My iTunes Shuffle Baker's Dozen 8-22-12

I'd love to know how the iTunes shuffle works. How exactly does it choose a song? Is it strictly random or is there some sort of pattern? At times, when it plays consecutive songs by the same artist or from the same album I'm especially curious. That didn't happen this time, though...

Lucky - Greg Kihn Band
Inner City Theme - Inner City
Quit Playing Games (With My Heart) - Backstreet Boys
Easier Said Than Done - Loose Ends
Your Love Keeps Working On Me (MK Brooklyn Mix) - Jody Watley
Brilliant Disguise - Bruce Springsteen
Footsteps - Lisa Stansfield
Sing (Harry Choo Choo Romero Club Mix) - Annie Lennox
You're Not Alone - Olive
Stay (Wasting Time) - Dave Matthews Band
This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak For You) - The Isley Brothers
Lady, Lady, Lady - Joe Esposito
Lullaby of Clubland - Everything But The Girl

My Week In Culture

Before we get to my main topic, I just noticed...well, actually, I noticed it yesterday...that my last post was number 777. I do like the number 7, as you can guess from various email/screen names of mine. I'd like it to live up to its reputation and actually be lucky, though.

So this week I ventured away from my usual movies/sports/TV show morass. Twice. But hey, I have a good excuse: I was supporting my friends.

First up was a visit to the Shubin Theater, a very intimate -- okay, small: it seats just over 40 people -- venue around the corner from 4th and South Streets, for "All in the Timing" by David Ives. It's the inaugural production of the new WAG Theater Company, and the company's founder Brian Sell is on my softball team, so a bunch of us took in the show. "All in the Timing" is actually six short plays, very loosely connected by a theme of communication (and miscommunication) and its effect on the lives of people -- and, in one play, chimpanzees. (No actual chimps were harmed in this production.) One or two of the six plays were, for me, a little off-target, but overall the show was quite witty and at times hilarious.The actors (including Brian, who played one of the chimps) did very well. And the good news is, you can still see it, with three more shows June 23, 24 and 25. (Read more about the show and the company here and here.)

Then, tonight, it was time for "Mmm Bop: Best of the Boy Bands," the season-ending concert by the Philadelphia Gay Men's Chorus, at the Temple Performing Arts Center (formerly called the Baptist Temple) on the Temple campus. The entire show consisted of medleys of songs made famous by "boy bands." They use that term a little loosely, in my opinion, but it's technically accurate. Every song was by a duo or group consisting of males only. So while there was

Perez Hilton: No Trolls Allowed

So it seems that a trio consisting of Perez Hilton, American Idol creator Simon Fuller and someone I've never heard of are doing a search for the "next" boy band. Apparently there's a gap in the entertainment industry that needs to be filled. (Damn you, recently reunited Backstreet Boys, for not being big any more!) Males age 13-21 are eligible to be part of this contest. But...

Hilton encourages everyone to try out, but he does have strict guidelines as to who they’re looking for. “We don’t want any ugly ones,” he says. “We don’t want any Joey Fatones, if you know what I mean. So it’s not going to be easy. That shouldn’t discourage people from auditioning. We really wanna see everyone. [But] we don’t want anyone that’s, like, hideous. We want five Justin Timberlakes.”

"That shouldn't discourage people from auditioning"? What I'm hearing is: "If you have superstar talent -- voice, dance moves, even songwriting ability -- but you're not pretty enough, you can audition if you want but you'll be wasting your time!" Yes, let's send the music industry spiraling into oblivion even more quickly.

The following has presumably been done many millions of times since Perez Hilton started his blog but hey, even though I'm a latecomer I'm still entitled to one: