For my birthday I got the Michael Buble album. He's a crooner and on his new album he has a few songs that aren't classic "Sinatra" type of songs, that he covers in that style, including Can't Buy Me Love by the Beatles. It got me thinking about genre-crossover covers, the good and the bad. I love almost anything turned into the Big-Band sound. This morning I bought eight songs from the above pictured album. I also like Matt Dusk's version of Two Shots of Happy.

The ones I HATE are when Punk/Ska/Hardcore bands cover songs, usually 80's songs. Songs like Smooth Criminal come to mind. I do like P.O.D.'s version of Bullet the Blue Sky and I loved it when bands like Unashamed and Focused did mosh-out versions of worship songs like Awesome God.

I also can't stand country-fried covers. Oddly, I can't stand the Dixie Chicks, but I can tolerate their version of Landslide. I'm a model of contradictions, I guess.

Happy Bithday to US

Here are some of the people I share a birthday with:

Jackie O (but she's dead)
Dick Ebersol (sports dude)
Jim Davis (I always said I shared a birthday with Garfield when I was growing up!)
Lori Loughlin (Full House)
Elizabeth Berkley (I'm so....SCARED!)
Sally Struthers (I'll eat in her honor)
Rick Wright (Pink Floyd)
Bill Bradley (the basketball player, not the senator. Ha!)

No Grey Hair Yet...

Go shorty, it's yer birfday
We're gunna party like it's my birfday
Gunna sip Bacardi like it's my birfday
And you know we don't give a f*** cause it's my birfday!

I'm 27. Going to dinner with Mel and the kids, my parents, my sister, brother-in-law and their kids and my grandma. Olive Garden has this new Cheese fondue type of an appetizer. Awe yeah...

Way too Many SNL Lists

Top 5 Groundlings Alumni on SNL
(judged soley on their performance DURING their time on SNL)
1. Will Ferrell
2. Cheri Oteri
3. Chris Kattan
4. Maya Rudolph
5. Phil Hartman
5.5 Jon Lovitz!

Top 5 Second City Alumni on SNL
(judged soley on their performance DURING their time on SNL)
1. Mike Myers
2. Gilda Radner
3. Chris Farley
4. Dan Aykroyd
5. The Belushi's
5.5 Tina Fey

Top 5 Post-SNL Careers
1. Bill Murray
2. Adam Sandler
3. Mike Myers
4. Will Ferrell
5. Dan Aykroyd

Top 5 SNL Hosts
1. John Goodman
2. Christopher Walken
3. Alec Baldwin
4. Steve Martin
5. Queen Latifah

Top 20 Recurring Sketches/Characters
1. Wayne's World
2. BEAR CITY!!!!!!! Just Kidding
2. Spartan Spirit
3. Wake Up Wakefield
4. The Coneheads
5. Mango
6. The Samurai
7. Mr. Peepers
8. Matt Foley: Motivational Speaker
9. Celebrity Jeopardy
10. Jerret's Room
11. Da Superfans
12. Church Lady
13. Rob Schnieder's Copy room guy
14. Coffee Talk
15. It's Pat
16. Opera Man
17. Debbie Downer
18. Delicious Dish
19. The Hollywood Minute
20. Gemini's Twin
20.5 The Ambiguosly Gay Duo

Worst Ten Sketches/Characters Ever
1. The Falconer
2. The Ladies Man
3. Astronaut Jones
4. Brian Fellowes
5. Ed Grimely
6. Sprockets
7. The Prince Show
8. Nuni and Nuni
9. Mary Katherine Gallagher
10. (Just for Moe) The Contenental)

Top Ten Musical Performances
(Only from the ones I've seen, obviously)
1. U2 (11/20/04) - Vertigo, Sometimes, I Will Follow, All Because of You
2. U2 (12/9/00) - Beautiful Day/Elevation
3. Counting Crows (1/15/94) - Round Here, Mr. Jones
4. Smashing Pumpkins (10/30/93) - Cherub Rock, Today
5. Beck (1/11/97) - Where it's At, Devils Haircut
6. Puff Daddy & Jimmy Page (5/9/98) - Come With Me
7. Garth Brooks (3/14/92) - Rodeo, The River
8. Faith No More (12/1/90) - Epic, From Out of Nowhere
9. Fiona Apple (11/16/96) - Shadowboxer
10. Beck (12/4/99) - Mixed Bizness, Sexx Laws

Surprise!

On Saturday I was surprised with a birfday party! My birfday is on Thursday (July 28th). Melissa told me in the morning that we had a special date planned for the two of us that night and my parents were coming out to Rivertucky to watch the kids. We drove up to LA to eat at the Spaghetti Factory and when we walked into the Lobby, Brian, Aleasha, Shan, Josh and Paul were there to yell surprise. The Melonis and the Hoffmans got there a little later, because traffic was the devil.

So we ate dinner (I got through an entire plate of Mizithra cheese covered pasta without any...uh...repercussions...) and then we went to see The Groundlings. Being a huge SNL fan, I've always wanted to go to see the show, since a lot of my favorites (Will Ferrell, Cheri Oteri, Jon Lovitz, Chris Kattan, Ana Gasteyer) are alumni. Current cast members that are alumni are Will Forte, Chris Parnell and Maya Rudolph. Phil Hartman and Julia Sweeney were also Groundlings, along with Howie Mandel, Lisa Kudrow, Kathy Griffin, Mindy Sterling, Craig T. Nelson, Paul Ruebens and Pat Morita, so you never know what future star you might see on that stage.

It was a great night with some hilarious sketches. The Groundlings still know how to end a scene, which is something that has dropped off dramatically on SNL over the past five years or so. Every sketch ended with a punchline.

After the show, Mel and the boys went to Denny's for dessert. I promised her we wouldn't talk fantasy football the ENTIRE time, and I think, for the most part, we didn't. I know it snuck in every once in a while, though.

I had a great time and it was awesome to be surprised. Everything was great except for the big-arse Dodgers balloon that Brian brought to put on my chair at dinner. =)

Scrumdidiliumptious

After seeing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on Friday night, I wanted a little cooling off period before I tried to write about it. Let me just say: Damn! My expectations had been way too high going in, but I still wasn't disappointed.

From a visual perspective, this is one of the most beautiful movies I've seen in a long time, and by far one of the most visually stunning Burton jobs ever. When he created the "look" for Edward Scissorhands, Big Fish, Batman, etc, it was all in preparation for his grand opus. Un-frikin-believable.

Elfman has created a timeless and recognizable score, which will remain a cornerstone of orchestral movie magic forever. They always use music from older movies on trailers, when new music isn't ready and this one will be used countless times, I'm sure. The songs were also written by Elfman and he did an incredible job with diverse styles, using the original Roald Dahl lyrics.

John August's screenplay was perfect. I never realized how much I would laugh watching this movie. I also never realized how darn funny it would be to start movie-quoting the next day on three-hours of sleep with Paul Hutchins.... "I'm Eat-ible".

The acting was great! I really liked what the Noah Taylor and Christopher Lee characters added to the story, even though the Wonka's Dad backstory wasn't in the book. Freddie Highmore was great, as were the other kids and the parents (even though I can't stand Missy Pile). Deep Roy was awesome.

That brings me to Johnny Depp. Holy Hell was he good. He was absolutely PERFECT for this role, in this movie, with this director. I can't imagine another actor who could have pulled this off. This is by far my favorite Depp role ever.

Overall, the movie gets an A. Not only does it become my favorite Burton film of all time, it is firmly planted in my top-20 all-time favorite films.

2005's First Event Pic

Today marks the opening of the first Event Picture of the year for me, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I'm extremely excited to see it, hopefully in this first week. I, of course, am a huge Tim Burton/Danny Elfman/John August fan. I really want to love this movie and I probably will. The biggest hesitation is the way Depp comes across playing Wonka. I think he was a perfect selection for a Burton directed version, I just hope the general public doesn't get caught up in trying to compare him to the unflinching creep-o played so perfectly by Gene Wilder. Wilder was awesome. The other hesitation comes from the fact that the worst Burton film happened to be his only other attempt at a Re-imagining (Planet of the Apes).

All signs point to a Burton film of epic proportions. Elfman score. Elfman written songs throughout (mostly, I believe, for the Oompa Loompas). John August (Big Fish) writing the adaptation from the book, having never seen the Gene Wilder version. A story focused around Charlie (the quietly brilliant Freddie Highmore). Oh and Burton, with a HUGE palate to work with for direction, art design, etc.

LIST TIME: Every Burton feature film ranked. This was harder than I thought it would be.

1. Big Fish - Over time, Scissorhands will probably just back up here, but right now if I had to only pick one Burton film for my collection, it would be this one. All of the classic Burton-esque features: a quirky story, fun performances, good acting, a great score, visually remarkable.

2. Edward Scissorhands - A flawless movie. The perfect "Burton" film, with all of the characteristics listed above, only better on every count, accept story. I love the Big Fish story. Elfman's score here is his best ever and one of the top-five film scores of all-time.

2.5 Nightmare Before Christmas - Actually directed by Henry Selick, who also directed James and the Giant Peach. But it's Burton's baby, through and through.

3. Batman - Until I see the new Christopher Nolan (Memento) directed version, the original is still the best. It was Burton's darkest film at the time and was a great vision of Gotham City.

4. Sleepy Hollow - Beautifully Gory. Depp at his best. Great acting all around.

5. Beetlejuice

6. Ed Wood

7. Pee-Wee's Big Adventure

8. Batman Returns

9. Mars Attacks

10. Planet of the Apes

WSOP down to 27 players

Day seven of the World Series of Poker is today, with 27 left. After a $10,000 buy in and a total prize pool of more than $52 million, the next ten people eliminated will each win over 300k. among the 27 players left are Phil Ivey, Mike Matusow and defending champ Greg Raymer. All of my favorites are gone (Doyle, Jesus Ferguson, Daniel Negraneu, Howard Lederer) so I'm pulling for an Ivey-Raymer final.

Anyone for Poker?

I'm having a No-Limit Texas Hold 'em Tournament at the house on Saturday and wanted to invite any of my normal readers to join us! Melissa and I are pregnant and with each baby I have hosted a sort of "Guys Baby Shower" where we play poker and watch sports, and all the guys bring a pack of Diapers to help us out through the first few months. This time around, we're doing it tournament style, with a $20 Buy-in and an entry fee of one package.

If NE1 is interested, email me at sportsinfonick@aol.com

Don't tell anyone...

I have come to a dramatic spiritual and ethical crossroads in my life. My name is Nick Askew, and I like Garrett Anderson. There. I said it. It's out there.

I used to dispise "Friggin" Anderson, because he has notoriously been the laziest and worst fielders in baseball. We call him Mr. Clean, because he RARELY gets dirty. I would need all ten fingers and ten toes on everyone in my house to count the number of times he a) didn't hustle to a ball he could have caught, b) didn't hustle to a ball and allowed a single to turn into a double, c) didn't properly backup another outfielder and allowed a runner to stretch extra bases. The old rap on GA was that, while he was a career .300 hitter, he was anti-clutch. He would notoriously be a rally-killer, getting out in any key situation, with men on base and threatening to take a lead.

Since the World Championship year of 2002, a lot has changed, at least in the way I view him. Anderson made a series-saving sliding catch, and that I think started the ball rolling. Garrett has also developed into the very epitome of "clutch" in the last two years. Instead of groaning and pissing and moaning when he comes to the plate, I'm actually pretty stoked when he comes up in clutch situations. Last night he hit a three-run homer that won the game for the Angels.

Sure, he's still a crappy fielder most of the time, and frustrates me to no end with the way he can cost us runs in the field, but the good far outweighs the bad and that's enough to make me say that I am a Garrett Anderson fan.

I'm now just praying that, to use a Dr. Phil-ism, this isn't a deal breaker for my wife...

Melissa decided to blog up and we also started a family blog. I added links on the left. You can check us out here and here.

Happy Fourth

Inflatable Pigs Fly

A picture says 1000 words. The only thing better than seeing Waters back with the boys playing four songs (Home, Money, Wish You Were Here, Comfortably Numb) would be seeing them love it enough to get back on the road together. How about just a small world tour? LA, NY, London, Berlin, Tokyo, Sydney. Is that too much to ask?