Greg Victor
Let’s raise a plastic cup to a crushed political party with a classic crushed-ice American beverage – the Slurpee. The risk of getting a brain-freeze headache is worth it, especially when it is the 111th Congress we’re toasting farewell to. Oh, thank heaven for 2011!
Well, it took a whole 24 hours, but since the election 7-Eleven came out with a change in how they do business. Maybe Pelosi and the Democrats could take a tip from an organization that knows how to make money and not just spend it. 7-Eleven has come out with the “One Slurpee Nation” ad campaign, where they persuade customers to “Join the Unity Tour 2010.” Hey, the weather’s getting chilly – and not just on Capitol Hill – so good for 7-Eleven for finding a new way to get us to talk about Slurpees on a November evening, right? read more…
The New CD from Sugarland (Obama’s favorite Country Duo) Isn’t Very Sweet, But Some New Releases Are…
Sugarland, “The Incredible Machine” (Mercury)
NewsRealRating: * (out of 5 stars)
You remember Sugarland, don’t you? They’re the pair that the Obamas asked to perform in Washington, D.C. last Christmas to represent country music (in a show that also featured Usher, George Lopez, Mary J. Blige, and Justin Beiber). They also performed at the 2008 Democratic National Convention Oh yeah, and Sugarland’s lead singer Jennifer Nettles was invited to perform at the Presidential Inauguration Concert for Barack Obama. Speaking later about the experience, Nettles said: “I was completely overwhelmed in the most beautiful way. It was such a moment for our country and such a moment in time in the history of the world and we were lucky enough to meet President Obama and his family and Vice President Biden and his family. I was just blown away, so much so that when we were going down the line by the time I got to Mr. Biden’s wife Jill and she introduced herself, I said, ‘Hi, I’m Jennifer and I am completely overwhelmed right now!’” read more…
This season the LOGO cable channel has given us The A-List: New York. Otherwise known as The Gay List or something, I’m sure. On bus and subway ads all over Manhattan they are selling it as a show just like The Real Housewives Of…, “but with balls.” I beg to differ. The “Housewives” have a lot more drama going on than these boys (especially in New Jersey). But what I love about this show is the way it nails exactly the vacuous and shallow narcissistic lifestyle that certain gay men call their life.
After a decade or so of network television making gay characters out to be sympathetic victims deserving of some special honorable mention ribbon for just getting through it all – ironically, along comes LOGO, the gay channel, to show us just how shallow certain gay men can be. I think the best part of having “the gay channel” produce and air this show is watching the “gay community” (another assumption forced on all of use: the constant use a term that is coined by small-minded so-called liberal media participants) get all in a tizzy over the show. Why can’t they handle it? Because after years of portraying gays as “funny and friendly” as “Will and Jack” (on Will and Grace), this show dares to portray gay guys in something other than a soft-pink light that makes them look more attractive to hetero society. The gay critics and bloggers loathe this show because the guys in it are too truthful in their behavior. Let’s face it; if you’re gay in Manhattan, the guys in this show are all too familiar. read more…
Listen Up! New Music Releases – October 12, 2010
The Band Perry, The Band Perry (Republic Nashville)
NewsRealRating: **** ½ (out of 5 stars)
If there’s a voice in country music that poses a threat to the supremacy of Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles, it is Kimberly Perry, lead singer for The Band Perry. Kimberly has the same power and unstoppable range. The Band Perry just achieved their first gold single last week (that’s 500,000 downloads) for the single, “If I Die Young.” They’ve followed up with a self-titled album (featuring that song) that is sure to do the same.
The Band Perry consists of siblings Kimberly Perry on lead vocals and piano, Reid Perry on bass guitar and Neil Perry on mandolin and drums, and they are the most refreshing thing to come along in country music since Taylor Swift (back when she was singing “Tim McGraw”). Their musical style is sexy-yet-innocent, and they are an obviously virtuoso set of musicians. From the tracks on this debut album, it seems clear that Kimberly Perry is the vocalist for the group. It will be interesting to see if future albums distribute the vocal duties to either of the brothers. read more…
Even with over one in ten Americans out of work, the National Science Foundation is using the government’s money to put on a play. But not just any play – a musical. And not just any musical – a spectacle piece of agitprop theatre pushing the tired agenda of the global warming cult. You probably just found yourself thinking we haven’t spent enough money educating the public about global warming. If so, maybe I can interest you in donating to a not-so-funny improv group known as Congress. read more…
This weekly column is all about keeping the readers of NewsReal up to date with the latest in music new releases. Check here on Tuesdays (the day of the week that new music is released) for coverage that emphasizes a variety of musical genres.
New Releases this week include: read more…
There’s some bad news… and then there’s some good news.
First the bad news: President Barack Obama made so many campaign promises it was hard to choose just ten. Not that we wanted most of these promises to be kept, of course.
Now for the good news: No matter what he promised, Obama has been confronted with the reality that he can’t just wave a magic wand and “change” whatever he wants. It is also satisfying to see how pitiful of a job Obama has done with the “Yes We Can” agenda in his first 20 months in office.
Here are the Top 10 Obama Broken Promises… so far. read more…
There’s some bad news… and then there’s some good news.
First the bad news: President Barack Obama made so many campaign promises it was hard to choose just ten. Not that we wanted most of these promises to be kept, of course.
Now for the good news: No matter what he promised, Obama has been confronted with the reality that he can’t just wave a magic wand and “change” whatever he wants. It is also satisfying to see how pitiful of a job Obama has done with the “Yes We Can” agenda in his first 20 months in office.
Here are the Top 10 Obama Broken Promises… so far. read more…
Rappers in 2010 don’t know what the ‘F’ to do. They are being let down by the first president they actually went to the voting polls for, and they are speechless. In fact, their silence is consent. Isn’t it great to know that of all presidents, Obama is the one who finally shut these foul-mouthed-usually-criminals the hell up! Ha! Gotta love that! read more…
When is rape not rape? That question has been debated for decades, but there seems to be at least one answer that is apparent: when it is committed by a Hollywood film director… or at least in Europe. As of this afternoon, Swiss officials have turned Roman Polanski loose. Needless to say, the Los Angeles District Attorney was disappointed.
Roman Polanski is now a free man. Switzerland rejected a U.S. request to extradite him to be sentenced. The Swiss officials stated that U.S. authorities failed to address defense arguments that Polanski had served his sentence before fleeing the U.S. three decades ago. Switzerland only rejects about 5 percent of the 200 extradition requests it handles annually. So I guess an Oscar-winning film director is special. read more…
It all started when Zac Brown Band won the Grammy for “Best New Artist” earlier this year… and, horrors – unthinkable – Lady Gaga wasn’t even nominated!
This week, the Recording Academy that oversees the Grammy Awards changed the rules about who is eligible for the “Best New Artist” category. All of this must have made the parents of Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta proud. They’re Lady Gaga’s folks. She has had quite an effect on the rules of the game. Rules, you say – who needs rules? After all, two of the most important values coming out of the Hollywood music industry are self-promotion and immediate gratification, right?
Outpost (“OP”) Restrepo. Korengal Valley, Kunar Province, Afghanistan. 2008. A film still from the documentary RESTREPO by Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger. Image © Outpost Films
“Restrepo,” a feature-length documentary, is as exciting and suspenseful as any summer blockbuster out there. More than that, it’s important that it be seen. The film follows a platoon of U.S. soldiers stationed in a 15-man outpost on a war-torn cliff in one of the most dangerous regions of Afghanistan in 2007. (See the trailer here.)
The 94-minute film is the experience of one platoon assigned the task of securing a hilltop combat outpost as part of the Army’s offensive in Kunar province, near the Afghan/Pakistan border. In the words of Captain Dan Kearney, “the road ends at the Korengal outpost and where the road ends, the Taliban begins.” The title “Restrepo” has two meanings. It is named after young Pfc. Juan S. Restrepo, a medic who was killed early in the deployment. The second meaning is the name of the outpost that his fellow soldiers built in his name. read more…
