturday, March 29th, from 8PM to 9PM, if I want to participate in "Earth Hour," I'm supposed to turn off all of my lights, but what confuses me is that at the Earth Hour web site there is a link of what to do when the lights are off, but the link doesn't really tell me anything to do during that hour.  And with turning off the lights are they expecting me to also turn off my TV and my computers, which I consider essential appliances?  And with turning off the lights, and as they add, non-essential appliances, which must not include my TV nor computers because I consider them essential, I think my microwave oven is hard-wired so how am I supposed to turn that off?  And with turning off the lights and non-essential appliances (except my microwave), yet leaving my computer and TV on because I consider them essential, and changing to energy efficient bulbs, what if, during that hour when I'm trying to change my light bulbs, I drop one of those new compact fluorescent bulbs, thereby releasing toxic mercury into the air, how am I supposed to see what I am supposed to clean up without the lights on?  And with turning off the lights and non-essential appliances (except my microwave), yet leaving my computer and TV on because I consider them essential, and breaking that compact fluorescent bulb that I can't see how to clean yet breath in the mercury, when I fall down the stairs and break my leg how am I supposed to call 911 since I unplugged my cordless phone, which at the time I was unplugging things I considered non-essential?

Suddenly "Earth Hour" has become very complicated, but, as I reflect back on my life, I'm thinking none of us need an "Earth Hour" to help us remember to turn off the lights, we just need our Moms, or at least my Mom.  You see, my Mom is the Queen at knowing when we leave lights on, no matter what part of the house.  She will be sitting in her living room chair, see a large glow as we are leaving the kitchen, and tell us to go back and turn off the light.  She will be sitting in her living room chair, see a subtle glow from around a corner, bounced off a door and a ceiling, leaving just a smidge of brightness on a wall that shouldn't have a smidge of brightness on it, and say "Did you leave the light on in the bathroom?"  She will be sitting in her living room chair, seeing the remnants of light (and I swear light leaves "remnants" on your clothes, especially when you are coming from the basement), thus instructing you to go back downstairs and turn off the light in the laundry room at the opposite corner of the house.  "Earth Hour" pales in comparison to the "turning off the light" power of my Mom.

Since, though, Mom is in Ohio and I am here in Illinois, there I will be, tomorrow night, with no lights on, although my computer, TV, and microwave will still be working.  I'll be inhaling toxic mercury complete with a broken leg and a non-working cordless phone, still wondering what I should do with the lights off because the Earth Hour web site never gave me instructions on something to do during that hour.  And if those Earth Hours folks had at least said something like "Plan to be with the one you love, turn off all of your lights, pretend it's a blackout, and do what you would do in a blackout with the one you love," or in the words of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, "If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with!", well, I'm thinking the worst of my problems might begin to show about three months from now.

You know what, screw that being with the one you're with in a forced blackout like this "Earth Hour," and I suppose the word "screw" isn't the appropriate word.  Maybe it's better being curled up at the bottom of the stairs, with a broken leg, inhaling mercury, knowing my TV, computers, and microwave still are working, rather than child support some nine months from tomorrow.

The thing is just listening to my Mom will resolve all of these potential problems - Turn off the lights and wear a Jimmy Hat (my Mom is hip, she has an iPod).  Listening to her saves money, and future money.  Maybe we just need to listen to my Mom rather than worrying about turning off the lights for an hour and not knowing what to do.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:57 PM | Comments (0)

March 27, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Welcome "Tripping the Rift" Fans, Poor Chikezie, and "The Biggest Loser" Talk.

The Dude on the Right keeps this podcast kind of short, but he finds enough time to welcome visitors finding Entertainment Ave! thanks to looking up sixsells.com, the website for "Tripping the Rift," which is in the site because of their DVD review. He is also getting frustrated with "The Biggest Loser," and thinks Chikezie was robbed on "American Idol." Hopefully The Dude will quit worrying about the singers and get back to making fun of Paula Abdul.

Posted by Rightdude at 5:22 PM | Comments (0)

March 25, 2008

Is Seeing "American Idol" Live That Much Better than On TV?

By: The Dude on the Right
So it is "Songs the Year You Were Born" night.  Oh, goody, it is "Songs When I Was in College" night, or thereabout.  I'm sure flashbacks will be in order, but I'll only type about them if I think they will be okay for my Mom to read.  Here we go...

Ramiele Malubay - Born in 1987
- Sings - "Alone" by Heart
- A song I totally love, but man she doesn't have the pipes to pull off the chorus for this song and the bombastic sound the Wilson sisters had.  Totally wrong song choice, and I'm sorry she is sick.  Ramiele, quick shaking hands with people and then touching your eyes or picking your nose.  That's how you get sick.

Jason Castro - Born in 1987
- Sings - "Fragile" by Sting
- Does a good job by playing the guitar, it keeps him behind the mike and not having to perform.  The singing is good, the song is sort of boring, but it should be enough to keep him going, especially because I think the dudettes dig him.

Syesha Mercado - Born in 1987
- Sings - "If I Was Your Woman" by Stephanie Mills, I think.
- A really nice R&B performance.  Vocal range was good, performance was good, and this was a great performance that should keep her to the next week.
- What the hell is with all of these 21 year olds?  I remember, sort of, my 21st birthday, and I wasn't singing in 1988.  Thankfully the picture people supposedly took of me on my 21st birthday has disappeared, I hope.

Chikezie - Born in 1985
- Sings - "If Only For One Night" by Luther Vandross
- Chikezie is showing he might be the next R&B singer to blow up across the Universe.  From week to week he shows differences he can tackle, and he actually needs to lose this competition to make his own career, a la Daughtry.

Brooke White - Born in 1983
- Sings - "Every Breath You Take" by The Police
- How boring can you get.  Sure, it's nice on piano, and she screwed up the start, but unless she does something special to get her butt off the piano stool, or straddles it like Tori Amos, as much as I think she is purty, sings purty, and has talent, this week wasn't her best.  So much potential that went away.

Michael Johns - Born in 1978
- Sings - "We Will Rock You " by Queen
- Only a few words need to be written - You are no Freddie Mercury.  I guess a few more words are needed - the band didn't help.  I don't know what the judges heard, but he just doesn't seem to have the persona to be Freddie, at least on TV I guess.  For whatever reason I thought he wasn't that good.  Maybe I should just wonder what is wrong with me, or I need to be there, live.
- I was 10 or 11 when this song came out, the first album I ever bought was "Night at the Opera," and I found "News of the World" fantastic as the years went on, especially with the album art.  I always loved reading "No Synthesisers!"

Carly Smithson - Born in 1983
- Sings - "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler
- A simple choice for her, but for me it just brings back flashbacks of high school.  Ugh!  Okay, singing wise Carly was good, but she just seems to be singing, not performing, and for Jim Steinman songs, as much as it is about the song, it's more about the performance of the song.  She just sang it, whereas Meat Loaf knows how to perform.  She needed to really find Jim Steinman history and how Meat Loaf made those songs performance art.  That is what Jim Steinman did.

David Archuleta - Born in 1990
- Sings - "You're the Voice" by Farnham Johnny?
- Is he just trying to get other people money by singing obscure songs?  That said, I really like the song, like the performance, and I was graduating college when this dude was being born.  He tried to branch out, but I'm guessing in 1990 there are better songs, that people might actually know, that he could have really blown out of the competition.  We'll see if his good looks still keep him in the competition.

 Kristy Lee Cook - Born in 1984
- Sings - "God Bless the U.S.A." by Lee Greenwood
- Gosh girl, I like you, but how the hell did you get this far in the competition.  You sing nice enough, at least this week, sort of, but you aren't a performer in any sense of the word.  Thank your lucky stars you got to the final 10 to go on tour because a lot of other singers are better than you.  And from the judge's comments, what the hell am I not hearing nor seeing on my screen tonight.

David Cook - Born in 1982
- Sings - "Billy Jean" by Michael Jackson
- Nice change of a Michael Jackson song.  If anyone ever says "How do I make a song my own?" this is the performance they should show.  He works the stage, he sings like a rocker, and if he doesn't win he will probably have a fantastic career anyway.  He actually got in touch with a song with the year he was born, and if I had a dollar I might actually download that song version from iTunes. (Dude note: As I laid in bed last night I couldn't sleep because I just had to figure David's version probably wasn't his own arrangement. Sure enough, I did some quick research this morning and guess I missed at the beginning where they said it was Chris Cornell's version. Thought he did a good job, anyway. DOTR)

Let's wrap this up...

From a lot of the comments I'm guessing that the performances came off a hell of a lot better live than on my TV because, well, when I thought some of them didn't do well, Simon-Paula-Randy thought they were great.   I know live is better than TV, but is there that much of a difference.  If the "American Idol" folks want to prove it to me, fly me out for next week's show, otherwise, I don't think anyone did that well this week except David Cook.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 9:26 PM | Comments (0)

March 24, 2008

What's New? Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up Podcast: The Dude's a Handyman and Stu's Bad Days.

Both The Dude on the Right and Stu Gotz survived their respective Easter Weekends, and here they are for their Weekend Wrap-Up Podcast! Stu has been having some bad days, with today's reason being because he had to poop, while The Dude shows he still can be a handyman although he isn't very good at picking winners during March Madness. They both talk about movies they didn't see, talk about "South Park" which they did see, and Stu celebrated Easter on Friday - Find out why by listening.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:24 PM | Comments (0)

March 23, 2008

Davidson and San Diego - I Hate You. And I Love You.

By: The Dude on the Right
I'm back!  It was an Easter Weekend, and with my Dad's passing in January, and my sister making her way to the cold weather, instead of normally visiting a week earlier to avoid the holiday traffic, well, I ventured to Ohio this Easter Weekend just in time for about 6 inches of snow to shovel.  I also changed a bathroom sink faucet, but those are both stories for another blog or maybe a podcast.  This blog is about basketball, and my not being able to scream at my internet screen.

You see, for the first time in years, I wasn't able to sit at work and waste the bosses money, umm, my money, by paying attention to the first weekend for the NCAA March Madness tournament.  And then, when I was able to take a look, my picks were already looking bad.  Siena beating Vanderbilt hurt me a lot, although it probably hurt a lot of people, except those folks who were Siena alumni, but what really hurt in that first round was San Diego beating U Conn, one of the teams I had in the final two.  I figured I was sort of screwed, but who, other than San Diego fans, were actually thinking San Diego could win?  And as my brackets started to fall, it was today that I knew I was done, because, well, my final four is left at a final two, with one of them not getting to my finals.

That said, Davidson College, University, whatever the hell you are, I hate you, because my last chance for maybe a couple of big screen TV's, or some cash, well, was left with Georgetown.  If you had a fun college name like Gonzaga, or a fun mascot name like the Saluki's, or maybe a name referenced with God (Like St. Mary's who didn't seem to have God on their side losing to Miami), I would have picked you, but you were playing Georgetown, Hoyas, and you were a 10 seed, v. a 2 seed, whom I had at least going to the final four.  In my goofy name category, Wildcats v. Hoyas, I'm picking a Hoya.

And I lost.

And so, pretty much, I'm done with this year's NCAA March Madness season.  Davidson and San Diego, you both took me out of winning cool stuff, but with that winning I can quicklier get back to my life after one weekend.

For me it's one weekend and done for my NCAA Tourney picks, and now I have to go back to the Mega Millions this week, with a jackpot of $95 Million on Tuesday.  With numbers like 65, 87, 69, 87, 96, and a Mega Ball of 102, I know I can win.  Oh, wait, I don't think I can pick any of those numbers.  Maybe I'll just go with 1,2,3,4,5 and a Mega Ball of 6.  I think it has the same odds.

Happy March Madness!  Umm, it's almost April.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 10:16 PM | Comments (0)

March 19, 2008

It's March Madness Baby! And I've Got North Carolina? And Politics?

By: The Dude on the Right
It's March Madness Baby!  I suppose I could go back and look at the calendars, but doesn't this College Basketball tournament season seem to be a week later, we all know Easter is at its earliest, and my being on the road tomorrow is going to drive me crazy because I won't have an instant wireless connection to update the scores of every NCAA tournament game so I know that I'm still alive to win $5 Million bucks thanks to Yahoo!.  That, and it's also snowing at home (the picture on the right I stole from my sister).  I am also torn because I entered about six online pools and wondered if I should go for broke, with the same picks on every site, winning tickets to next year's Final Four, about $20,000 bucks, a couple of flat-screen TVs, and something else, or should I change my picks for every site hoping to just win something.  I went for broke.  Come sometime in April I will have a very cool Dude-Pad with money to spare and TV's, that is, unless, Michigan State can't get through a few rounds and Kansas State can't, at least, beat USC in the first round.

Also, with it being Easter weekend and today being the 5th year anniversary of our looking for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq (at least we found Saddam Hussein, but where is Osama bin Laden?), I still wonder if I should get into political thoughts on my website.  His wacky Pastor aside, especially because as I have been sitting in a Church and took what my Pastor said with a grain of salt, I still think Barack Obama shows himself as a better states-person.  There, I said it again, I'm a Barack Obama man, and why in the hell can't we just get rid of all of this delegate crap since we seem to know how to count votes in 2008.  Maybe.

Good luck with your March Madness picks, especially since I have Vanderbilt beating Kansas.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 8:24 PM | Comments (0)

March 18, 2008

Watching Singers v. Dancers

By: The Dude on the Right
Last night I sort of watched "Dancing With the Stars," especially for my favorites, Julianne Hough, Edyta, and Kym Johnson.  Isn't it kind of funny that we don't need to reference Edyta with her last name anymore?  Anyway, I don't care about any of the "celebrity" female dancers much (nor the dude celebrities, but I did find Adam Carolla and Penn Jillette fun to watch), wonder why Julianne wore a giant, yellow outfit (rather than a skimpy, yellow outfit), and Kym actually looked hotter than Julianne.  But tonight the dancing is over because tonight is about singing (and cuter dudettes).

My brilliant dancing analysis will come later as their Spring season goes on, but here are my musical musings about tonight and singing, and it's The Beatles night, as opposed to John Lennon and Paul McCartney night last week.  How much did the "American Idol" folks pay for the rights to use these songs that mediocre singers could butcher, anyway? ...

Amanda Overmyer
- Sings - Back in the U.S.S.R.
- Something just sounds wrong, like she's not in synch with the band or something, but it's not working for me.  This song doesn't need a southern twang to it.  And I don't like her bouncing up and down while she is singing.

Kristy Lee Cook
- Sings - You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
- What the hell did you ever listen to on the radio?  You picked the song based on title.  You don't know any Beatles' songs?  It's kind of "new" to you?
- She's cute but the song is in the wrong key (she can't hit the low notes), and if she keeps going on it's because she is cute.  She did hit the high note at the end, but the performance seemed kind of lame.  At least Paula thought she looked gorgeous.

David Archuleta
- Sings - The Long and Winding Road
- You thought "Dang it!" when you forgot the lyrics last week.  Luckily you didn't think "Oh, F&^$, how in the hell could I forget the words to a song in front of 30 million F$#%ing people?"
-  He shows his vocal pipes this week (again) so we know he can sing the slow songs, and if this keeps up he's the next Josh Groban.  He needs to prove he can sing something up-tempo in my book to make it to the ultimate pop level.  He'll be in it for the long haul even if he sucks just because the girls like him.

How stupid was that iPhone commercial.  I understand product placement, but Ryan Seacrest should be fired because he isn't even trying anymore.  Last week he busted on Jim Carrey promoting "Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!", and this week it was the iPhone.  Either he is the worst pitch-man ever, or he is the greatest at scripts written up as "Promote this by having the attitude of "What the hell is this shit?"

Michael Johns
- Sings - A Day  in the Life
- This is not a good song to trim, though I thought he did a decent job trying to pull it off.  To do it his way he probably needed a month to work to rehearse it (and a different band), but I think the dudettes will find him cute enough to pull him to the next round.

Brooke White
- Sings - Here Comes the Sun
- She's married.  Damn, so much for fantasies about my future wife.
- No matter what, I think we have already found our next "Carrie Underwood Country Star" no matter if she wins or not.  She performs, is purty, and somehow seems to be able to put her mark on every song.  I don't care what Randy says, what Paula says, or what Simon says, because I really liked her "fly-a-way" performance and her attitude, but Brooke, don't beat yourself up so much because for me it worked.

David Cook
- Sings - Daytripper - The Whitesnake version
- He's sticking with the rocker mode, and this is a song that works for him, but I'm thinking the kids in the audience don't understand the voice box thing.  He should have just stuck to rocking and not gone Peter Frampton on our ass.  There's still something I don't like about him because it just seems he is copying people.

Carly Smithson
- Sings - Blackbird
- She's starting to get that "crazy-eye" look, where I can see the tops of the whites of her eyes, and it well, isn't a good look.  I will, every week, be not liking her only because she had a major recording contract before.  I know that is kind of petty, but for some of the other contestants where this is their first chance, someone who actually has gotten to the precipice, and even though the record company supposedly was her downfall, she has at least gotten there before.  And you know what, I didn't really like her performance this week, either.

Jason Castro
- Sings - Michelle
- He just seems giddy rather than in love while he is singing.  His smile is actually almost scary.  Dude, you need to learn how to drop that smile and make it sincere rather than a plastered-on smile.  The singing was okay, and although Simon thought he looked good, I thought the goofy look sucked.

Syesha Mercado
- Sings - Yesterday
- She's cuter with the tighter hair, with the ponytail.  The straighter hair was okay, but she just needed to pull it back.
- She sings nice, but the performance was boring except for the high notes.  The better place would have been at the front of the stage, not on the stool.  The singing should keep her going on through next week.

Chikezie
- Sings - I've Just Seen a Face
- He has just turned into my favorite "American Idol" contestant ever.  He works every genre, tries to step over party lines, and just seems to try to show that he can try anything.  He's a kind of bizarre dude, but sings perfect for every side.  The only problem is he doesn't know if he should settle into being Usher or Cowboy Troy.

 Ramiele Malubay
- Sings - I Should Have Known Better
- She was the last singer of the night, which is usually the one who is supposed to do the most fabulous version, but I thought her performance was boring, even though she sang alright.  Just an "Umm" for me.

Let's wrap this up...

Why does everyone take this season to bust on Simon.  It seems like an easy joke, but it's not appropriate for people to pretty much dismiss everything he might say.  I really hope they get away from The Beatles' songs, no matter how much they paid for them, because we have now found out that there are a lot of people who can't sing, or arrange, Beatles' songs.  Please let us get to wacky mentors again, because as much as they sucked, they were better than a lot of these people singing songs they couldn't learn from John Lennon nor Paul McCartney.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 9:03 PM | Comments (3)

March 13, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Ashley Alexandra Dupre (a.k.a. Kristen), Idol Talk, Nice Weather, and a Toilet.

The Dude on the Right changes the way he starts this podcast, which deals with lots of topical topics. Of course The Dude talks a bit about Ashley Alexandra Dupre, a.k.a. Kristen, a.k.a. the dudette who slept with Eliot Spitzer, but he also was able to enjoy some Spring weather hitting Chicagoland. The Dude also gives some thoughts on David Hernandez being booted from American Idol, but wonders about a woman stuck to her toilet, hoping, but doubting, that she had the coolest bathroom ever. The end question is if she was as comfortable on her toilet as the Easter Bunny to the right seems to be?

Posted by Rightdude at 6:19 PM | Comments (1)

March 11, 2008

The Pressure Starts to Hit the American Idol 12

By: The Dude on the Right
We are finally down to the final 12, thank whatever God you pray to, because now I can finally to actually try and get to know the "American Idol" contestants, or at least identify them better, even if it isn't really by their name.  It also helps freeing up my Thursday night TV viewing, especially as "30 Rock" and "My Name is Earl" returns pretty soon, because Idol is back to its appropriate two nights a week.  Enough prologue, the theme of tonight is the Lennon/McCartney songbook, so this night has the potential for some train-wrecks.  Let's get to the show...

Syesha Mercado
- Sings - Got to Get You Into My Life
- Better hair, nice look, bad earrings.
- Thought she started well, but then kind of messed up making it "her own" during the chorus.  Even though, she has the looks, the voice, and has tons of potential, she's starting to be a performer.

Chikezie
- Sings - She's a Woman
- He is really coming into his own and I think he did a great job.  He works the stage, acts just a tad goofy for the song, and at first, when "Idol" started, I didn't like him, but slowly Chikezie is becoming one of my favorites.  Somewhere the "confidence" drug hit this dude.

Ramiele Malubay
- Sings - In My Life
- First impression - wrong song.  Her voice is nice, but after following Chikezie's performance it's almost like following Jerry Lee Lewis back in the old days of rock & roll.  She looks good, sings okay, but the performance was bland.  Paula thought she looked pretty.

Jason Castro
- Dude, you sound like a surfer, a stoner, like, well, you just want to sing, and keep the karma.
- Sings - If I Fell
- He's got the Jack Johnson vibe but with a reggae look instead.  He sings well enough, I like that he's also a musician and maybe sticking to the surfer/reggae attitude will do him well.  I don't think it will get him to the finals, but Paula at least feels his heart.

Carly Smithson
- Sings - Come Together
- As much as I don't like her being in the competition, but damn, I love that accent.
- The voice is there, because it always is, and I do like the version she put together, but even though she almost had a career before, there is something about her look that bothers me.  I think it's her hair.

David Cook
- Sings - Eleanor Rigby
- There's just something about him that I don't like.  I don't know if it's his look, or maybe his attitude, or just seeming to be like Chris Daughtry.  Paula thinks he's a horse, but I just find him, umm, done before.  I don't see him winning but still getting radio play.  The only problem he has right now is not seeming to have a previous band career like Daughtry did.

Brooke White
- Sings - Let it Be
- Good song after a long commercial break to let us forget performances.  She sings pretty, plays pretty, and does that half "playing to the camera" but still "I'm wrapped up in the song so leave me alone" performance well.  Nice.  I like her.  She sings purty.

David Hernandez
- Sings - I Saw Her Standing There
- He seems to try too hard to be a performer, and his singing for this song isn't that great.  I think this was just a total wrong song choice for him from the Beatles' catalog he was given.  He better have a good fan base otherwise he will be gone.

Amanda Overmyer
- Sings - You Can't Do That
- It's the first song that she heard this week.  Bad pants.  She stays true to who she is, but I don't see it getting her to the end of the competition - just not "pop" enough for the show.  She does have the attitude, and the voice, to hit her nitch, but I don't think it will be with "American Idol."  Good week for her, though.

Michael Johns
- Sings - Across the Universe
- It's not a performer song, but let's see what he does with it...  So far it's stale because he can't separate himself from his microphone stand.  Like everyone else, he sings nice enough, but it's not a performance to remember.

Kristy Lee Cook
- Sings - Eight Days a Week
- She knows what to do with the songs, but it was a crappy arrangement.  She's a country singer, she knows it, and looks to follow in the footsteps of Carrie Underwood, but this was not a song that could be turned into a country song in a week.  The song sounded forced, she looks purty, sings purty, but everything sounded wrong.  It was all over the place.

David Archuleta
- Sings - We Can Work It Out
- My advice for him, because he has so much potential, is don't let the "American Idol" folks fuck you up because they let you fuck it up this week.  Forget the hair styling, forget the clothes, forget the pressure, and just, for every week, let yourself have fun.  Sure, it's easier said than done, but that is your forte.  Bounce back to a few weeks ago when you just sang.

The pressure of competition has hit a couple of contestants, some of them picked wrong songs, but the next couple of weeks will start to tell who gets the popularity vote.  And next week come the Mentors.  God, for Howard Stern fans we can only hope that one of them is Bruce, as in Bruce Springsteen.  Artie Lange knows why.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 9:56 PM | Comments (0)

March 10, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! "10,000 B.C.", DST, Stu's Netfilx Movies, Killing a Hawk, Some Politics, Arena Football, and More!

So it looks like Stu Gotz and The Dude on the Right were able to work through their busy schedules and put together a new podcast of "Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up!" They talk about a lot of stuff like movies ("10,000 B.C.", "Next," "Live Free or Die Hard," and "Spiral"), Daylight Saving Time (They hate it), A Pro Golfer killing a hawk (the animal people are pissed), Arena Football (Stu went over the weekend - The Dude almost 20 years ago), politics, and boobs - with the last two kind of intertwining. And even though this podcast is just over 20 minutes, they also talk about more. How do they do it? It's a mystery of the Gods.

Posted by Rightdude at 5:48 PM | Comments (0)

March 9, 2008

Daylight Saving Time Just Isn't the Same

By: The Dude on the Right
So a group of us got together last night and since this is the new weekend for Daylight Saving Time, we reminisced a bit about how back in college the changing of the clocks pretty much had two meanings - "Spring"ing forward sucked because it was one less hour to drink, while Fall"ing backward was party time, but for each season there was always the untold rule of pretty much doing absolutely nothing during the afternoon except watch TV (my choice was golf) in order to begin resetting the body clock, and then getting back to studying that night.  I told the tale of how I was late for Easter mass one Sunday because I forget to set my clock ahead and walked in halfway through mass, while Whammy now laments one less hour of sleep.  The Dude on the Left sees things a little differently, namely that you shouldn't miss out on your hour of sleep, that you should still get your prescribed nine hours and the hell with the rest of the day, while Stu Gotz and Mama Gotz quickly reminded The Dude on the Left of his lack of children who don't really grasp the concept of time changes nor sleeping in.

And while I had many intentions of being very productive today, maybe catching another movie, doing some DVD reviews, or cleaning, when I woke up this morning, looked at the clock that said 8:15, which really meant 9:15 because I didn't reset it yet, I knew today was going to be pretty much useless in terms of getting much done because I was already out of synch with my day.  So resigned to the fact of a discombobulated Sunday, my accomplishments have been few today, but I think I'm okay with that.  I did watch a DVD I need to review, called "Spiral," which I'll write about later this week, I did get this cool Headline Animator going for our Mostly Entertainment link on the web site (sure, it's only on the home page right now, and here, but I did say today was going to be useless).  Such was my afternoon.

My evening is even looking even more exciting as I finally decide if Flickr will be the site for posting all of the old family photos I am trying to scan, archive, and get out on the web for all to see.  I mentioned in a previous blog about enlisting Mom's help in identifying a batch of photos, and since I've finally settled on my Canon scanner to do the job, I've been e-mailing her copies of the pictures, at first just looking for simple things like who is in the photo, maybe an age or year, but Mom has gone a step further, giving some nice back stories, like for this picture of a baby and a dog she e-mailed me back (My Mom is so hip!): "I'm positive that is me in the rocker as Mother always talked about how the dog would be by my side to protect me.  The dog's name was Skippy.  There was another dog who was the mascot of the Boy Scout's Troop, and he was called Trooper.  A beautiful dog.  His dog house was back by the garage."

My body clock should be back to normal tomorrow, and maybe having Daylight Saving Time a few weeks earlier isn't so bad, especially since it looks like those of us in Chicagoland will be breaking out of our cold spell for a week.  All I do know is that it was so much easier to deal with time changes back in college.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 4:13 PM | Comments (0)

March 6, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Abducted by Space Aliens, Bye Brett, Voice Mail, Strippers, and Thank a Pig.

The Dude on the Right explains why he thinks he might have been abducted by space aliens during this podcast, but at least he doesn't think he got an anal probe. He also understands, yet still pokes fun, at why Brett Favre got weepy today during his retirement press conference. The Dude also gives his explanation of proper etiquette for voice mail, wishes some of the dudettes on "American Idol" had been strippers, and with the drug Heparin, thinks you should thank a pig and a scientist, pray it's not a Chinese pig, although he has no problem with the scientist being Chinese.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:35 PM | Comments (0)

March 5, 2008

No Reports, yet, of the Dudettes Being Strippers (Damn!), but It's Their Turn for "American Idol" 80's Night

By: The Dude on the Right
So it's 80's night, and it's ladies' night, hope they're feeling right, and wearing clothes that are tight.  I'm gonna stop now and just get to what I thought of the signing...

Asia'h Epperson
- She fell on her roller skates, wow.
- I Wanna Dance With Somebody - Whitney Houston
- Sings well enough and is smart enough to know she isn't Whitney, but she performs well.  Paula is on her feet.  Yay!
- Randy has to show how cool he is.  Dude, we get it.

Kady Malloy
- Who Wants to Live Forever - Queen
- One of my favoritist songs ever, and singing wise I thought she way great.  If she actually did the entire version instead of a shortened version I might actually buy the thing on iTunes, but sadly it was shortened.  The other problem is that I guess they aren't letting these people actually perform, seemingly being restricted to that small circle in the center of the stage.
- And Paula knows where the magic is, but Simon kind of gets it right on the personality side.

Amanda Overmyer
- I Hate Myself for Loving You - Joan Jett
- She almost seems to have lost her confidence and keeps looking at something at the edge of the stage likes she's not sure of herself.  Too bad because she should have bolted this song out of the ballpark.  The singing was okay for it, but for me it seemed timid.
- I guess the judges saw something different or maybe she was singing to them, and for that it would work, but for my TV it didn't.  She almost looked out of it.  Guess we'll see.

Carly Smithson
- On a personal note I don't want her to win because she already had her chance at a recording contract and has the performing experience, but I digress...
- I Drove All Night - Cyndi Lauper (1989), Celine Dion (2003)
- She sang great, her tattoo bugs me, and fine, give her a recording contract but get her off the competition.
- Paula thinks Carly is a dependable dog.

Kristy Lee Cook
- She thought she was a dog?
- Faithfully - Journey
- What are the odds on Randy mentioning he worked with Journey?  We'll see.
- She's a girl, but can't hit the high notes like Steve Perry did?  And what's up with the red tongue?  She would have done better trying to turn this "Faithfully" into a country version.
- Yup, Randy called Steve Perry, "Perry." Paula thinks it could be a country hit, but for me it wasn't country enough except for maybe the looks.  Maybe the red tongue is from medication as it sounds her voice is having problems.

Ramiele Malubay
- Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) - Phil Collins
- I like her, thinks she sings well, but man, this song didn't work for me.  Worst song choice of the night, mostly because she couldn't sing the entire thing to work it.
- Paula is, well, in full Paula mode.

Brooke White
- Love is a Battlefield - Pat Benatar
- She sings purty, she is purty, but this song is all about passion, and her performance totally lacked it.  And what's up with the giant "looks like one of those candy, sucker" rings on the girl's fingers.  I guess I'm just not a fashion guru.  She needed to kick butt on this song, and didn't.
- Randy proves that he doesn't know things, again, and I don't agree with Simon on his take on her performance.

Syesha Mercado
- Saving All My Love for You - Whitney Houston
- At times she sings like an angry Whitney Houston, which is okay, and does a fine job with the rest of it..  She should move on, and with no real comments from the judges I'm guessing they are running out of time, but if you watch her doing Whitney compared to Asia'h at the top of the show, you can see Syesha being the better singer.

Once again I question some song choices because I seem to remember that during the 80's there were many a decent, power song for dudettes to sing, in just about every genre.  Fine, I don't know if they were given a list of songs and were told "Here, pick something from this list," or at least were able to make some suggestions before being told they couldn't sing them, but then again, as I think about it, how many of these girls actually know any decent songs from the 80's because while I was attending high school and college, well, some of them weren't born yet.

Right now most of any of them can be voted off the island tomorrow, I mean booted from "American Idol," because I have no emotions tied into their stories, but when the final 12 time comes next week I think this competition turns in to "cute dudettes" v. David Archuleta.  I guess we'll just have to wait and see for a week.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 8:29 PM | Comments (0)

The Dudes are in Turmoil, but the "American Idol" 80's Live On

By: The Dude on the Right
So it's 80's night, not to be confused with Ladies' night, and dude scandals are all over the place, from David Hernandez once being a stripper to someone looking like Danny Noriega spouting stuff about Santa.  Doesn't matter, here comes the singing...

Luke Menard
-  Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go - Wham!
-  Dude, what in the hell were you thinking?  I know the 80's is a weird place to find music, but umm, Wham!?  Very boring, lame, and how in the hell does this make you shine?
-  Paula Abdul is starting to look to be in rare form tonight.  I hope it keeps going.

David Archuleta
- Another Day in Paradise - Phil Collins
- Does his own piano playing - nice, then works from the piano to the stage to work the crowd.  Outfit blows, but he's got everything this competition wants in someone to win and take control.
-  Simon is correct, though, that David needs to pick things up a bit with a "happier" song.

Danny Noriega
- Tainted Love - Soft Cell
- The problem is that when you try to cover an 80's song, and be an 80's poser, unless you were living in the 80's, you probably can't pose like the 80's.  The song was boring, and at this point I would like to see the list these dudes were given of the songs they could pick.  If he picked this song on his own it's another "Dude, what in the hell were you thinking?"

David Hernandez
- Dude, I know it's embarrassing, but we don't want to know about your boogers.
- It's All Coming Back to Me Now - Celine Dion (and Meat Loaf)
- You are not Meat Loaf, and you are not Celine Dion, because you're not a performer like Meat Loaf, and, well, you're not Celine Dion.  David sang nice enough, but this is a performance song, and for me he fell flat.  He'll still, probably, go on to the final 12, but if you want to know how to be a performer, find some video of Meat Loaf singing this song, or any song.

Michael Johns
- Don't You (Forget About Me) - Simple Minds
- I'm guessing, so far, that every one of these people have to pick a crappy song from the 80's because why else would all of these dudes be singing these songs?  I liked "The Breakfast Club," but songs from that soundtrack aren't the best songs of the 80's.
- The other thing I wonder is why Randy Jackson is referencing Michael Hutchence from INXS for this song, unless I missed something, or Randy just thinks this Michael is being Micheal Hutchence.

David Cook
- Hello - Lionel Richie
- I'll give him credit for trying to turn this song into his own, and playing the guitar, but the problem I had is that for him this should have been a 90's theme, with him turning it up another notch and being possessed by either the spirit of Nirvana or maybe The Offspring (ala their version of "Feelings") for the song.

Jason Castro
- Hallelujah - Leonard Cohen (I think).
- Sure, this song has been done by the likes of U2, and Jeff Buckley, and tons of other folks but do you really think any of the kids have heard this song before, except from maybe "Shrek"?  He did a nice job, but is pulling out an obscure song the way to go for "American Idol"?  You sing well, the judges loved it, but will the kids like it?  Hmmm?

Chikezie
- All the Woman (Man) I Need - Whitney Houston (Luther Vandross)
- He did good enough singing, is coming into his own knowing where he needs to be in the R&B nation, but as an "American Idol" finalist, he still has some work.

Part of the problem is that the singers are in that mode of "too many singers, trying to fit too many songs, into a one hour show" so they have to cut the songs pretty much in half.  This doesn't let anyone really be able to state the song, work the song, and then show they are fantastic doing the song.  I don't care what anyone says, and especially if he can pull out some spunk, David Archuleta already has this thing won.  And I still want to see the list of songs these dudes could pick from the 80's because there was some decent music from that decade, but you wouldn't know it from watching the dudes sing.

We'll see how the dudettes sing tomorrow.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 8:28 AM | Comments (0)

March 3, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: RIP Jeff Healey, GWS Eddie Van Halen, Oops Jimmy Buffett, and Oprah.

The Dude on the Right is flying solo for this weekend wrap-up podcast, and as it turns out, the podcast isn't about his weekend at all. Nope, this podcast is about music and Oprah.

On the music side The Dude comments about the passing of Jeff Healey, a fantastic guitarist who also happened to be blind. You might remember his hit "Angel Eyes," but if you love guitar, he is so much more. Continuing on the music side The Dude talks about Van Halen maybe not canceling their tour, just re-arranging a few dates, and laments that he probably won't be seeing Jimmy Buffett at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, IL, because, well, he's an idiot.

And what would a podcast be without him commenting on Oprah's latest conquest, namely "Oprah's Big Give" winning the ratings for Sunday night Primetime TV.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:09 PM | Comments (0)

March 2, 2008

25+ Gallons of Saltwater in My Living Room - Almost

By: The Dude on the Right
I normally don't blog as much I have been lately, but there weren't many movies I wanted to see over the weekend, even though I probably should have caught up on a few from the week before, and after seeing "Semi-Pro," I actually wasn't in a movie-seeing mood.  But I did need to do some cleaning around the Dude-Pad so I opted for that, and in the process almost had 25+ gallons of saltwater soaking in to my living room floor, probably resulting in the killing of my kids.

Yup, my kid's house needed some cleaning and maintenance of its own, and part of that was re-installing a protein skimmer that, well, it's a long story, but I took it off some time ago, but with my hoping to buy a new anemone for the tank, I knew I needed to get it going again.  So I put it back together, hung it off the back of the tank, fired it up, and at first things to be going well, until, thankfully, I heard a dripping coming from the back of my fish tank.  At first I thought I just didn't tighten the locking collar enough, but still the connection at the bottom of the skimmer kept dripping (and not a slow drip, either).  So I had to yank the contraption from the tank, take it to my kitchen, and investigate.  What did my investigation find?  Well, low and behold the o-ring was dried up and showed cracks when it was stretched a bit.  At first I contemplated "How does an o-ring go bad, and since when does that cause a catastrophe?", but then I remembered that the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster was caused by an o-ring that failed.  I guess o-rings have been something I have taken for granted as part of my fish tank set up, and used to be something Space Shuttle engineers took for granted as well (at least some of them), but now I realize their importance again.  I could see Steve, Ashley, and Bamm looking at me like "Dad, what the hell were you thinking?", but as I said, thankfully the dripping was landing on something that made noise, as apposed to if it had just been dripping on the carpet, because then the timers would have shut off the lights on the tank, I wouldn't have noticed the water level dropping, and then I would have woken up in morning to find three kids flopping around, or dead, with my living room carpet soaked.

The Dude pad is almost clean, my kids are still swimming around, I have to find some new o-rings, and as I have had bad dreams of my accidentally tipping over my fish tank and hysterically trying to save the life's of my kids, my worst nightmare, a slow leak of my fish tank, almost came to life.

And you thought having a dog as a pet was difficult.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:01 PM | Comments (0)

March 1, 2008

Mom, You Better Stick Around for A While.

By: The Dude on the Right
At first I was going to blog about how I may never shop at Best Buy again, then I was going to type a follow-up blog about how I found a new scanner (though I'm still torn between posting pictures at Picasa or Flickr), and then I was going to blog about my Mom not feeling well, but she better plan on sticking around a while.  Since, though, they are all related, oh hell, let's intertwine them all.

The Best Buy and new scanner stories kind of fold together, so this blog starts with my scanner buying experience.  As I mentioned in a previous blog my scanner shopping was necessitated by needing to scan medium format negatives, and although liking the Epson scanner, I hated their software.  Best Buy let me return the scanner, which was nice of them, and then I headed to Staples who had an HP flatbed scanner that almost sounded too good to be true, and it was.  First I was disappointed in the software they were using (maybe I am just too used to the Photosmart S20 software and afraid of change), but when it started to look like it would take hours to scan negatives, well, I started to get worried that my search for a medium format scanner under a thousand bucks was for naught.  Staples took the HP scanner back (Yay!), but I had one more hope, a Canon flatbed scanner, and that took me back to Best Buy.  The medium format photos in this blog were all done with my new scanner, a Canon 8800F, and so far I am happy with it because the speed of the scanning is acceptable for what I want to do, and their software is a little more intuitive (but damn, I still like that Photosmart S20 format), so I think I'm going to stick with the Canon scanner.  As such, Best Buy, don't expect another return from me, at least for this scanner.

But Best Buy, what the hell is with the overly-friendly associates.

In this world where they say the easiest way to get sick is to shake the hand of someone who has a cold/flu virus, both of my trips to Best Buy were greeted with dudes overly-enthusiastic to help me, and wanting to shake my hand.  There I am, just looking for a scanner I already had decided I wanted to buy, but it was "Hi, my name is Joe.  What's your name?" as they extended their hand for a handshake. 

Not wanting to seem like a total ass, I extended my hand to shake theirs (how do they know I didn't just pick my nose or scratch my ass, and conversely, how do I know they didn't just pick their nose or scratch their ass), and said "I'm The Dude.  I want to buy this scanner."  Suddenly germs were transferred, Best Buy doesn't have an easy access to Purell, or those wipes the grocery stores have so you can clean off the cart handle, and now, in addition to finally hoping this scanner will do the job I want to do, I have to remember not to let my hands get anywhere near my eyes nor mouth, much less pick my nose.  And if these Best Buy associates are going to continue this process of wanting to shake my hand I'm going to have to either be an asshole when I shop there by not shaking their hands, bring my own bottle of Purell, or just not go to Best Buy anymore and shop online where now all I have to worry about is if the UPS driver has a cold, but can, at least, easily wash my hands before I pick my nose.

So what does any of this have to do with my Mom and her sticking around a while?  Well, since I have a new scanner that seems to do the job, I have over 100 medium format negatives to scan and post somewhere, and the only person I know who can help me identify the people, places, and things in these photos is my Mom.  For example, from the photos I have posted for this blog, I have no idea who the dude is with the old car, the delivery truck is for the old Home Dairy in Lorain, OH, but I'm wondering who is John Lopatkowvich, and have I always been spelling my Mom's maiden name improperly, or what happened to the "w"?  The photo of the three children, I'm assuming, are my Mom, my Uncle Ed, and my Aunt Lily, and I'm 99.9999999% sure the cute girl in the dancing outfit is my Mom.  As I quickly flicked through these negatives they almost seem to encompass from about 1935 thru the late 1950's, and Mom, if you're reading this, I'll need your help to identify/place them all, and it might take a little while.  You'd better stick around.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 6:29 PM | Comments (1)

February 28, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Lying is a Crime, Paula Abdul Needs to be Watched, and Dumb Robbers in Australia

For this podcast episode The Dude on the Right is upset that the federal government can't find Osama Bin Laden, won't make a decision on the Sirius/XM Satellite Radio merger, but instead seems to be worrying about who is lying, Roger Clemens or Brian McNamee. He is also a fan of the boobs on "Survivor: Micronesia," but is worried for the safety of David Archuleta on "American Idol" now that Paula Abdul seems to want to decapitate him.

And, oh yea, he tells a story of some stupid robbers in Australia.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:35 PM | Comments (0)

February 26, 2008

Flickr, Picasa, and Scanner Dilemmas.

By: The Dude on the Right
As I'm trying to pay attention to "American Idol" tonight, with the dudes singing classic songs from the 70's which so far have been bad renditions of songs from Fleetwood Mac, Andy Gibb, Queen, Foreigner, and The Carpenters, I'm also in a quandary because I can't get my film scanning stuff like I want.

First off, I finally scanned all of my concert negatives, got them digitized in a decent resolution, and slowly plan to update the photos on the website with the higher resolution versions I now have.  That was the easy part, with my old HP Photosmart film scanner.

But then I decided I wanted to start digitizing older photos (like this cute girl on the right), and old negatives, and post them on the internet for family, friends, and anyone to see, and I have run into many questions, and many choices.

As far as posting them on the internet, I started by setting up a site at Flickr, but I have to say that as much as I like it, and would pay the yearly fee for unlimited stuff, I am worried about the potential takeover by Microsoft and what that might mean to the photos I post.  I also looked at maybe using Google's Picasa instead, but from some quick things I have read there are some copyright/publicity issues Google might be able to enforce.  And as I was investigating Flickr vs. Google, I came upon a bunch of other sites that seem to do a similar thing, namely set up family photo albums.  I'm so confused.

Then came the problem of a scanner.  My old scanner was an HP Photosmart S20, which has served me well through the years, but it doesn't handle the medium format film that my mom had stored in a box.  So, today, I went to get a new scanner, based on a lot of reviews I read on the internet, and even though I like the scanner (it's an Epson), the software for it sucks, and I'll be damned if I'm going to spend more money for scanning software.  So, sadly, tomorrow, I have to hope the store will take it back, and then I suppose I'll go back to an HP scanner (I loved the software that worked with the Photosmart), I just hope the HP folks kept the same format for the software (or at least close) that I am used to, and that the scanner works like I need it to.

Now don't get me wrong, for most people the Epson software will be fine, but for me, and my photos, it blows (and if the Epson folks want to know why they can e-mail me), because all I really want to do, before the rest of my older relatives pass away, is to find out who all of these people are in photos that are tens, and twenties, and maybe even thirty or forty of years taken before I was born, and if it takes me that much longer to get the photos digitized and posted (like the Epson software leaned itself to), those relatives will be dead before I find out.

If you've got any suggestions for digitizing old negatives, medium format (up to 6 x 12), or if you have an internet site you love for posting your family scrapbooks, please let me know.  Right now I have to figure out how to box up my Epson scanner I bought, hope the store takes it back, and then hope again that if I buy the HP version the software will be to my liking.  With my luck the new scanner won't scan worth a darn but the software will be great.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 9:04 PM | Comments (0)

February 25, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! Oscar Talk, Who's Jimmy Kimmel "F"-n, and Stu Won't Shut Up.

The Dude on the Right is back from his weekend in Lorain, Ohio, a city where both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are making campaign stops, but The Dude didn't stay long enough to see either of them. Instead he got back to the Chicagoland area as quick as he could so he and Stu Gotz could put together a new episode of their "Weekend Wrap-Up Podcast!" The Dude would have liked to have stayed to see Barack speak and Hillary flash her crazy-eyes, but instead he gets to listen to Stu not stop talking (maybe Stu should be a politician?).

But because Stu wouldn't shut up this podcast is all over the place, including talk about The Academy Awards and who should have won an Oscar, movies like "The Ex" and "Be Kind, Rewind," buying a meat slicer, "Saturday Night Live," starting a porn site, a non-bachelor party, Jim Cantore from The Weather Channel calling Stu in the middle of the night, and Mama Gotz almost falling out of bed. At least The Dude got to tell Stu that Jimmy Kimmel is fucking Ben Affleck.

So many things are in this podcast, and probably a few more. Go ahead, give it a listen.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:47 PM | Comments (0)

February 20, 2008

There Are Still Too Many American Idols for Me to Care.

By: The Dude on the Right
As a fan of "American Idol" I have to agree with my mom that there are still too many contestants for me to really care.  Sure, they trimmed it down to 24, twelve dudes and twelve dudettes, but after watching the dudes do their singing yesterday, I could care less about them.  The dudettes are tonight, but other than checking out which ones are doing the smart thing, namely trying to look hot as well as sing well, I don't think I care about them, either.

The other thing, and maybe I'm wrong about this (go ahead, correct me), but I don't think they used to start right off the bat with a theme, at least not for the top 24.  I always thought that, at the beginning, they let the kids pick any song, from any genre, from any time period, as long as it was on the approved "we've got the rights to this" list, to kind of show what these people thought they could sing well.  Instead the boys were dropped right into the fire, with it now being 60's week, where most of the dudes seemed to struggle because A) They didn't seem to realize they were suppose to make it their own, nor 2) I'm guessing most of them had no idea how to make it their own, what with now being with the band and all.  The judges kept blasting them for singing the song as the song was originally done, but I didn't think that, at this stage, most of our twelve dudes would be comfortable enough saying something like "Hey, band people, I'm singing Elvis' "Suspicious Minds," but I want it done in a hip-hop style that maybe Kanye West would do.  I don't really know what that means, but since I have to make the song my own, and you're the band, well, you figure it out."  Some of the dudes did okay, I don't think anyone sucked that bad, but it seems odd, at this early stage of the competition, for the contestants to have to reconfigure classics (and oh, by the way, the folks at "American Idol" need to look at a calendar because Danny's version of "Jailhouse Rock" belonged in 50's week, as it was released in 1957, I believe) into something contemporary.

We'll see how the ladies do tonight, and after yesterday I can probably guess there might have been a lot of scrambling, with maybe one of them saying "I am now doing "Baby Love" by The Supremes, and you better figure out how to make it sound like a version that Amy Winehouse would do."  Somehow I don't think that would actually happen. My guess is the judges will be saying the same thing as yesterday, with maybe a couple girls, hopefully the good-looking ones, somehow making the song their own.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:02 PM | Comments (0)

February 18, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Lindsay Lohan is Naked, TV for Kids at Night, and Idols on iTunes.

The Dude on the Right was happy when he read Lindsay Lohan was getting naked, but for this podcast he states that he doesn't like Lindsay trying to copy Marilyn Monroe, that she should be her own woman. He's also frustrated because he ruined most of the animation of his and Stu's animated review of "Sweeney Todd," questions the decision to run a show geared for families, namely "My Dad is Better Than Your Dad" at a time-slot when the kids should be getting ready for bed, and wonders who will be buying "American Idol" performances on iTunes.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:16 PM | Comments (0)

February 17, 2008

I Don't Think Mom Will Need a T-Shirt

By: The Dude on the Right
As I continue to use my blogging for some psychotherapy in dealing with the death of my father last month, a couple of strange thoughts hit me the last couple of days, some now dealing with my Mom, brought on by the death of my Dad. And as bizarre as this sounds, I’m wondering now what should be put in her coffin. Since she’s still in the land of the living, I suppose we should just ask her, but hopefully she won’t need a t-shirt.

Here’s the thing: Even with my Dad’s many health issues, he always seemed to just soldier on, but with Mom being diagnosed with lung cancer a few years back, and sorry, no offense Mom, most of those in my family figured Dad would stick around and Mom would be the one to go first. But Dad had other plans, because he always had to do things his way, and last month his time on Earth was done. As we finalized his official obituary (I’m still working on my version), we also found/wanted some things buried with him.

In the couple of days following his death, as we were going through things, we found his wedding ring, which he never wore as long as I could remember, but it was stowed away, separately, distinctively, in his box of cufflinks. It was decided Dad would be buried with his wedding ring on, and from my perspective, to make sure, in Heaven, he remembered he couldn’t pick up other women.

It was also decided that Dad would be buried with a puzzle, because he liked doing puzzles. We debated about burying him with an old puzzle he had already completed, or a new puzzle for him to work on. So there, for him, is a puzzle of the Chicago skyline that I gave him for Christmas but he never got a chance to work on.

And as his official obituary stated, Dad enjoyed eating chocolate. One of his favorites was a coconut/chocolate concoction called a "haystack." Back in Lorain there was a chocolate/candy company called "Faroh’s" that had the best "haystacks." They were made with long strands of coconut draped in tasty chocolate, but sadly they aren’t there anymore. Dad did have some "haystacks" left with him, even though the newer version from another supplier look like turds with white speckles, and I have to admit, I snuck a few out of the box before I left the rest for him for his eternity. Though not as pretty as the Faroh’s brand, they were tasty. Sorry, Dad, I couldn’t resist.

But it wasn’t until the other day when I realized Dad had something of mine, for the rest of forever, and it’s simply a t-shirt.

I normally don’t wear t-shirts but with the colder winter we have been having this year, and my wanting to be a little more stylish, on colder days I started wearing a white t-shirt, and with the pending passing of my Dad, I packed my arsenal of four, white t-shirts for the trip back home. It wasn’t until the other day when it was cold outside, and I was looking for a t-shirt, that I realized I was one short, and that Dad was wearing my t-shirt. Forever.

You see, like most people dealing with the passing of a parent, there is always that awkward part of what to have them wearing in their coffin. Dad wasn’t a suit man and definitely not a jean’s man. His general attire, before he become bedridden when it was just easier to stay in a hospital gown, was a dark pair of slacks, usually blue, a t-shirt, and a flannel shirt in the winter, something lighter in the summer. We found the pants, found a nice shirt, but couldn’t find a crisp, white t-shirt in his dresser, so I gave Dad one last gift – a t-shirt.

It was weird when it donned on me that Dad was buried with my t-shirt. It didn’t make me sad, just seemed weird. I hope Mom won’t think it weird when we ask her if she wants anything buried with her. I doubt she’ll need a t-shirt, but when that time comes, I might just bring a spare one anyway.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 4:03 PM | Comments (1)

February 14, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Why Johnny Fairplay Might be Gone, Goodbye Josiah, TV is Almost Back, and Getting Howard Stern off the Air.

The Dude on the Right is here for his Valentine's Day podcast, and he doesn't talk about love. Instead The Dude gives his analysis on Johnny Fairplay being booted from "Survivor: Micronesia" last week, feeling bad for Josiah who's back living in his car after "American Idol," and being happy some of his favorite TV shows will be back, soon. He is also worried that Howard Stern might be off the air soon recalling the movie "Spies Like Us" and the government looking to shoot down a "broken, spy" satellite.

Posted by Rightdude at 5:58 PM | Comments (0)

February 13, 2008

So Much Mis-Information: Bob's not Dead and the DOTL isn't Engaged. We Think.

By: The Dude on the Right
In that last week I heard a friend of mine got engaged and another one died.  So much for proper communication.

First the death that didn't happen.

The e-mail subject simply read "Bob died."  I know a few Bob's, but only one came to mind from the person who sent this e-mail to me and my buddy Stu Gotz.  I met Stu before I got a chance to read the e-mail myself, he mentioned the e-mail, and it was a bummer.  We both knew Bob had his health problems, but it was still sort of shock.  The problem came because our buddy who sent the e-mail, Fruitcake, didn't add a last name in the subject line, only forwarding along the e-mail he received, and Stu didn't read the supplementary parts of the e-mail, namely that which would have given the last name.  Nope, Stu assumed it was the Bob we were familiar with, but luckily we both found out that this Bob was one we knew from ten year's ago and not the Bob we were thinking of, before we spread the word out, which would have gotten to the Bob we know, who would have probably said "But I'm not dead."

And no, the DOTL is not engaged.  Either.  We think.

What's a good reason to go to Las Vegas?  Why a bachelor party, of course, and late last week Stu got a text message from Wimp stating a quick trip was being planned to the land of gambling and boobs for the bachelor party of the DOTL.  Damn, we didn't even know the DOTL was engaged!  Stu investigated, or rather contacted Wimp, who said the DOTL was planning to elope with Trash at the end of March, getting married during an already planned trip to Vegas, so he was working to put together a quick bachelor party weekend for the DOTL and all of his friends.  Stu had lots of plans for the upcoming weekend already set up but quickly worked to cancel them, mostly because Mama Gotz told him to get his ass to Vegas (trust me, that does not happen often), and me, well, I did some quick investigating realizing I couldn't afford a trip to Sin City on short notice (damn airfare), that, and I'm afraid of losing all of my money on a Blackjack table and, well, fake boobs scare me (I suppose they would scare me less have I had the chance to feel them, but sadly, Vegas strippers only seem to let other women feel them, or at least Trash).  I even almost posted a "Congratulations DOTL & Trash" blog over the weekend, but then feared what if Whammy read the post and didn't know about the engagement?  Stu still seemed to be getting innuendos of upcoming nuptials, but something didn't seem right so I had to get Trash involved in this rumor, sending off a quick e-mail, to which she squashed the story of the wedding plans, pretty much throwing Wimp under the bus.

It seems Wimp, not knowing how to "justify" for Mrs. Wimp a quick trip to Las Vegas for him and his friends, instead decided using the DOTL getting engaged and needing a bachelor party was the way to go.  I'm not sure how he'll explain things to her when the DOTL and Trash don't actually get married, but I'm thinking he's also got that figured out, unless Mrs. Wimp reads my blogs (which I'm pretty sure she doesn't), in which case, Wimp, I'm sorry.

Important plans almost got changed, maybe I could have conquered my fears, felt fake boobs (if only allowed, of course), and lost all of my money in the casino, but the next time, Wimp, you can tell Mrs. Wimp anything you want, just fill us in on the "truth" so we don't blow it for others.  That is, unless the DOTL and Trash are now lying and plan to get married at the end of March.  Or maybe it's just the DOTL is lying, and was hoping to get married at the end of March.  Or maybe no one is getting married, but we should all just plan a great trip to Vegas at the end of March.

At least, right now, Stu and I know the Bob we thought was, isn't dead, and the DOTL we thought was, isn't engaged.  Right now, all we do know, is Stupid Wimp.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:51 PM | Comments (0)

February 11, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! At the Movies, Watching the Grammy's, A Song Not for The Grammy's, and The Dude isn't a Pimp.

Stu Gotz and The Dude on the Right finally got back together for their "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast, maybe just to stay warm. The Dude talks about The Grammy Awards and then spotlights a song that probably has no chance to win one, while Stu worries if his kids should see "The Spiderwick Chonicles." The Dude can't help with the "Spider" movie, but he does tell Stu about "Fool's Gold" and the Vince Vaughn comedy movie, while Stu saw "Atonement" and "The Nanny Diaries," but warns The Dude that those who hire a nanny might not get the funny of the latter.

Posted by Rightdude at 5:59 PM | Comments (0)

February 8, 2008

My Dream Woman at The Post Office

By: The Dude on the Right
As is part of my problem in life I'm shy.  The other problem is that I don't know the right thing to say until maybe 30 minutes later.  That case in point came about during a visit to The Post Office today when I had the chance to maybe meet the woman of my dreams.  There she was, waiting for some Passport help, her paperwork in hand, and doing some texting.  And as people are wont to do these days, then she starts a conversation on her cell phone.  Now there are times when people try to be discreet when they're on the phone in public, but not my girl, dressed in tight jeans, a tight shirt, and a giant, silver belt.  Nope, she wanted everyone waiting in line at the post office to know that she was planning on going to Buffalo Wild Wings tonight because they have some drink specials, and she was pissed at her friend.  She was so pissed, in fact, that she told all of us he had called her the P-word, was upset he asked if she was having sex with some other dude, then in her conversation dropped an "F" him," and an "F" that "S," of course not using the shortened version of the words, but the full-blown F-Bomb and S-Bomb.  What a woman of class!  What a woman for me!  What a woman I couldn't take home to meet mom!

And at the time I couldn't think of a thing to say.

Sadly there weren't any little kids around so I couldn't go up to her and ask her to watch her language (for the children, of course), and sadly I was in the line to get stamps rather than get a passport so I couldn't strike up the conversation of where she might be going.  Also, from her conversation, it sounded like she might be in college, at least I assume so because she talked about some classes she was taking and it would be kind of sad if she were 21 years old and still in high school, so maybe I could have offered to help her with some of her classes.

And then, sadly, while she was still in mid-conversation, I finally got my stamps and had to leave my dream woman behind.

It was then, thirty minutes later, when I figured out how I could have made my move: "Excuse me, can you tell me what Buffalo Wild Wings you will be at tonight and at what time?  I would really like to buy a woman of your class a drink."

Looks like I let another great girl slip away.  Damn.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 5:13 PM | Comments (0)

February 7, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Idol's Going to Hollywood, "Survivor" Has Fake Boobs, and Why I Voted for Barack Obama, and a DVD Review of "Once."

The Dude on the Right is still trying to get settled in to doing DVD reviews, so this time he watched a movie he already loved, and still loves, and thinks you might love, namely the movie "Once." He also did a solo podcast about hope, where he hopes Paula Abdul finally gives good audio now that "American Idol" is going to Hollywood, hopes the dudettes with the fake boobs stay awhile on "Survivor: Micronesia," and as much as he hopes for the future of the United States, he also gives, during the podcast, some reasons why he likes Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton. Bring on John McCain!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:12 PM | Comments (0)

February 6, 2008

I've Suddenly Realized I'm All Over the Internet World, and I Don't Know Why.

By: The Dude on the Right
The Super Bowl is over and we found out that Bill Belichick must have had an important meeting to get to at the end of the game.  Super Tuesday is over, and I feel bad for my mom because Ohio seems to be a pivotal state again in a Presidential election and that means she will be bombarded with ads for both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.  I also read they are even planning to hold a debate in The Buckeye State - lucky O. Hi. O.  And speaking of ads, one of the latest iPhone ads touts the ability of using your iPhone with Facebook.  I would like to admit that the ad enticed me to set up a Facebook identity, but I actually set one up over the weekend, before the ad ran -

And I don't know why.

I say "I don't know why" mostly because I should just use this website to say anything I have to say, but suddenly I have found that I have a presence in multiple locations in the internet world, and maybe it's starting to get out of control.

Early on I was able to give myself the same name on a variety of IM sites, places like AOL, Yahoo!, Google, Messenger, and Skype, hoping to, I don't know, instant message people, but then I found that I rarely did, even when my "buddies" were online.  Now I just check the sites every month or so to keep them active, but I'm still hoping to utilize the "talk" feature of one of them to let you, if you listen to my podcast, actually "call" in during a podcast recording (let me know if you might be interested in being a part of a future podcast).

I'm also a member of a music message board that is very informative, and I love to read, but I rarely post because by the time I read something and have an opinion about it, someone has already posted the same opinion I have (and I hate to be a "Me, too!" kind of poster), or worse, someone misunderstands what I was trying to say, posts that I am scum, and I don't have time to get in a message board shouting match trying to explain my point of view.

I have a MySpace page that I try to blog about things I don't think entertainment readers care about, mostly about my struggles with losing weight, and every now and then throw a comment to my sister, niece, or nephew, but in the land of MySpace I only have 85 friends, and lately the only friend requests I get are to be the friend of some hot chick trying to get me to join her web site where I can only assume she gets naked if I give her my credit card number.

We, meaning the Entertainment Ave! website, have a presence in Second Life, a virtual world that has recently been rocked with a bank scandal (it can even happen in the virtual world), and at the time when I bought some virtual land and built a couple of virtual buildings, I had plans on how to use it, namely as a gathering place for people to talk about concerts, movies, and TV, complete with a virtual bar called Squirrelly Georges.  I actually have two names in Second Life, one for business (DudeOnRight Mannonen) and one for fun (Drewman Zapedzki, and not that kind of fun, even though you can have sex in the virtual world), but sadly I haven't been building much there lately though I'm hoping to change that now that I have digital versions of all of my concert photos (more on that in a later blog).

I also have a LinkedIn account which has actually helped me re-connect with some college friends, and I'm included in an internet social site for the fraternity I am member of, Theta Xi.  I was a member of a Yahoo! Group for the those from the class of 1985 of Lorain Catholic High School, but I opted out of that when one of my classmates decided that every day was a day to post about his political beliefs.  I'm tempted to rejoin just to see if he has toned things down a bit on his postings.  I also have a Classmates account, though I haven't visited that site in over a year because I don't want to spend the few bucks to get "better info" on old classmates, although, sometimes, I am tempted to see where an old girlfriend might be.

And if that isn't enough of an internet presence, now that I'm done with digitizing my concert photos, I've been thinking about setting up a Flickr account as I digitize the rest of the photos I have, many of which will deal with photos from college, photos from high school, photos I took for the hell of it, and photos of days before I was born so that relatives and friends around the world could see them.  The monkey-wrench thrown into this, though, is what the hell would I do with that account in the end, and now that Microsoft is trying to buy Yahoo!, do I want Microsoft, somehow, in charge of my pictures?

And don't get me started on the various RSS feeds I read.

If that isn't enough more, now that I'm a member of Facebook I'm not really sure what to do there, either, or whom I should poke (you can do that on Facebook, but do I really want to "poke" people?).  Maybe it's just that I want to be the coolest 40 year old with a presence all over the world, or at least through the internet, but the crappy part is that most of the 40ish year old friends I would like to re-connect with, well, they don't seem to be as cool as I am and don't have accounts on MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Second Life, various IM sites, or the world.

Maybe I should just Google them, or get younger friends. 

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:31 PM | Comments (0)

February 4, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Lot's of Super Talk About a Bowl and Voting, Bob's House Was the Best, and I Could Be A Stripper.

For another Monday The Dude on the Right is flying solo for a weekend wrap-up podcast, but that's okay because this podcast is all about Super. The Dude talks about the Super Bowl, about Super (thanks for asking) Tuesday, his almost being a Super Stripper, and Super Bowl commercials. And speaking of those Super Bowl commercials, he thinks the most creative of the bunch actually came during the Super Bowl Pre-Game, a spot titled "Bob's House" from Pepsi, which The Dude thinks they actually screwed up just tad. The hell with Justin Timberlake, if Pepsi wanted to make a stir they should have run "Bob's House" during the big game, without the pre-explaination of what it was about.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:51 PM | Comments (0)

February 1, 2008

Today I Cried a Little. For Me He's Just "Dad."

By: The Dude on the Right
We got snowed-in here, today, in Chicagoland.  Some didn't, or maybe they had the proper vehicle, equipped with snow-shoes, to travel the glistening, white roadways, but I didn't and the snow-plow people didn't show up until around 2PM to get the driveway in my townhouse area cleared.  Hunkered down in my bunker I did get a little bit of work done in the morning, but shirking some of my duties I also did some cleaning of the Dude-Pad.  But that's not why I cried just a little, as the title of this blog tells.  Nope, as much as my pad needs a good cleaning, and that does make me sad, it wasn't until this evening when the tears came.

Because, tonight, I figured, I would also work to clean up and delete stuff on my computers, and that is when I came across a picture.

There I was, haphazardly deleting stuff, when I came across a folder named "Home Photos," and the first picture showing up was one of a lazy, chubby squirrel.  I remembered when I took it, back in July, for a blog posted in August, and for a moment I was just ready to hit the "Delete" key because I already had a blog, posted, with photos of that lazy squirrel.  But then I scrolled through the digital camera roll, and there it was, a photo that made me cry, and it wasn't just a little.

And that was a couple of hours ago.

As I have been working on typing, editing, re-typing, re-editing this blog, I have been torn as to if I should post the picture, or not, because if members of the "... on the Right" family view this, they might cry a little as well, but hopefully, for the world that is forever in the Internet, and in having one of the last pictures of my Dad, maybe the better picture all of us can go to is an image of him smiling, with his granddaughter.  And that's not such a bad thing for the world to see.

So here it is, the last picture I took of my Dad and Favorite Niece - His Favorite Granddaughter.

As I have been trying to digitize all of the pictures I have taken in the old version, that with film, in one keystroke I almost lost a picture of my Dad.  He's gone from me now, but with this picture he will live forever, in the digital world.  His name is, umm, Frank John Labis, it might also be Frank Joseph Labiszewski, it might also be Frank John Labiszewski,  For me he is, and always will be, just Dad.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 9:19 PM | Comments (0)

January 31, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: It's Snowing, TV Talk, Paula Abdul is Slutty, and I Wish "Hello, Hannah Montana."

The Dude on the Right does a podcast, but thankfully none of it has to do with Apple Webclips because with that topic he's already wondering what he might have done. For the podcast, though, he is happy to see the snow that Chicago is getting and thinks an older lady might want to move. Some TV shows are coming back, namely "Lost" and "Survivor: Micronesia," but The Dude is still having a problem getting excited about the Super Bowl. He was excited about Paula Abdul looking slutty on "American Idol," but isn't excited about the movies opening this weekend, except for one he didn't get tickets for yet, namely "Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert in Disney Digital 3D."

It looks like no screaming teens are in store for The Dude on the Right. There are so many things about that previous sentence that sound so wrong. Umm, let's get back to hot chicks on "Survivor."

Posted by Rightdude at 8:10 PM | Comments (0)

January 30, 2008

I Wasn't Sure What to Blog About Until I Remembered that I, too, have been Pooped On.

By: The Dude on the Right
I was debating what to blog about today.  I could get political, talking about the repercussions of both Rudy Giuliani and John Edwards leaving the Presidential race today.  I fully understood Rudy Giuliani's exiting after Florida, in a message to every political strategist to never ignore Iowa and New Hampshire (although I still don't fully understand their influence), but didn't John Edwards, just a week or so ago, say he was in it until the convention?  And with him leaving the race why isn't he endorsing anyone yet?  Could it be that someone finally whispered in his ear saying "John, you've got no chance in hell to win this thing.  Get out before "Super-Duper Tuesday" so you don't muck up the numbers and then we can start to see who the front-runner really is because we don't want to endorse the loser, do we?"

Then I was going to blog about even at my being 40 years old, there is incredible hope for me to land a hottie.  It was in a news blurb the other day when, and I don't know how I missed this news, that Ryan Reynolds is dating, though not engaged, to Scarlett Johansson.  Most of you probably have no problem realizing who Ms. Johansson is, namely the 23 year old gorgeous, perfect, woman, but I'm guessing the name "Ryan Reynolds" doesn't rank too high in your book of Hollywood celebs.  Two words are simply in order for Ryan, and they are Van and Wilder.  That's right, he was Van Wilder in the movie with the same name.  As hope for me, with eight years being the age difference, I did a quick check and it looks like if I want to do the actress direction I should be dating the likes of Angelina Jolie, Kate Winslet, Milla Jovovich, and if I wanted to find someone more on the musical side, K.T. Tunstall seems like a fun dudette to hang with, but how could I, in the end, deny Charlize Theron the man that is The Dude on the Right?

But since politics can be an explosive subject, and with my self-esteem not being able to handle the crushing blow of a rejection from Charlize, I heard about a video on YouTube today that reminded me of days that I was pooped on, literally.  One was when I was working in downtown Chicago, for a camera store, and on a trip out for lunch I walked a little too close to the buildings forgetting that along with crowding the sidewalks, sometimes the pigeons like to hang out on the building ledges about five stories up.  Walking along I suddenly caught a white blob, out of the corner of my eye, on my shoulder, and sure enough, I was pooped on.  Then I recalled another time, on the way to a Chicago Cubs' game, when a shortcut to Murphy's Bleachers from the El-stop (that's an elevated train for you non-Chicago folks) is down the alley the El runs along, when suddenly I feel something plop in my hair.  Luckily I had some napkins in my pockets to clean up the heavenly present.  I have also previously done a podcast on the terror that are Canadian Geese, and mark my words, the downfall of the United States might be by geese.  All of that said, I have never done what this reporter did during his news report, but it leads to loads of fun, at least for us watching.

Winged creatures might just be the death of us all!

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 6:42 PM | Comments (0)

January 28, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: An Apology, Movie Talk, Some New TV and MTV, but No Stu.

Even though it's normally a day for a Weekend Wrap-Up Podcast with Stu Gotz, The Dude on the Right and Stu couldn't figure out how to meet up today so The Dude on the Right handles the podcast duty flying solo. The Dude apologizes for his choice of words in yesterday's blog, which he has since edited, but doesn't apologize for liking the new "Rambo" movie. But mostly TV is on the mind of The Dude and he thinks it's time for MTV to change its name because seriously, what do constant "America's Next Top Model" marathons have to do with music?

Posted by Rightdude at 5:58 PM | Comments (0)

January 27, 2008

Missing the Award Shows, Movies and Movie Previews, and an iPhone WebClip.

By: The Dude on the Right
With this weekend coming to a close, and my having "The Screen Actors Guild Awards" on my TV, I realize that as much as I have been hating not getting new TV shows, other than the reality ones, I do miss the award shows that propagate the airwaves at the beginning of the year.  Why?  It's not the crap in between the awards because who really wants to hear bad jokes that can't offend anyone, but I do miss the speeches from those that win the awards, especially from those who are surprised they actually won the award.  We missed the drunken ones that might have happened during "The Golden Globe Awards," but damn, I hope the writers and the TV and whomever folks need to do it come to an agreement so that "The Academy Awards" can be the exploited award show we have grown to know and love, and maybe just give us that one speech, from one surprise winner, to make us dream (I'm cheering on Ellen Page).

On another note, this weekend saw me getting to see a couple of movies, namely "Rambo," which I really liked, and "Meet the Spartans," not so much.  I also got all of my movie previews up to date, thanks mostly to Tiger Woods making The Buick Invitational one of the most boring golf tournaments ever by beating the crap out of the competition, and the CBS announcers sounding like little schoolboys trying to call a golf outing, with one already pronouncing that this will be the year Tiger Woods wins the Grand Slam of golf and another (or maybe it was the same dude, I get them confused) upset because no one was able to get a birdie on the hole he was covering.  I know Tiger was so far ahead that it was nearly impossible for him to lose the tournament, but for goodness sake, can't you golf announcers control yourself?  He skipped Hawaii; it's only January; 2008 is the same length as any other year; with 320 days left, on any given day in 2008, Tiger might lose a tournament; but where is the dignity that is golf?  CBS folks, please go back and listen to your broadcast and boot the crap out of the broadcast of those who have already lost their minds in January.

And finally, on a last geek note, I have said before that I have an iPhone.  Fine, I'm a geek.  With the Macsomethingorotherconference, the world of Apple gave me another iPhone update, still leaving me without the ability to cut and paste, but that's another blog for another time.  What they did do, for the firmware update of 1.1.3, was give the iPhone the ability to add a WebClip to your iPhone.  Pretty much it means that on your iPhone homepage you can have a cute little graphic that when you touch it, well, it will open the web page associated with that WebClip.  Hell, that's too complicated to explain.  Look, if you have an iPhone, and you like our web site, Entertainment Ave!, go to our home page on your iPhone, click the "+" at the bottom of your iPhone screen and add us to your homepage.  We, unlike other non-cool sites, will have a cool icon on your iPhone that looks like our favicon, that when you touch it on your iPhone (and it also works for your iTouch, I think), instantly logs you onto Entertainment Ave!, keeping you informed of what's new.

Be smart, be safe, and if you like TV pray that the TV folks give in to the will of the writer folks, otherwise 2008 will be the year of reality, and who wants that, unless, of course, the dudettes on "Survivor: Where Ever They Are." are hot and get hotter with losing weight.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 9:05 PM | Comments (0)

January 24, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Get Me To Hollywood, Amy Winehouse, and TV is Back, Sort Of.

For this podcast The Dude on the Right admits that this one is kind of lame, but he does do a short parody of "Rehab" in honor of Amy Winehouse. He's also a bit flustered with "American Idol," is looking forward to the return of "Lost" and "Survivor" to fill up his Thursday nights, and wonders about the writer's strike and will it ever end.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:05 PM | Comments (0)

January 21, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! Lots of Movies, Mama Gotz's Issues, A New Ringtone, and Peeing on a Stick.

Being away from each other for a week sure doesn't put a kink in the conversation Stu Gotz and The Dude on the Right can put together for a "Weekend Wrap-Up" podcast, and they get right back into things for this episode. The weekends usually include a lot of movie stuff so they talk about that, Stu got a picture from Mama Gotz so they talk about that, Stu saw a pregnancy test commercial so they talk about that, The Dude has a new favorite ringtone so they listen and talk about that, and even though The Dude on the Right doesn't give a damn about the upcoming Super Bow, they talk about that anyway. And if that isn't enough they have other things to talk about, and they talk about that, too.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:21 PM | Comments (0)

January 18, 2008

A New Chapter for the "on the Right" Family.

By: The Dude on the Right
Every family has a change leading to a new chapter in the book that is their story.  Most of the chapters progress from things like the start of the book, namely the marriage, to the birth of a child, to the child's first words, to the child's first steps, to maybe the birth of a brother or sister, and much of the cycle usually stays the same for a while.  The chapters switch from the innocence of children, to the family progressing through the years.  The children in the family grow, to grade school, to junior high, to high school, and to adulthood.  A new book is started as some of those children create another family, an offshoot of the original story, yet still intertwined with the original.

And as the book that is a family's life is similar for all, there are so many differences.  There may be an illness or accident that takes a child away from a family;  There may be financial hardships that all must deal with;  There may be a divorce where mom and dad, not thinking of the children, do their best, at any chance they can, to make their children hate the other parent; and then there are families that, for most of the time, forget the meaning of family.

But with every family story, probably, usually, definitely, inevitably, there will come the death of a parent/spouse.  Sometimes that death comes as a shock and other times not, most will agree the death comes to soon, but for some it is way too soon.  With that death the story continues, though, with one character now only in memory as the next chapter begins with getting back to some normalcy, "some" because with the passing of a family member things aren't the normal that was created a chapter before.  The book that is the story of the family is not complete with the death of one member, more chapters must be written, until that day when the book can be closed when all of the members have passed on.

Fine, right now you might be saying to yourself a couple of things, things like "Dude, what's with the reflective beginning to this blog, and why haven't you posted anything new in over a week?"  Well, both the reflective nature of the opening of this blog and the lack of postings came about because of the passing of Dad on the Right on January 12th, starting a new chapter in the book of the "on the Right" family.  In the realm of my being old enough to fully comprehend and have to deal with the loss of an immediate family member, the recent passing of my Dad is the first.  I was 11 when my last grandparent passed away, and even though I've been older for the deaths of some of my aunts and uncles, and yes, their passings were sad, for me this death thing is kind of new and a lot different to deal with.  Sure, I could probably go see a shrink to help me "move on" as it were, but what fun would that be and why would I spend the money when I could just write about here it from time to time.

So, today's therapy lesson was two-part.  One was to reflect that as much of a bummer it is to have my dad die, I realized that my family's story isn't done yet and there are already stories to tell of the days immediately following when he passed, stories like "What the heck is his name, anyway?", "Who knew driving to a cemetery could be so much fun!", "What's the deal with the food?", "Niece on the Right is a rocker!", "That's not an obituary.  This is an obituary!", and "Everyone says 'Mom on the Right' is a hottie."  And Mom, if you're reading this, don't worry, one story will remain in the circle of our family to laugh at from time to time.

The second part of my therapy lesson was to get back to some normalcy, and what better way then seeing a movie, in this case "Cloverfield," and write a review.

So the story of the "on the Right" family continues, and at least right now Sis on the Right has her own book of her family so that even when the book of the "on the Right" family is closed, another book will lead people back to our story.

Stories are always to be read, but better to be written, even with a death as part of it.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 8:31 PM | Comments (1)

January 10, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: 2008: What a Strange Year It's Already Been

The Dude on the Right is already flabbergasted at how strange 2008 has been, and it's only ten days in. For this podcast he leaves the family stuff for later but instead delves into Britney Spears and Dr. Phil, wants The Academy Awards to go on but only if the writers get their stuff, and now that Sony/BMG is going to let Amazon sell music/mp3s with no copyright protection, why no love yet for Apple who, sure, wanted to sell a bunch of iPods, but showed the world some people would actually buy music over the internet.

The Dude is also flustered by the elections and the influence Iowa and New Hampshire have on the entire picking a President process, but he has at least 11 reasons why he is looking forward to this season of "Survivor: Micronesia."

Posted by Rightdude at 7:33 PM | Comments (0)

January 7, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! Movies & TV, Britney & Lindsay, Weather & Delilah.

Stu Gotz and The Dude on the Right finally get back together after weeks of being apart to do another "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast. If they didn't trim things down this podcast would probably last a few hours, but they cut things to some recent movies in the theaters as well as movies on Stu's Netflix cue. The weekend brought huge entertainment news about the latest BUI (Britney Under the Influence) and Dr. Phil (Stu & The Dude disagree on the Dr. Phil factor), and why not talk about Lindsay Lohan's New Year's Eve while they're at it. Chicago had a warm spell, and The Dude watched "American Gladiator." And Stu still likes tormenting The Dude about the song "Hey There Delilah." Stu can be a mean, mean, man.

Posted by Rightdude at 5:48 PM | Comments (0)

January 6, 2008

Smoke Detector Nightmares

By: The Dude on the Right
As I have stated before in some blogs, I sometimes find myself just a tad crazy, obsessive, or just bizarre.

Case in point...

So the other night I'm sleeping when I wake up to a familiar chirp.  I knew I didn't have any 9 volt batteries in the Dude-Pad so I close my bedroom door hoping to deaden the noise.  I manage to sleep through the night, waking up every now and then to a chirp, but figuring that in the morning I could track down which one of my three smoke detectors the chirp was coming from (I was guessing the living room area because it wasn't loud enough for the upstairs one nor quiet for the basement).  I woke up that morning and got myself a gun.  No, wait, sorry, that's the theme from "The Sopranos" and a great song from Alabama 3, but I digress.  I woke up that morning to find there was no more chirping.  Remembering that I failed to change the batteries in my smoke detectors when we fell back in November, I figured the battery issue might have been caused by A) My having the thermostat turned down to a balmy 60 degrees at night so when the detector warmed back up in the morning the chirping stopped, or 2) My humidifier was messing with the smoke detector, in conjunction with the balmy 60 degrees, and again, when the detector warmed back up in the morning the chirping stopped.  In any case I figured it wouldn't hurt to change the batteries in all of my smoke detectors so that afternoon I picked up some batteries, pulled out the step-stool, and changed the batteries in my smoke detectors.  The Dude-Pad was safe once more, or at least I would hear a fire coming and try to figure how to get the hell out.

I went to bed.

Sometime about three the next morning: "Chirp.... Chirp....  Chirp....", and I roll over saying to myself, "Self, what the fuck?  I changed all of the batteries, what the hell is going on?"  So I get out of bed, stand under the upstairs smoke detector, hear the next "chirp" from below me, then head down the stairs to the living room.  I stand there, in the dark, in my undies, staring at the living room area smoke detector (because it could still be the basement detector), only nothing chirps.  One minute.  Three minutes.  Ten minutes later I'm still standing there, in my undies, and no chirp.  Confused and tired I head back to bed only to be woken up again, around four in the morning, to new chirps.  Pissed off I close my bedroom door again figuring that by morning the chirping will be gone again, and sure enough it was.

Another day goes by, another night of chirping begins, another standing, staring, shivering, in my undies, under my living room detector goes by, then I wake up in the morning, don't get myself a gun (although at that point I really wanted to shoot my living room smoke detector, just for the hell of it), and I head to my basement area to exercise.  And just as I'm about to put my headphones on in preparation for a stationary bike ride I hear a chirp.  I now know the basement detector is not the culprit and head up stairs.  I stand under the living room smoke detector and hear a chirp, only it's not coming from the smoke detector, it's coming from my piano.  I know my piano can't chirp, I know Steve, my clownfish in the fish tank next to the piano can't chirp (although how cool would that have been), and then I remember my carbon monoxide detector was plugged in, behind the piano, and sure enough, it was the damn thing that was chirping, keeping me up at night, and hell, who remembers that your carbon monoxide detector has a battery in it, let alone that you need to change said battery.  I had one extra 9 volt battery left from my smoke detector upgrades, popped it my my carbon monoxide detector, and sure enough, no more chirping.

As much as they harp on changing your smoke detector batteries when we spring ahead or fall back, and maybe I'm not paying enough attention to the harping, but as a public service announcement to you, our loyal reader, don't forget changing the battery in your carbon monoxide detector so you won't wake up, countless nights, wondering where the hell the chirping is coming from.  Trust me, it won't be your fish talking to you.

Just a little tip for the new year.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 6:21 PM | Comments (1)

January 3, 2008

What's New? A Podcast of: Flip-Flopping the Iowa Caucus, Lindsay Lohan, Lions, and Tigers.

The Dude on the Right does his first podcast for 2008, wonders about the Iowa Caucus results, but he flip-flops on his initial thought about the caucus process. In the end he sees a plus side to the caucusing, namely picking up dudettes. The Dude didn't see the return of the late night talk show hosts, even though David Letterman's beard seemed to be the big news, and some jack-load gave Lindsay Lohan a bottle of champagne. On a lighter note The Dude also ponders the fact that tigers and lions like to eat people sometimes.

Posted by Rightdude at 5:59 PM | Comments (0)

January 2, 2008

Our First Blog of 2008, and Do You Want a Free Bag of Cheese Curls?

By: The Dude on the Right
What better way to start a new year, albeit a day late, than with a new blog!  At first I was going to work on the transformation of Entertainment Ave! to 2008, which pretty much just means a global search and replace of the website thus changing the copyright information from "1996-2007" to "1996-2008," and also including a link to our sister site, mostlyentertainment.com, but then I wondered why would I link to the sister site yet when I haven't begun one of my New Year's Goals, namely consistently updating story links over at Mostly Entertainment.  I did create the graphic for the link, have to admit it's kind of lame, but hey, go ahead and click on it if you want to link to some old headlines from back in October of last year (at least as I post this).

Updating the website aside, the second day of January also made me realize something, especially after the food meltdown I had on the 1st day of January, and that is I just need to order and ship the damn things to my friends rather than bring them back from the old country to distribute later, but then my question is if any of my friends actually deserve a case of them.  That's right, I'm talking, again, about cheese curls.  I blogged about them before, the best cheese curls in the world, from "Snyder of Berlin", and as my never-ending quest at losing weight was just ready to begin yesterday, with a new plan for just losing 1 pound a week and trying to get inspired by "The Biggest Loser: Couples," out of the corner of my eye, high on a shelf, the glorious bag caught my eye.  There was only one bag left of the three originally purchased because I did at least dish one off to Stu Gotz.  The other two were supposed to be for another buddy I know, a dude, who if you met you would never think he was a cheese curl kind of guy, but at a lunch one day he told Stu and me about his Achilles heel of snack food.  I promised him I would bring the best cheese curls back for him for the next time we met.  This was actually back in early November, and when I went home for Thanksgiving I brought back a couple of bags to give to him but those never made past the first week in December (yup, I ate those two bags), and then at Christmas I brought back three bags, quickly dispensed one to Stu, quickly ate one for me (even though that one was originally planned for my buddy), and did my best, for four days, to save that last bag for my buddy.  But as the bag of glorious cheesiness beckoned me I could no longer resist, and now, half a bag gone, I was tempted to throw the rest of those orange, curled, baked goodness into the garbage, but no, there they are, waiting for my next moment of weakness which will probably be about four hours from the time I am typing this blog.

Herein lies my next dilemma - From the Snyder of Berlin order form I can only order my beloved cheese curls by the case, which would contain 14 bags of cheese curls, and even I feel bad about dumping 14 bags of cheesines onto only one of my friends.  The thing is that if I ship the case to myself I know I could unload a couple to Stu, if I'm prompt about it I could re-ship two bags to my local buddy and two other bags could go to a staff member's girlfriend in New Jersey.  That leaves me with 8 bags of the World's best cheese curls which I could probably eat in a span of about 12 days, which I really, really, really, really would like to do, but for my weight loss goal is probably not a good idea.  So here's what I'm proposing and there is no guarantee you will get a bag.  If you would like me to send you a bag of what I consider the best cheese curls in the World, send me an e-mail to blog@entertainmentavenue.com with your name, age and shipping address stating you would like a bag of cheese curls.  If I do, in fact, order a case, and I do not, in fact, eat them all, and if they do, in fact, have expiration dates later than when you would get the bag, I will ship you a bag of cheese curls.  I'll do my best to package them nicely but make no promise they won't arrive crushed and broken, Birds Eye Foods has absolutely nothing to do with my sending you a bag of cheese curls nor this blog, and don't blame me for one, free, taste, that might make you an addict.  In any case, if this cheese curl giveaway happens because I don't eat them all, I really just want to know what you think of them.

Here's to your weight loss in 2008!

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 6:28 PM | Comments (0)

December 31, 2007

What's New? A Movie Review of "Charlie Wilson's War" and a Podcast of "Happy New Year!"

As 2007 wraps up for the Entertainment Ave! crew there's still a little time for one more movie review with The Dude on the Right seeing "Charlie Wilson's War" and now stalking Amy Adams, and although not a true Weekend Wrap-Up podcast, The Dude just wants to thank you, wants to lose weight, and wants to set some goals for the website. Here's to a fabulous 2008 for all of you!

Posted by Rightdude at 4:20 PM | Comments (0)

December 27, 2007

What's New? A Podcast of: A Chubbier Nephew, Lorain, and A Christmas Tradition.

The Dude on the Right is home from home for the holidays and worries that his nephew is trying to be a little too much like him. Such is one of the musings for this podcast. The Dude is also closer to being "street" thanks to a gift from his niece, and as a gift back he takes his 16 year old to another R-Rated movie, this time "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street." The Dude's movie review should follow soon.

Anyway, he also ponders his mother being in the hospital over Christmas, looks forward to seeing a boatload of movies over the upcoming weekend, and wonders if any college students realize the impact that Momofuku Ando had on their life's, or even celebrated Mr. Ando's life hearing about his death back in January of 2007. If you are a college student you should probably chug a beer, that you can now afford, thanks to the invention by Momofuku Ando.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:43 PM | Comments (0)

December 20, 2007

What's New? A Podcast of: Merry Christmas, A Nasally Cold, A Parenting Book, Ringtones, and Shooting at Santa!

The Dude on the Right is still sporting a head cold for this podcast, but he powers through without mentioning the name "Jamie Lynn Spears." Instead he mostly talks about Christmas and shooting at Santa. Also, since it's the end of the year, those end of the year lists start popping up, with The Dude being surprised at how out of the loop he seems to be by not realizing the popularity of Shop Boyz and their hit "Party Like a Rock Star." After hearing it, though, he might be adding the song to his exercise playlist. Sadly, though, it also means he may never hear it again.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:38 PM | Comments (0)

December 17, 2007

What's New? Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up Podcast! They Both See Movies, The Dude has a Cold, and Stu's Getting Old.

Stu Gotz and The Dude on the Right overcome some health issues to get together for another podcast of "Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up!" They both saw "I Am Legend" and "Alvin and the Chipmunks," so there's discussions about the good and bad of those movies, while Stu's Netflix queue gave Stu a good movie while The Dude recommends a movie Stu should add to the queue. They also discuss Dan Fogelberg's death where The Dude gets it correct, TV shows are wrapping up, and what better thing this Christmas season than Mr. Chocolate Rain, Tay Zonday, orating "Twas the Night Before Christmas," at least The Dude on the Right thinks so.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:22 PM | Comments (0)

December 13, 2007

What's New? A Podcast of: Hannah Montana, Baseball & Steroids, The Golden Globe Nominations, and Here Comes Santa!

The Dude on the Right is hoping during this podcast that a lot of baseball dudes get together and sue some of the major networks and radio shows for spouting that they did steroids even before the Mitchell Report came out, which then didn't list them. He was also hoping Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus would be adding some new shows near his niece so he could try to get her tickets as the perfect Christmas present.

The Dude was also disappointed that the Golden Globe nominations didn't include "Knocked Up" nor "Superbad" this year, and also wonders if Dewey Cox can out-funny McLovin? He also wants to lose weight next year, but what year doesn't The Dude on the Right not want to lose weight?

Posted by Rightdude at 6:52 PM | Comments (0)

December 10, 2007

What's New? Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up Podcast: "The Golden Compass" Analysis, Weather Woes, and More Movie Talk.

Stu Gotz and The Dude on the Right reunite for another "Weekend Wrap-Up" podcast, and a lot of it deals with movies. They both saw "The Golden Compass," discuss some things about "I Am Legend," and Stu wonders how he let Mama Gotz hijack his Netflix queue. They also talk some football, mostly about the New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins since the Chicago Bears have been sucking lately, they also talk some TV as the fall season winds up, and Stu thinks Bon Jovi and Ozzy Osbourne aren't relevant anymore. Send your complaints to stu@entertainmentavenue.com

Posted by Rightdude at 6:03 PM | Comments (0)

December 9, 2007

Where's the Christmas Spirit, and Hoping to See Concerts.

By: The Dude on the Right
As I waited at the Dude-Pad for the ice storm that the weather folks kept predicting I kept looking out the window for the storm, then went to the hardware store because I needed a new humidifier as my trusty Radio Shack thermometer/hydrometer said I was breathing 27% humidity air, and began trying to get into the Christmas spirit by getting my Christmas tree up. But even with my little winter wonderland in my living room (thought not finished yet), and even with snow on the ground, I'm finding it hard to get into the Christmas spirit this year because right now that spirit is coming in spurts, like it did in my last blog.  That's okay, I suppose, because I've always been a Christmas procrastinator, waiting until the last minute to buy presents, although today I also got my Sunday newspaper with a pre-printed "Holiday" note wishing me the best in the holiday season, complete with a self-addressed, but not stamped, envelope, and wondering if this will finally be the year I tip my newspaper driver girl, and if so, how much?

And with holiday tipping being a perplexing quandary, whether it be the newspaper delivery person, the mail person, the garbage people (and since we've got recycling and garbage pick-up do I have to tip the both of them?), I at least did see a movie over the weekend that I didn't like, that being "The Golden Compass," I did get some new movie previews done for the website, I'm halfway through the second DVD of special features for "Superbad" so that DVD review should be posted this week, I have some hopes that I'll be able to cover Jonathon Brandmeier and his Leisure Suits this week, as well as the teaming up of Rob Zombie and Ozzy Osbourne, and I'll also finish my Christmas display to finally give me something to keep me in the spirit every time I walk by it, at least until after Christmas when I then have to dread taking down my Christmas crap, I mean spirit.

And I still wonder, where is my ice storm today?

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:48 PM | Comments (0)

December 6, 2007

What's New? A Podcast of: Canada Better Watch Out, Journey's Got a New Singer, and Grammy Award Nominees.

For this podcast The Dude on the Right talks a lot about music, although he begins by welcoming the International visitors to the website where the folks in Ireland are close to overtaking the fans in Canada. But back on the music side, The Dude explains who the new lead singer of Journey is and how it came about, which reminded him of the movie "Rock Star," and continuing with the music theme, with "Hey There Delilah" getting nominated for a couple of Grammy Awards, The Dude is once again tormented and hates Delilah. But the Grammy nominations also lead him into a weird direction, wondering about obscure categories, and past Presidents of the United States of America vs. a maybe future President of the United States of America, all competing in a category of spoken word where it might be Oprah who decides who the Grammy goes to. It's too bad The Grammy Awards are after the Iowa caucus!

Posted by Rightdude at 6:11 PM | Comments (0)

December 5, 2007

30 Minutes to The Christmas Spirit!

By: The Dude on the Right
Normally, by now, I'm sort of getting into the Christmas spirit, and you would think that with the blanket of snow we got last night it would kick that feeling into high gear (I'm Catholic so for for me it's Christmas - If you want me to be in the "Holiday" spirit, well, screw you), but for whatever reason I'm still in "Bah-humbug!" mode.  I've got no gumption to set up my Christmas display, the only gumption I do have is to at least set up my Christmas Tree, maybe, and the dude-pad could also use a good cleaning.  My December TV viewing is coming to a crashing halt thanks to the writer's strike, and my excitement about football is nearly over as the Chicago Bears are pretty much out of it while their only use this week is in screwing up my Thursday night TV viewing thanks to their being the Thursday Night Football game on the NFL Network which no one, except me (and maybe The Dude on the Left), can view, because I am insane and need to have every cable channel I can get.

Normally a Christmas movie or two might get me into the spirit, but I didn't like "Fred Claus" that much, and as my weekends finally get back to a little normalcy I could really care less about "The Golden Compass" which opens this weekend, even though I know I should review it to at least get something new posted entertainment-wise.  Sure, I could catch up on some movies I haven't seen yet, but I'm thinking neither "Hitman" nor "The Mist" will make me want to bellow "Ho Ho Ho," or as they are supposed to do in Australia now, "Ha Ha Ha!"

But you know what?  Chicken butt!  Actually, as I've been writing this blog, I've also been going back and forth between my typing and my looking for pictures of my Christmas display from last year, and then I remembered I posted a blog about it, with pictures, and now I'm sort of sorry for that "screw you" earlier in this blog because the pictures made me laugh, like the one in this blog where it looks like my mountain is the giant head of a snow monster, looking to eat my Christmas village!  And you know what twice? Fried rice!  Actually, in a span of about thirty minutes I'm almost getting into the Christmas spirit.  I just remembered the gifts I want to buy for my niece and nephew as they will be visiting the old homestead for the wondrous holiday celebrating the birth of my Lord, Jesus Christ (and please people, quit stealing him away from his manger), maybe it's actually a blessing that the Bears might wrap up any hope of continuing their season tomorrow, thus leaving my Sunday with football I don't care about (unless the Cleveland Browns might be on my airwaves, but that will wait for Sunday to find out), movies I don't care about, and maybe it will now be a weekend of music and seeing if I can make my snow-mountain look like a snow-mountain, rather than a snow monster.

And suddenly, thirty minutes later after I started typing this blog, I'm almost totally into the Christmas spirit, or the Holiday spirit, or just hoping you celebrate something this month by being with friends, family, or maybe just your pet.  I think I know where my obsession with creating a Christmas display came from, and it was during my days as a manager of a Radio Shack where I actually had a working waterfall complete with goldfish in the "lake" of the display.  I couldn't find the picture of that display (yet), though I still see it in my head, and now I also wonder whatever happened to Mitzi, my one sales associate.

Alright, I've got to finish this blog now before it totally ends up being a novel because, as I am now getting into the Christmas spirit, a lot of past Decembers are flooding into my head, with most of those Decembers bringing a smile to my face.

I'm back with the Christmas spirit.  Now if only I could find that picture of my "stunning" Radio Shack display.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:40 PM | Comments (0)

December 3, 2007

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! A Weekend with Friends, Sports, and TV.

Stu Gotz and The Dude on The Right both survived an annual weekend of seeing old friends so they were able to do another "Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast. Stu gets a little "blue" in his talking, but The Dude is just blue about the latest loss by the Chicago Bears. They do talk about their meeting old friends, The Dude talks some about new drinking and eating establishments, and even with a weekend of The Dude on the Right humoring himself in his head, suddenly Jennifer Love Hewitt comes into the picture, and even though that picture isn't that flattering, Stu and The Dude don't care, they both like her boobies.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:25 PM | Comments (0)

December 2, 2007

A Selfish Weekend with Friends.

By: The Dude on the Right
I wish I had a good reason for the lack of postings the last few days, but really it was all about selfishness. As happens every early December, this is a weekend that a bunch of friends from college, including myself, get together for a weekend in Chicago. Folks fly in from New Jersey, some people brave lousy driving conditions, but the weekend is culminated with a fancy-shmancy, or at least just a nice dinner, at one of the many fine-dining establishments in the Chicago area (this year is happened to be an Italian place called "Scoozi!").

I won’t go into too much about the weekend as I think Stu Gotz and I will go into some things tomorrow for our Weekend Wrap-Up! Podcast, but the weekend always gives some interesting events, and sometimes things for future blogs. A few years ago a group of us came up with a new religion, which if I could ever find the bar napkins we wrote most of our core beliefs on, well, if you thought the story of Xenu and Scientology is a little bit out there, well, our religion has that beat, and might be a little more fun. But this weekend wasn’t about religion, and as I reminisce this evening of a fun weekend filled with seeing old friends, it was also exciting because for a group of us as we broke out of our predictable selves and discovered a couple of new establishments, namely "Reagle Beagle" (Nice meeting you, Andie!) and "English",  both places being enjoyable, different in their own right, and hopefully longer reviews will follow at a later time.

For Stu I think I will fill him in on how I tend to humor myself in my own head with different scenarios I came up with over the weekend, but for some future blogs there might some topics like:

Are 7&7’s back?

An internet date gone bad.

What’s the point of a flat screen TV?

Ventilation in bathrooms.

Scrumpy’s remembered.

Sure the weekend kept me away from some important news and rumors like Britney Spears being pregnant, mourning the death of Evel Knievel, and paying attention to college football where, depending on the latest BCS standings, The Ohio State Buckeyes might find themselves in the BCS Championship Game after all, leaving The Rose Bowl for USC and Illinois, and the folks at FOX are close to breathing a sigh of relief of the ratings disaster of a West Virginia v. Missouri match-up.  Oh well.

As being selfish can sometimes cause I am now left with so many things to catch back up on, so many things to post, and I still don’t know who got booted off of Survivor last Thursday, though I hope to fire up my TiVo later and at let the catching up begin.

It was great to see some old friends again, and in about a year from now I will most likely be selfish once again because sometimes old friends are more important than posting things on the internet.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 6:08 PM | Comments (0)

November 28, 2007

Quit Sending E-Mails that just Disappoint your Friends.

By: The Dude on the Right
At first I was going to do a blog about "Dancing with the Stars" and how I was so happy Helio Castroneves and Julianne Hough won, but then, by the time I started writing, I figured it was old news and really, what is there to blog about other than he won, Julianne is still hot, and I was happy Marie Osmond and Scary Spice didn't win.

So I decided to write this blog about an e-mail I received from my Mom a few weeks ago.

As much as I try and prod her to do so, my Mom keeps resisting my urging her to write editorials, quips, and just general thoughts for this website.  She's a wife, a mother, and a grandmother, she's a cancer survivor, and she has grown up through lots of things in this world and has an opinion on just about anything going on in the world of today.  When I go home to visit, and even when I call on the phone, she comments a lot about professional athletes getting paid too much money, saw from the beginning the quagmire of invading Iraq (which I have to apologize to her, because as much, at the beginning, I tried to convince her it was a good thing to do as I bought into the political propaganda being spewed about, but she didn't buy it for a second and stood her ground and never has been a George Bush fan), and questions the proliferation of sex and violence on TV and what it is doing to society, especially our youth, who don't have parents to both stop them from watching it, nor be role models around it.  But in a bass-akward way she wrote something for the web site, in the form of an e-mail to me and some of her friends a few weeks ago.  She told me I could use it here, so here goes...

Mom received an e-mail with the following text, complete with a lot of cute graphics that I'm not going to post here, that said...

8 angels are sent to you,
You must send them to 8 people including me.
In 8 minutes you will receive something you have long awaited.

Have faith!
Have a good day

Now my Mom, being in a persnickety mood that day, did what the e-mail said, and waited.  And then sent this:

Well - - the 8 minutes came and went and there has not been any changes or events to make a difference in my day. When I first got my computer in 2000 I was gung ho for all the so-called miracles, healing, etc. that were to happen, but never did.

So - - - - - if I don’t send anything back to you, it just never made things different in my life, and I am just content to hear from my e-friends even if I don’t answer back.

Prayers are beautiful to receive and hear, but I figure that for all my problems that I would have cured and helped, there are so many more people who need more help than I do and if they were to be answered, God would answer them. But then at times, I believe He figures I should be able to figure some of my problems out without His help. After all, He is a very busy God with the mess in this world (that I’m sure He just shakes His head over that) and with the free will that God gave us, it certainly is up to us to help ourselves more and be thankful for all that we have.

May God bless each and every one of us.

I can't divulge it here, but my Mom's e-mail inspired a sort of social experiment I might try at a later date, but I also so love when Mom gets opinionated because she can do so in a nice way, yet still questioning why some people probably don't actually read the e-mails they forward along, just doing so because it is the thing they do.  My Mom actually took the challenge the e-mail asked for, and I can only imagine what she awaited for in those 8 minutes, but she didn't get something she long awaited for.

So, please, don't send an e-mail that will lie to my Mom.  I so much like her complaining about sports' figures not living up to their multi-million dollar potential than not receiving something she has long awaited.  And you also know what - quit sending e-mails that, if they follow the e-mail rules, just disappoint your friends, too.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:25 PM | Comments (0)

November 26, 2007

What's New? Stu & The Dude's Weekend (and Thanksgiving) Wrap-Up! The Dude Calls 911 Twice, Stu Sees Movies and a Parade.

For this podcast episode of "Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up!", The Dude on the Right and Stu Gotz wrap the weekend into talking about their Thanksgiving doings also. The Dude had hospital stories, but did watch "March of the Penguins" (and a lot of commercials) with his Mom, while Stu was Mr. Busybody, seeing "Enchanted," "August Rush," "The Guardian," and taking the family to see a parade. Stu tells The Dude all about it, while The Dude is now just looking forward to watching the "Dancing with the Stars" finale and hoping Helio (and Julianne Hough) win the coveted mirror ball trophy.

Posted by Rightdude at 5:54 PM | Comments (0)

November 25, 2007

A Story for a Future Thanksgiving Dinner. A Teaser.

By: The Dude on the Right
I had every intention of posting a few things between my last post about Oprah's "Favorite Things" episode and today, namely a podcast because I took my mobile podcast studio home to the Heartland, a movie review or two by seeing some movies on the North Coast, but then my Thanksgiving weekend trip to the old home of the Ford Econoline Van turned into, well, a story for future Thanksgiving dinners.  For now I will only give this teaser as I hope to fill Stu Gotz in tomorrow of my Thanksgiving weekend during our "Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast.

Today, though, my Chicago Bears are still alive because other teams actually kick to Devin Hester and his team, my Cleveland Browns are still alive because of Derek Anderson and his team, and I was able to hear the Browns thanks to my Sirius satellite radio in my car and watch the Bears while listening to the audio team of Jeff Joniak and Tom Thayer when I got home, synched up because I have TiVo.  God bless technology!

Sometimes I'm such an audio geek, and today was one of those days when I liked being a geek, especially, since yesterday, a nurse at a hospital nearly ruined my secret identity.  She thought I was a movie star, but thankfully I kept her thinking I was a superhero!

Oh, wait, umm, I was never at a hospital, at least not as Spixxx-xxx, nor at least TxBxx Mxxuxxx.  I'm just Drew.  Oh, wait, my, well, something is tingling. Never mind. At least for now.

That's it for this one!  I'm Drew, I mean The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:42 PM | Comments (0)

November 20, 2007

Would I Look Good in "Ugg Australia Classic Crochet Tall Boots"?

By: The Dude on the Right
First off let me start this by saying part of me doesn't like Oprah Winfrey, probably mostly out of jealousy, but there is nothing but admiration for the empire she has built, an empire I can (that's correct, I wrote "can") fathom in my mind, wonder if it is an empire that can ever be built again, and will give credit where credit is due because as much as there are things I don't like about her, the good things she tries to do are huge and deserve commendation.

But, as a dude, today's episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show is one of the most bizarre, yet entertaining, pieces of television of the year.  Yup, today was the usually annual "Oprah's Favorite Things" episode (some of those Oprah fans who got gypped last year when she tried the "Pay It Forward" experiment are probably still a little, deep-down, pissed), and if you ever want to see a group of women, and a couple of dudes, go completely out of their minds, this is the show to watch.  Oprah secretly took her team to Macon, Georgia, to celebrate the folks who, at 4PM if they are watching TV, 45% of them are watching Oprah.  This statistic, in itself, should raise a ton of red flags about Macon, and maybe this is why I could never be in the league of Oprah because rather than embracing them I would be saying "What is wrong with you people?  What do you do for a life?", yet there some of them were, in an auditorium in Macon, going nuts, when Oprah announced they were in attendance for her "Oprah's Favorite Things" show.

Oprah, of course, made the people in the audience happy, giving away things like a cool camcorder (it retails at $799, and we know that because part of "Oprah's Favorite Things" show is Oprah detailing exactly who makes it, how you can get it, and how much it will cost you), boots, cleaning products, DVD's, a boatload of other stuff, and as Oprah put it, the most e