Andy Labis, Author at Entertainment Ave!

Would I Look Good in “Ugg Australia Classic Crochet Tall Boots”?

By:

The Dude on the Right
First off let me start this by saying part of me doesn’t like Oprah Winfrey,
probably mostly out of jealousy, but there is nothing but admiration for the
empire she has built, an empire I can (that’s correct, I wrote "can") fathom in
my mind, wonder if it is an empire that can ever be built again, and will give
credit where credit is due because as much as there are things I don’t like
about her, the good things she tries to do are huge and deserve commendation.

But, as a dude, today’s episode of
The Oprah Winfrey Show is one
of the most bizarre, yet entertaining, pieces of television of the year.
Yup, today was the usually annual

"Oprah’s Favorite Things" episode (some of those Oprah fans who got gypped
last year when she tried the "Pay It Forward" experiment are probably still a
little, deep-down, pissed), and if you ever want to see a group of women, and a
couple of dudes, go completely out of their minds, this is the show to watch.
Oprah secretly took her team to Macon, Georgia, to celebrate the folks who, at
4PM if they are watching TV, 45% of them are watching Oprah. This
statistic, in itself, should raise a ton of red flags about Macon, and maybe
this is why I could never be in the league of Oprah because rather than
embracing them I would be saying "What is wrong with you people? What do
you do for a life?", yet there some of them were, in an auditorium in Macon,
going nuts, when Oprah announced they were in attendance for her "Oprah’s
Favorite Things" show.

Oprah, of course, made the people in the audience
happy, giving away things like a cool camcorder (it retails at $799, and we know
that because part of "Oprah’s Favorite Things" show is Oprah detailing exactly
who makes it, how you can get it, and how much it will cost you), boots,
cleaning products, DVD’s, a boatload of other stuff, and as Oprah put it, the
most expensive gift in the history of her "Favorite Things," which turned out to
be a refrigerator retailing at $3,799, which, I can probably guess, most
husbands of those in attendance are saying "Our fridge keeps my beer cold just
fine. Do you realize what kind of plasma TV we could have gotten for that
amount of money?"

As I did my quick tally it looks like those in Macon who
ended up at the show were given nearly $7,500 worth of stuff, which, from the
reactions of most of them, was stuff that was going to change their world in
ways they couldn’t even imagine yet. Those gifts also will change their
lives in another way they didn’t image yet, with the tax bill that accompanies
getting prizes, or at least so says my accountant, Fruitcake, from the firm
Dewey, Cheatum, & Howe, LLC. But you know what, I’m still jealous I wasn’t
there because yes, I would have probably been jumping up and down like a little
schoolgirl like the rest of them, but then wondering what that signed copy of
"O’s Guide to Life" and "The Pillars of Earth" would get on eBay, and if I could
really pull off wearing those "Ugg Australia Classic Crochet Tall Boots"
because, well, I got them from Oprah.

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

What’s New? A Concert Review of Shaw/Blades.

Even though a car crash delayed The Dude on the Right’s arrival to the concert, and even though it took The Dude an hour to get his car out of valet after the show, he still had a fabulous time during the Shaw/Blades concert portion of his evening, and tells you so in his review. If you are a fan of acoustic guitar and harmonies, The Dude highly recommends you check the boys out, but in the meantime you should read The Dude’s review.

What’s New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude’s Weekend Wrap-Up! Tig old Bitties, Mots of Lovies, and Gama Motz!

Stu Gotz and The Dude on the Right have a guest for their weekend wrap-up podcast, and it’s none other than Mama Gotz. They talk a lot about Tig old Bitties on “30 Rock,” some about the writer’s strike, and a lot about movies they all saw, including “Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium,” “No Country for Old Men,” and “Beowulf.” The Dude on the Right fills in Stu Gotz with his concert viewing of Shaw/Blades, and his non-concert viewing of Garth Brooks on the TV screen. Thanksgiving plans are also discussed, and they all hope you have a Happy Turkey-Day!

Stu & The Dude’s Weekend Wrap-Up! Tig old Bitties, Mots of Lovies, and Gama Motz!

By:

The Dude on the Right
It’s a Monday, it’s another

podcast of "Stu & The Dude’s Weekend Wrap-Up!", and we’ve got a special
guest, namely Mama Gotz, and this time she is more talkative, as opposed to the
last time she was a special guest. Maybe it’s because this time we have so
much to talk about.

First we talk about "Tig old Bitties," which seemed to be
a way the TV show "30 Rock" found to get around the FCC censors, and Stu gets
into a huge rant about the TV writer’s strike and its affecting his favorite
shows. I try to calm Stu down so eventually all of us discuss our movie
going weekends, including "Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium,"

"No Country for Old Men," and

"Beowulf." Stu wanted to make fun of me for missing Garth Brooks at
the movies while I tell him it’s probably a good thing

I lost my ticket, but I do hip Stu to my seeing

"Shaw/Blades," even with my valet disaster.

Thanksgiving is also upon us
all, so from all of us to all of you, Happy Turkey-Day!

Thanks for listening!

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

Download and Listen

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What’s New? A Movie Review of “Beowulf.”

The Dude on the Right works to sneak his movie review of “Beowulf” in today because he has found he’s getting a little long-winded in his concert review of seeing Shaw/Blades on Friday and still needs to do some photo editing from the concert. With that the concert review won’t “drop” until tomorrow, but if you like watching movies that look like a video game you’ll probably like “Beowulf,” but The Dude still doesn’t like video capture performances on the big screen because he would rather see Angelina Jolie with nipples and a landing strip. He even thinks “Beowulf” would have been better with a real butt shot of Anthony Hopkins. The Dude on the Right sometimes is all about reality.

149,999 Garth Brooks’ Fans Probably Missed Fantastic.

By:

The Dude on the Right
Well my getting back to seeing concerts has gotten off to a shaky start. First
my going to see Jonathon Brandmeier was derailed by some bad tacos, then I lost
my ticket for seeing Garth Brooks on a movie screen, but at least seeing
Shaw/Blades last night went swimmingly great (other then the fiasco after the
show thanks to the valet parking people), but if all goes well my review of
Shaw/Blades should be posted tomorrow, along with an explanation of said fiasco.

Right now, though, as bummed as I was at missing Garth on the movie theater,
this afternoon, after I got back home after seeing "No
Country for Old Men," it’s probably better that I lost my ticket. Why?
Because rather than just feeling that I set a lighter to a ten dollar bill, had
I gone to the Garth Brooks’ movie show my concert review might have started
something like "I used to be a huge fan of Garth Brooks, but now I’m just a
pissed-off fan. Here’s why…"

"Why" would have been because from the news reports, and the message boards,
during the final show in Kansas City that was broadcast at the theaters, after
about an hour and a half Garth played "The Dance," the simulcast ended, and the
folks in the movie theaters around the country were sent home, yet Garth Brooks
was still playing songs in Kansas City, for what one news story said was about
45 minutes more, which, as a fan of music, a fan of concerts, and a fan of
Garth, would actually have been the 45 minutes I would have wanted to see. He
still did some songs we know, but it’s when he does non-Garth songs, and an
impromptu "Happy Birthday," those are the things fans dream about seeing.

Looking back, on the memory of, oh, wait, I guess I got caught up in the
moment of Garth, but there was nothing in the press release I read that said
anything about "You will get to see most of the last Garth Brooks’ concert if
you spend your ten bucks to see him on a movie screen, but if you want to see
the entire show maybe you should make your way to Kansas City because there will
probably be some scalpers selling tickets for the show." The only thing I can
guess is the Garth Brooks’ machine was worried about people trying to bootleg
the entire concert in the theaters, what with internet piracy and all, but if
Garth puts out a DVD of the Kansas City shows, with everything he played (or at
least some of the medleys), I would almost bet my townhouse that it will hit the
internet before it’s actually released.

The press release also mentioned that more than 150,000 people would be
seeing the show via the movie theater, and I don’t know if that number was
accurate after the fact, nor how the $1.5 millionish gets divvied up, but the
almost odd thing is that Garth fans have been so jonsen for anything live from
Garth Brooks that they (the movie screen concert folks) don’t seem to care much
that they missed the last 45ish minutes of the show (my calculation is that each
person at the theater was gypped a little over three bucks), and they also
missed what actually sounds like the coolest part of the concert. I only get
this indifference from the message boards where I read postings from people who
went to the movie theater shows being disappointed at not seeing the entire
show, but they were just happy to see Garth live.

Me, I would have just been pissed. And yes, happy to see Garth live.

Luckily for Garth I can’t return my already opened CD/DVD set of "The
Ultimate Hits," and I pretty much set a torch to my ticket (by losing it)
without seeing him on the big screen, but it does make me sad that folks who
went to the movie theater only really saw two-thirds of Garth.

I didn’t mean for this blog to get this long, but even though I didn’t make
it to my movie theater because of my own boneheadedness, a whole lot of people
did and missed Garth going from "stiff" to an ending that sounded fantastic. If
the 150,000 count of movie people is accurate, at least 149,999 people missed
fantastic.

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

What’s New? A Movie Review of “No Country for Old Men.”

For his review of “No Country for Old Men” The Dude on the Right has found one of the best, stone-faced killers on screen he has ever seen. That’s not to say this movie is a shoot-’em-up flick, but it’s one of the best movies he has seen in 2007. He wonders if the Sheriff gives a crap, relates how Moss thinks the money is his, and if he had to die thinks Anton might have the best way to put you out of your misery.

What’s New? A Podcast of: I’m an Idiot, No More Ho, 84 Minutes for Lindsay, and Welcome Back Paige Davis!

The Dude on the Right proclaims himself an idiot for this podcast, probably much to his sister’s delight. He proclaims his idiotness due to his losing his ticket for Garth Brooks on the movie theater screen. He is also worried for the world because people in Australia are saying Santa shouldn’t say “Ho, Ho, Ho” anymore, instead should say “Ha, Ha, Ha.” The Dude also gives props to Lindsay Lohan for her 84 minutes in jail, and has something to TiVo in 2008 thanks to Paige Davis coming back as host of “Trading Spaces” next year.

I’m an Idiot, No More Ho, 84 Minutes for Lindsay, and Welcome Back Paige Davis!

By:

The Dude on the Right
My sister just

loves podcasts like this one because it is one where I have to admit I am an
idiot, a moron, or just plain stupid. My admitting my dumbness for this one is
based around what would have been the easiest concert I could have seen in
years, namely Garth Brooks, live, on a movie theater screen near me, and why I
didn’t see the show. I could blame Fandango for giving you a piece of paper as a
ticket and not an actually a “thicker piece of paper” ticket, but in the end it’s
my fault.

But this podcast isn’t all about my George Costanza wallet issues, I’m also
worried about our world when Santa is told he can’t say “Ho, Ho, Ho.” I do give
props to Lindsay Lohan for pretty much staying out of the news until today when
she had to do her 84 minutes of jail time, and today is a happy day because I
can go back to watching “Trading Spaces” again next year. Yup, it was announced
that Paige Davis is coming back as host of “Trading Spaces” on TLC beginning in
January. Here’s hoping she’s just as bubbly as she was before, and with the
continuing writer’s strike it might be one of the few things on my TiVo come
2008.

Thanks for listening!

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

Download and Listen

Subscribe Here

What’s New? Stu & The Dude’s Weekend Wrap-Up! Movie Talk, Football Talk, Scuba Talk, Garth Talk, and More Talk.

Stu Gotz is finally back so The Dude on the Right isn’t flying solo for another podcast. For this episode of “Stu & The Dude’s Weekend Wrap-Up!” they don’t even have to talk about why Stu was missing, their weekends were just that action-packed. They both saw “Fred Claus,” Stu did a lot of Scuba stuff in the Chicago area, and Stu also recognizes The Dude’s wisdom when it comes to printer cartridges. The Dude saw someone turning 60, and hips Stu to a bunch of football things, especially Chicago Bears and Ohio State Buckeye things. Stu also gives The Dude his suggestion for seeing Garth Brooks this week on the big screen.
Wow, they talk a lot.