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!!!

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.

Lee Elia Rants, Carly Smithson is Booted, and RIP Kenneth Keith Kallenbach.

By:

The Dude on the Right

In Chicago Cubs’ lore there are many things that tickle the fancy of Cubs’
historians, but as the 25th anniversary of Lee Elia going ballistic approaches,
I give a salute

during this podcast
to the fact that 15% of those without jobs pissed off
Lee just enough so that he gave us some of the sweetest audio ever.  A word
of warning, though, because my salute is uncensored, with no bleeping, with all
of the f-bombs in full glory.  And as much as Lee was a master of words, it
seems Carly Smithson wasn’t the master of music because she got booted from
"American Idol," and I have to say I’m not that sorry to see her go.  What
is exciting me, though, is that next week we get to see five people butcher Neil
Diamond songs, while I’m just hoping that he actually tries to teach some of
these people to be performers.

TV is back in full bloom and "Lost" returns,
again, Harold and Kumar escape from Guantanamo Bay this weekend, and I actually
have a Kenneth Keith Kallenbach story, he a wack-pack member of The Howard Stern
Show.  R.I.P. Dude who could blow smoke out of your eyes.

Happy listening!

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

Download and Listen Subscribe Here

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Add to Google







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!!!

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.

Movie Talk, Artie Lange Talk, End of the World Talk, “Survivor” Talk, and more Talk.

By:

The Dude on the Right

It’s mostly my fault that Stu isn’t here for

our "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast
, but as it turns out I’ve got a lot to talk
about.  I discuss male nudity thanks to the movie

"Forgetting Sarah Marshall,"
I discuss the convergence of two Martial Arts
stars thanks to

"The Forbidden Kingdom,"
and I am happy that Artie Lange is back on
The Howard Stern Show
after his fake tirade, set up just to give all of us fans a cliffhanger before
the Stern Show went on vacation for a week.  I’m just kidding.  I
don’t care what anyone says because I think the fight with Teddy Microphone was
real, that it was a damn good thing Artie didn’t actually hit Teddy, and why am
I telling you all of this when you should be listening to the podcast?

I also
think the end of the world might be near, what with an earthquake here in the
Midwest and the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox now in first place (Come on
Cleveland Indians, get your act together!), and thought Ozzie getting booted
from "Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites" might have been the best tribal council ever
last week.

See, I told you I have a lot to talk about.

Happy listening!

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

Download and Listen Subscribe Here

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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!!!

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.

Kristy, Priscilla, and a Cougar are Gone. But Not Google.

By:

The Dude on the Right

As it turns out

it’s a sad day for the podcast
, and so I vent about it.  I vent about
my sadness in seeing Kristy Lee Cook getting booted from "American Idol"
because, well, she was the best looking of the remaining contestants in my eyes,
and she was one of the few of them actually listening to the judge’s comments,
seeming to take them to heart, and trying to really make herself better.  I
also vent not so much about any sadness that Priscilla Presley is gone from
"Dancing With the Stars," but I’m still devastated that Adam Carolla got booted
because that also meant buh-bye to Julianne Hough.  I’m also sad, but yet
sort of happy, a cougar, got killed in Chicago, but I’m also sad that on
Google’s announcement that it did well during the first quarter this year, it
just reminds me that I should have spent all of my parent’s money in getting a
college education back in the late 1980’s on a little company called Microsoft. 
Sadly, I guess, had I done that, there would be no Entertainment Ave!, but then
again, I’d have about $50 million dollars worth of not having an Entertainment
Ave!

Happy listening!

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

Download and Listen Subscribe Here

Yahoo! Podcasts
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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!!!