Quick Reviews: Gift For Ricki's U.N.C.L.E.

Fun with post titles...

A key plot twist in The Gift was somewhat spoiled in the trailer. This seems to be happening more and more, and I find it a terrible way to sell a movie. The good thing about this movie, at least, was that there were twists following it. Married couple Simon and Robyn (Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall) have relocated to Los Angeles because of his new job. While shopping they run into Gordon (Joel Edgerton, who also wrote and directed it), aka "Gordo," a (barely remembered) former high school classmate of Simon's. Gordo begins dropping by their home unannounced, usually dropping off gifts. Robyn thinks he's just socially awkward while her husband thinks it's creepy. Things begin to deteriorate. As I said, there were a surprising number of twists and turns that kept me entertained to the end. But the reveal in the trailer, that Simon knows more than he lets on, took away some of the thrill. Plus, Simon -- even at the very start -- comes off as kind of a dick anyway. My grade: B-plus.

Then there's Ricki and the Flash -- which is, sadly, not about this guy...

...but about Ricki, an aging rocker (Meryl Streep) who left her family to take a shot at stardom and ends up playing a regular gig with her band, The Flash, at a little bar in California and working checkout at a market. Then she's summoned home to Indianapolis by her ex (Kevin Kline) due to a crisis involving her daughter (Mamie Gummer, Meryl's daughter). This just strikes me as a vanity project so Meryl and her daughter could play mother and daughter, and so Meryl could sing (both classic stuff and modern hits such as "Bad Romance" -- Meryl does Gaga!) It has some good moments but it's pretty predictable fluff that all wraps up in a neat little bow at the end. And if I'm being honest...which I am, so why do I need to say that? I blame Simon Cowell for saying it on "American Idol." I got it from him. Anyway, I'm rambling...the best acting in this film was done NOT by Meryl but by Rick Springfield, as Ricki's bandmate and would-be lover. My grade: C-plus.

As for The Man from U.N.C.L.E., the big-screen adaptation of the TV series which ran for four seasons from 1964-68, my big question is...why? A TV series that hasn't been in prime time in nearly 50 years is made into a movie and fell well short of the rather modest box office predictions. Did the studio really think anyone under, say, 40 (to be generous) would go and see this? It's set in 1963 and features, just like the TV show, a team-up of American (Henry Cavill) and Soviet (Armie Hammer) spies to thwart a nuclear threat from Nazi sympathizers.

Pick your favorite tag line:
a) A Brit playing an American and an American playing a Russian!
b) Superman and the Lone Ranger save the world!

It's not a bad film. It breezes merrily along, the banter is witty, there's some action and some humor and the boys look good and eventually learn to trust each other. I just can't wrap my head around why it was necessary. My grade: B-minus.

The Paparazzi Got Baldy!

Found this on page four of last week's PGN...note the handsome bald gentleman perusing the photographs on the table...

And, because paparazzi...



(Oh, and in case you're not keeping up on Facebook/Twitter, I'm currently shaving my head since the radiation treatments and/or chemo pills led to my hair starting to fall out.)

My Most-Played 2014 Songs (And 2013 Too!)

I got through my recent project of listening to every song I own. I didn't listen to them all. I skipped some, I listened to others for a minute or two, and when I had multiple remixes of particular songs (hi, Madonna!) I chose the ones I liked best. I really need to do a better job of listening to all of my music on a regular basis instead of the same things over and over. I reset the iTunes play counts to zero and we'll see how I do at that. (By the way, I may end up switching over to Google Play because my iPod Classic is acting a bit nutty and, with Apple discontinuing this device, at some point I may need to start listening to my music on my phone. Great if I have wi-fi, but if not...)

Here are the songs I listened to the most in 2014...and after that, 2013 (because I didn't post one of these last year). Note how there are some songs in both lists, which is why I need to listen with more variety. Also, lots of ties. In other years I'd play some songs another time to break the tie. I didn't bother this time.

2014 Most-Played

1. Meteorite - Mariah Carey
2. Happy - Pharrell Williams
3. Counting Stars - OneRepublic
4. Mmm Yeah - Austin Mahone (feat. Pitbull)
5. Are You What You Want To Be? - Foster The People
6. Swine - Lady Gaga
7(t). Coming of Age - Foster The People
7(t). Timber - Pitbull (feat. Ke$ha)
9(t). Best Friend - Foster The People
9(t). Summertime Sadness (Cedric Gervais Remix) - Lana Del Rey
11(t). Sexxx Dreams - Lady Gaga
11(t). La La La - Naughty Boy (feat. Sam Smith)
13(t). Love Me Again - John Newman
13(t). G.U.Y. - Lady Gaga
15. Fashion! - Lady Gaga
16. Hideaway - Kiesza
17. Team - Lorde
18. Lay Me Down -  Avicii  (feat. Adam Lambert and Nile Rodgers)
19(t). I Need a Dollar (from How to Make It In America) - Aloe Blacc
19(t). F for You - Disclosure (feat. Mary J. Blige)
21. Stay The Night - Zedd (Featuring Hayley Williams Of Paramore)
22. Royals - Lorde
23(t). Sing - Ed Sheeran
23(t). Applause - Lady Gaga
25. Get Lucky - Daft Punk (feat. Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers)

2013 Most-Played

1. Get Lucky - Daft Punk (feat. Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers)

2. Your Body (Oxford Hustlers Club mix) - Christina Aguilera

3. Scream & Shout - Will.I.Am (feat. Britney Spears)

4. The Night Out (A-Track Vs. Martin Rework) - Martin Solveig

5. Sweet Nothing - Calvin Harris feat. Florence Welch

6. Summertime Sadness (Cedric Gervais Remix) - Lana Del Rey

7. Applause - Lady Gaga

8. Love You Like A Love Song (Jumpsmokers Club Remix) - Selena Gomez & The Scene

9. Sexxx Dreams - Lady Gaga

10. Pound The Alarm - Nicki Minaj

11. Diane Young - Vampire Weekend

12. Locked Out Of Heaven - Bruno Mars

13. Madonna Has A Kiki - Madonna/Scissor Sisters (mashup)

14. I Need Your Love - Calvin Harris feat. Ellie Goulding

15. All Around The World - Justin Bieber

16. I Love It - Icona Pop (feat. Charli XCX)

17. We Found Love  - Calvin Harris (feat. Rihanna)

18. One (Your Name) - Swedish House Mafia (feat. Pharrell)

19. Let's Go (Radio Edit) - Calvin Harris feat. Ne-Yo

20. Spectrum (Say My Name) (Calvin Harris Extended Mix) - Florence & The Machine

21. Fashion! - Lady Gaga

22. Vocal - Pet Shop Boys

23. Love is a Bourgeois Construct - Pet Shop Boys

24. Don't You Worry Child - Swedish House Mafia (feat. John Martin)

25. Treasure - Bruno Mars

#EverySimpsonsEver -- Day Twelve

The end. Or is it? FXX is going to air four- or six-hour blocks of episodes five days a week starting Tuesday, the day after the Every Simpsons Ever marathon finally ends. If FXX is smart they won't go too overboard on the later seasons. As you can see from the list below, and the last couple of posts, the pickings are really slim.

MUST-SEE!

9/1 1:30 AM ET “Lisa Goes Gaga” -- The Lady Gaga Express is roaring across the country until she sees some sad billboards for Springfield ("sister city with no one"), so she has the train stop there so she can build up the town's self-esteem. It's just in time for Lisa, whose unpopularity with her schoolmates is at an all-time high. The numerous jokes and jabs at everything Gaga are mitigated by the fact that she's in on them.

9/1 9:30 AM ET “Dark Knight Court” -- At an Easter celebration a prank sends eggs flying into the crowd. Bart is accused but he denies it, and is granted a trial with schoolmates as the jury and Janet Reno presiding as judge (because she plays chess by mail -- snail mail -- with Grampa). The same egg attack and its aftermath leads Burns to become "Fruitbat Man," thwarting "crimes" (townspeople are playing criminals, paid off by Smithers).

9/1 5:00 PM ET “Steal This Episode” -- Tired of hearing spoilers for movies he hasn't seen, as well as today's multiplex experience (such as pre-movie commercials), Homer begins illegally downloading movies...and then starts showing them in his backyard.

9/1 10:30 PM ET “Brick Like Me” -- The LEGO episode. Fun, very well-done, but would have been better had it arrived before The LEGO Movie.

MEH. M-E-H, MEH.

9/1 3:00 AM ET “Adventures in Baby-Getting”

9/1 3:30 AM ET “Gone Abie Gone”

9/1 4:00 AM ET “Penny-Wiseguys”

9/1 7:00 AM ET “Changing of the Guardian”

9/1 8:30 AM ET “Gorgeous Grampa “

9/1 9:00 AM ET “Black-eyed Please”

9/1 11:00 AM ET “Whiskey Business”

9/1 12:00 PM ET “The Saga of Carl”

9/1 2:30 PM ET “YOLO" -- Yo, no.

9/1 4:00 PM ET “Yellow Subterfuge”

9/1 4:30 PM ET “White Christmas Blues”

9/1 9:30 PM ET “Days of Future Future”

Gaga: Release The Damn Album, Already!

This post from one of the people I follow on Twitter inspired this. He wrote, "I don't think I can wait another 2+ months for the new Gaga album!" My reply: "I don't understand how the music industry functions any more." And I really don't. I used to not only read but subscribe to Billboard magazine (which is odd for someone who doesn't work in the business) during the 1980s and into the 1990s. And as the years went by and new charts were created, and the methodology for compiling the charts, especially the Hot 100, changed, and as the magazine itself evolved, I lost interest in it.

But things were simpler back then: a record company released the first single from an artist's upcoming album. Then, within a few weeks or so, the album itself would arrive, followed by subsequent singles from that album until it was time for a new album, or perhaps a single from a motion picture soundtrack. (Of course, the number of singles would depend on the popularity of the artist and album.) The advent of music videos tweaked the process a little.

But the modern process is unreal. Singles sales pretty much died until the mp3 format rejuvenated it. Now, I don't know if there's such a thing as a single release unless it's digital. The only CD-singles I ever see are for dance mixes. The only vinyl records I ever see are full-length albums, because there's a segment of the music buyer that prefers the sound of vinyl to digital sounds. And the newfound popularity of buying individual songs seems to have caused people to lose interest in buying full albums, except for certain acts or albums that manage to sell big.

The digital format seems to lend itself to leaks of unreleased songs, which is part of the problem. Let's get back to Lady Gaga.

My 2012 In Music

Last year at this time I was lamenting the lack of new music (as in, new in 2011 or new to me) added to my iTunes library. I figured that 2012 would be better since I had gone back to work. Since May I've been out of work but at least I got some unemployment out of it. So, indeed, my 2012 acquisitions are up. (A note, which is mainly for my own reference: the figures below include a couple of CDs I got during 2012 but only got around to adding to my iTunes tonight, so I need to remember for next year's wrapup not to include them again.)

I added 567 tracks to my collection by my count (it's a complicated story but I may be off by one or two because of duplicates), compared to 271 last year. Christmas music comprised 26 of those 567 songs. There were a lot of downloads of individual songs, as well as the first song in my next project - converting my vinyl collection to mp3 format. I have maybe a few dozen 45s and many more 12-inch dance remixes, probably in the hundreds. I'm so excited about this.

Beyond that, I got some free downloaded samplers and mixtapes (which is such an odd term to use for mp3 downloads, but...):

Will Sheridan – G.I.A.N.T. Sampler
DJ ShyBoy presents the RuPaul Mixtape (RuPaul songs mashed up with other songs)
DJ Jazzy Jeff and Mick Boogie – Summertime 2: The Mixtape
DJ Jazzy Jeff and Mick Boogie – Summertime 3: The Mixtape
Dangerous Muse – Red
Slaves to the Rhythm – Pride 2011 Sampler

And then there were the albums that were released prior to 2012:

Kelly Clarkson – Stronger
Discovery – LP
Ricky Martin – Ricky Martin
David Guetta – Nothing But The Beat
Jody Watley – Midnight Lounge
Paul McCartney – All The Best
Donna Summer – She Works Hard For The Money
Elton John – Rocket Man - Number Ones
Steely Dan – The Definitive Collection
The Gap Band – The 12” Collection and More
Nona Hendryx – Nona (as I mentioned here, the first full-length album I transferred from vinyl to mp3)
Katy Perry – Teenage Dream-The Complete Confection (this is the re-released version with bonus tracks -- the original was out in 2010 so I don't feel right counting it as a 2012 album)

In 2011 I got only four albums that were actually

History For Music Lovers

So I was looking at my Gmail account -- which I set up early this year but never actually use, at least not yet. And I found a few emails in it, mostly from YouTube comments. One of them was interesting, though. Remember when I wrote about the Bastille Day celebration at Eastern State? If not, refresh your memory. The first video, featuring the Lady Gaga "Bad Romance" parody, is the one that got the comment. It seems that the parody was originally created by an outfit called History for Music Lovers, and they've got a whole slew of these. Here's their full-length version of the "Bad Romance" revamp, "The French Revolution."



Still think this guy's adorable, by the way. Someone hook me up, please?

Bastille Day Festival 2012

Another bunch of pictures for you to peruse. These are from the annual Bastille Day Festival held at Eastern State Penitentiary. For you out-of-towners, it's not actually operating as a prison now. It's a tourist attraction. Al Capone was once locked up there. Every Halloween they operate a popular haunted house-style tour. And every July there's Bastille Day. This was the first time I checked out the festival and it was apparently revised some this year, so I can't compare it to other years, but it's fun. Essentially, it's a show featuring comedy, song and dance performed by the Bearded Ladies Cabaret, telling the story of the French Revolution (taking many liberties with said story, naturally).

The star of the show was Edith Piaf (who actually lived in the 20th century; I told you, they took liberties with the story). I got there in time to see a pre-show rehearsal, and I kind of developed a little crush on this guy. It's the weirdest thing. Men in heels usually don't do it for me.

I took lots of pictures, which are located here. I also took some video, which is after the jump...

My 2011 In Music

And now that we've moved into 2012, here's a look back at what I downloaded in 2011 -- some of it purchased, some of it, ummm, not -- and what ended up as the 25 most-played songs of my iTunes library.

There are only 271 new tracks in my iTunes since the beginning of 2011. That's down from 317 in 2010. Only 19 were Christmas songs, though, compared to 73 a year earlier. So if you take the holiday songs out of the mix, my musical acquisitions increased. However, a lot of those were downloads of individual songs. Part of the total also comes from a few artists I discovered through various means (such as Twitter or Facebook) who made albums available for free download:

Childish Gambino (a.k.a. Donald Glover) - EP (he's funny on "Community" but he has definite skills in the hip-hop arena; he now has a full-length album out, but I haven't bought it yet)
Loco - No Shade (Mixtape)
Simon Curtis - 8Bit Heart
DISCO PUSHER - Now You Know How The Story Ends (also a mixtape)

Then there were the records released before 2011...

Kings of Leon - Only By The Night
Brandon Flowers - Flamingo
Mika - The Boy Who Knew Too Much
Cee Lo Green - The Lady Killer
RuPaul - Champion
various artists - Christmas Remixed-Holiday Classics Re-Grooved (my only "new" Christmas album)

So that leaves just four albums I got that were actually released in 2011:

Quick Reviews: J. Edgar, Muppets, Puss in Boots

Blogging for me is in fits and spurts right now. Either I have to be really inspired or it has to be something quick (such as those featuring a photo or two), and my lack of time (due to work and other issues) makes it worse. As far as these movie posts are concerned, I finally decided that I'm just not going to get to separate posts for these right now. So...

J. Edgar: The story (more like a psychological profile) of infamous FBI director J. Edgar Hoover is well-acted but the jumping back and forth in time made it much too disjointed. I read lots of comment about Leonardo DiCaprio's makeup for Hoover's latter days but to be honest I thought the makeup job done on Armie Hammer was worse. My grade: B-minus.

The Muppets: I loved the old Muppet Show and enjoyed this movie, but it was a bit too much of an exercise in nostalgia to be truly spectacular. I appreciate Jason Segel's efforts in getting the Muppets back on the big screen, but somehow I felt this didn't quite fully win my heart. The best celebrity cameo (and one that got quite a reaction from the audience) was by Jim Parsons as...well, I won't spoil it. My grade: B-plus.

Puss in Boots: It took weeks but I finally got to see this yesterday. Spinning Puss (voice of Antonio Banderas) off from the Shrek films wasn't a surprise, but stripping the film of the "Shrek" barrage of pop-culture references was. It was a wise decision. But why didn't anyone tell me they used a Lady Gaga song in the film? I might have seen it sooner. My grade: B-plus.

A Little More On Outfest

My experience at this year's Outfest was different from last year in some ways. For one, I didn't see Kendra Wilkinson or any other "reality" TV "stars," which also meant that I didn't make it to national television. That didn't bother me. What did bother me a little is that the protestors who always show up at these things, while still small in number, were louder.

At least three of them, on different streets, had portable PA systems and were going on almost non-stop harassing passersby with their hatemongering. I say "almost" because there was one brief moment when someone yanked the microphone cord out, silencing the bigot. The guy who did this was immediately pounced upon by the waiting police.

I realize that these religious freaks have their rights, since the festival was out on the public streets, and I know that police have to do their jobs to keep the peace. But this sight really sickened me. Freedom of speech and freedom of religion really sucks sometimes. (Programming note: I still need to write about those "Occupy ____" people soon.) I wish there were a way to discourage these people from showing up at all. I use this analogy often: they're dinosaurs, stuck in tar pits, and soon to be extinct. I just wish the process could speed up a little. And I still think the rest of us ought to show up at their events now and then and enjoy our same freedoms.

September 11

I'm not going to say much about the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that claimed so many lives. There are many places for you to get every bit of commemoration, analysis, hyperbole, patriotic overkill (I"m looking at you, NFL and Fox), etc. While our nation was briefly united like it hadn't been in a long time, the feeling didn't last and so much has happened since and it's gotten much, much worse. So I'm avoiding as much of the 9/11 anniversary coverage as I can because, even if it's by accident, much of it will be tinged with politics. But I wanted to share some pictures. (Quick note: these are 10 old scans done back then by a friend, which is why they're so small. I may try and find the pictures and re-scan them and any others I took at the time.) I put them in a Flickr set.

A month after the attacks, on Columbus Day weekend, I went to New York. Since Mayor Giuliani asked people to visit and spend money, I heeded the call. That Sunday I watched NFL games at a sports bar with some friends (as it happened, the USA began the war against Afghanistan that day). Earlier that day, I was one of many pathetic gawkers people trying to get as close as allowed to the World Trade Center site. I also took a few pictures of the skyline from the Empire State Building. It's an amazing view. I wish I had gotten to see the view from the Twin Towers while they stood. There's one picture of "The Wall of Hope and Remembrance" outside the now-closed St. Vincent's Hospital, one of the American flags at Rockefeller Plaza, and these two, taken at the West Village firehouse of Squad 18 of the Fire Department of New York. (At the time the firehouse was undergoing renovations so it was closed and the squad operated out of another firehouse.)

The sight of this memorial itself was moving, but when I saw this toy figure left there, perhaps by a child, you can imagine my reaction...

But let's end this on a happier note. In July 2010 Squad 18 went Gaga!

My iTunes Shuffle Baker's Dozen 8-15-11

I haven't done this in quite some time. Actually, more often I've been listening to either my summer playlist (still looking for suggestions to add to it, by the way) or a playlist of songs I've acquired recently, including Lady Gaga's album. And I haven't bought a whole lot of music lately. Very few full-length albums and not many individual tracks, either. There's a lot of new music I'm not getting exposed to, or at least not hearing right away. Not good. Not having spending cash sucks. Anyway...

Faithless - Insomnia
Bananarama - Once In A Lifetime
Mary J. Blige - Sweet Thing
Brandon Flowers - Crossfire
Soundtrack "The Nightmare Before Christmas" - This Is Halloween
Tevin Campbell - Round And Round (Soul Mix Edit)
Prince and the Revolution - Computer Blue
Angelo Badalamenti - Fire Walk With Me ("Twin Peaks" Theme)
Fleetwood Mac - Silver Springs (Live)
Various Artists (mashup) - Fixing Up for a Love Connection
The Chemical Brothers - Hold Tight London
Live - Pain Lies By The Riverside
Mama Cass Elliot - It's Getting Better

Summer Playlist Update

For reference, here's a link with links to the other posts on the topic. I've made a few more additions to my big ol' summer playlist, including "I Wish" by Skee-Lo that I previously mentioned. In addition I added James Brown's "Living In America," which is really more of a July 4th song. (Which reminds me, I'm overdue for a post with some pics I took on the 4th during my ice cream dream day.) And I suddenly remembered Erasure's version of Cole Porter's "Too Darn Hot" from the "Red Hot + Blue" Porter tribute, so that's on the list.

Finally, it seems that a Kelly Rowland song is becoming a tradition. Instead of David Guetta, this year she collaborated with another DJ/producer, Alex Gaudino, for "What a Feeling" (not the "Flashdance" song), which was released in the spring but I somehow neglected to hear until recently...



We're up to 105 songs total, and I still want to add more. Suggestions welcome, particularly for 2011 music. And do I add Lady Gaga's "The Edge of Glory" or some other song from her album?

My Summer Playlist Needs 2011 Additions

Welcome to summer, even if it's actually going down to the low 50s tonight (after we just had a heat wave end). That means it's time to start listening to my playlist of summer music. You may remember from my posts last year that I have some rules, and each song has to adhere to at least one of them. First and foremost, they include only songs that are in my iTunes library. In addition, they either had to be released during the summer, be popular during the summer, have a title and/or lyrics referring to summer, sun, heat, etc., just sound summery, or I identify them with summer in my mind for some reason.

To refresh your memory, here are my original posts: Part 1 and Part 2 are the original list, and here's my followup that gave me an even 100. Sometime after that, I actually added a 101st song: a track from the "Despicable Me" soundtrack called "Fun, Fun, Fun" by Pharrell Williams.

With a new summer upon us, I'd love to add more songs. Suggestions for songs from the past that aren't on my list are welcome. (I thought I had some comments on those posts that gave me some possible additions, but nothing's there.) I also have to decide what 2011 releases can go on the list. The last two years featured collaborations by Kelly Rowland and David Guetta ("When Love Takes Over" and "Commander") so perhaps I need to find out what Kelly and/or David have got for me for this year. There are certainly some tracks from the new Lady Gaga album that will go on, although I'm not sure which ones just yet.

This is your chance to sell me on some artists and/or songs that you think would be ideal for my summer playlist. I thank you in advance. (That's Mark Salling of "Glee" in the photo above, by the way. A nice summery photo, don't you think?)

A Couple Of Things...

I guess this is like a MixBlog, but shorter. (Mainly because I want to put something up without starting the posts on the four movies I got to see in the last week.)

• The (C)rapture didn't happen yesterday, so I want the fraud who claimed it would occur behind bars. Since I know the government won't do it...

• I watched last night's Saturday Night Live. The only parts of the show I enjoyed were those featuring Lady Gaga -- both her musical performances and a couple of sketches. No fault of Justin Timberlake's, but this show is unwatchable. It takes a very special reason (Betty White last year, or last night's host/musical guest combo) to get me to tune in. (Speaking of Gaga, her new album will finally be released -- after at least four single releases in advance of it -- and it's apparently going to be available on iTunes, Amazon, etc. at midnight.)

• I'm debating whether or not to play in this year's Liberty Bell Classic softball tournament. My team has a spot for me if I want to play. There are pros and cons, so I'm undecided. There's a block party on Saturday night on Camac Street as well. There's lots of stuff swirling around in my head right now...

• Chase Utley is expected to be in the Phillies' starting lineup tomorrow night. Maybe his presence will help the offense somehow. They've scored 3 runs or fewer in nine consecutive games. Of course, it could be worse: besides the fact that they're still in first place in the NL East, a year ago today they were shut out 5-0 by Boston, beginning a stretch of 12 games in a row with 3 or fewer runs (including 3 straight shutouts by the Mets).

• I posted this on Twitter/Facebook last night...just feeling the need to emphasize how much I want those (C)rapture nuts arrested. Fraud, incitement to riot, something. Child endangerment charges for any parents who quit their jobs and got rid of their possessions.

Quick Review: Gnomeo & Juliet

You already know that "Gnomeo & Juliet" is basically "Romeo & Juliet" but with garden gnomes. Gnomeo (voice of James McAvoy) is one of the Blue Gnomes, who are feuding with the Red Gnomes from the yard next door. He meets Juliet (Emily Blunt), who is a Red, they fall in love, etc. Since this is an animated movie for kids (which tries hard to be as funny for adults as the better of the "Shrek" films, but falls short) the story isn't quite the same. You may also already know that Elton John executive-produced this and some of his songs are used in the film -- sometimes his original recording and sometimes orchestral versions. You might even know there are a couple of new Elton John songs in the film. But what you didn't know is that one of the new songs is a duet with Lady Gaga. Now, every time you see "you" in the previous sentences, replace it with "I" and you'll understand why I was perplexed just now when I read that Gaga was singing in the movie (although on the soundtrack album only Elton's solo version appears). Either it didn't register in my brain or I didn't recognize her voice at all or something. Next time I'm at the theater, I'll have to try and sneak in at the point it's used in the movie to hear it again. My grade: C-minus.

How I Celebrated Valentine's Day

I made the photo that is in this post my new desktop wallpaper, replacing fake Jake. Although it's not nearly as revealing as fake Jake (and I still want to know whose body that really is), this photo of Darren Criss is from Out.com so it's 100 percent legitimate. I have to say I'm concerned about this little storyline in an upcoming "Glee" episode, though.

The fact that this is what I consider to be my celebration of Valentine's Day tells you all you need to know about my single life. I didn't even get to use my IHOP Buy One Entree/Get One Free offer. And I would've liked some pancakes, if only to preview Lady Gaga's next awards show outfit. (Don't know who came up with this joke first, but I saw it so many times on Twitter last night...)

And now, to finish off my night, I'm going to watch RuPaul's Drag Race, featuring a whole bunch more people who have more reason to celebrate Valentine's Day than I do. That, or this episode of "The Simpsons." (So...do you...like...stuff?)

Grammys And Gay Twitter Wars

A couple of Grammy comments before we get to...the War of the Gays on Twitter!

I am not a big fan of the Grammys. It's bad enough that this awards show is mostly full of performances instead of actual award presentations. Only ten Grammys were actually given out during the 3 hour, 30 minute show. And I don't know how they decide which ones (besides the obvious majors, Record/Song/Album of the Year, Best New Artist) make the cut. Besides the big four, we saw two Pop, two Country, one Rock and one Rap presented. The entire R&B genre, among others, was ignored. Of those 10 awards, all but one went to someone who performed on the show. (Fortunately, that one was given to Train for that awful "Hey, Soul Sister" thing.) And to have Arcade Fire perform both before and after winning Album of the Year just screams out, "FIX!!!"

(By the way, the Grammys need a host. The awkward ending of the show, with the one Arcade Fire member saying "we have to go perform another song...everyone leave to this song" or something really points out the need for a host, even a bad one.)

I don't respect the Grammys as an award or as an awards show. It's mostly performances. Had it not been for Lady Gaga, I probably wouldn't have watched at all. She was a lot less over-the-top in her performance, by Gaga standards, despite being inside an egg from the time she arrived at the show until the time the egg "hatched" on stage at the start of her performance of "Born This Way." So it was good, but not outrageously so -- like the song itself, although it is growing on me. It was a solid performance but I think she's been better.

Now, on to the War of the Gays!

New Madonna...I Mean, Gaga Anthem

There's been so much hype for Lady Gaga's new song "Born This Way," which finally hit the airwaves today. Inevitably, what always follows hype is backlash. From what I've been reading on Twitter and Facebook, there's a fair amount of it. It's mostly about how the song seems to be a copy of another song. Twitter's trending topics for Philadelphia (at left) point out the problem. Neither Gaga nor her song are top trends, but look who's there...

Having listened to the song a couple of times now, "Born This Way" is fairly blatant in its resemblance to "Express Yourself." I do like it, though. (Probably helps that I love Madonna's song.) I could grow to love it. But here's what I see as the problem: Gaga is trying too hard.

Suddenly it seems to be in vogue (hey, another Madonna reference) to write a song and declare in advance that it's an "anthem," particularly for the gay community. Recently we've had Katy Perry's "Firework" and Ke$ha's "We R Who We R" and Pink's "Raise Your Glass" and now "Born This Way." Am I forgetting any? These are all fine songs (well, except the Ke$ha one) by artists who have at least some talent (well, except Ke$ha). However, I think the best anthems are organic. They come by their status naturally, not by design.

I liked Gaga almost from the time of her first hit song, and really began to love her when I saw her speak at the National Equality March in Washington, DC in 2009 (see video below, in case you've forgotten), especially when she screamed at President Obama, "Are you listening?" And since then she's been one of the most outspoken and strongest celebrity advocates for LGBT issues. So, naturally, I should love her new song. I probably will at some point. I don't see it as a failure by any  means.

I just hope the rest of her new album isn't full of "anthems."