Andy Labis, Author at Entertainment Ave!

Sanjaya is Still Alive on “American Idol,” Paula Abdul Quotes, and the SIU Salukis in the Final Four.

By:

The Dude on the Right
Sanjaya is safe! Sanjaya is safe! The movement has begun, and sure,
the dude is only 17, and maybe it’s sort of cruel to keep him around, but he did
audition for "American Idol" and the judges let him get into the top 24, but
most of everyone wonders why he is still on the show. He is the focus of
the Vote for the Worst website, Howard Stern is working to rally his troops to
vote for him next week, and if Gina or Jordin don’t win, I’m all aboard the
Sanjaya train. But

this podcast isn’t all about Sanjaya, I’ve also got my Paula Abdul clips of
the week, and since the NCAA tournament has started, I treat you to my picking
magic and the Southern Illinois Salukis getting to the Final Four.

If that
weren’t enough I received an e-mail saying I could get a degree because of my
life experience. I don’t think I trust it because the subject was "yuor
ceirdt crad has been seespunpd." For some reason I don’t think the offer
is legit, but maybe I should call the phone number anyway. I’ve already
got an Aerospace Engineering degree, why not shoot for another one?

Thanks for listening and your comments.

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

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Who Gets Booted from “American Idol?” Hopefully not Sanjaya.

By:

The Dude on the Right
So the final twelve got their truly first taste of "Holy shit, I might win
American Idol?!?", and it’s not looking good for any of the dudes, but it
looks like Simon has figured out who would be the money-maker if only she would
sing better. Here’s my take on last night’s singing, on Diana Ross
night…

Brandon: Not a good start for the dudes. He seemed rushed, or
the band seemed to playing the song too fast for him. Then he blew it when he
couldn’t recover after his pelvic thrusting.

Melinda: She was great, but she needs to drop a few pounds to get into
a different league.

Chris (with hair): Ruined a beautiful song by trying to do a new
arrangement.

Gina: I think she did a decent version and is in a weird league on the
show being the "rocker-chick."

Sanjaya: He was fantastic in his Sanjaya way and

so deserves to stay, just so we can see Simon pull his hair out.

Haley: Boring but nice legs. I think Simon is secretly rooting for her
to pull it together because of most of the contestants she has the look to pull
off the pop-idol career.

Phil: So far he was the best of the dudes, but still nothing special,
and doesn’t have a pop-idol look.

Lekisha: Great voice, in that Motown style of way.

Blake: Why do these dudes think they need to "update" these songs, and
then suck at it?

Stephanie: She just seemed okay, nothing special.

Chris (with less hair): He was just bad.

Jordin: She sounded and looked great. She’s the closest to
having the entire idol package.

Looks like the competition is between Melinda, Lekisha, and Jordin, with Gina
tossed in as a wild card if only because she is the exact opposite of that trio.
None of the dudes are close to the girls at this point, but I’m still throwing
my hat in Sanjaya’s corner, just for the shear humor of it.

Who gets booted? We’ll find out tonight, but from one web site it’s
looking good for Sanjaya sticking around for awhile. Hooray!

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

I Might Just be Voting for Sanjaya on “American Idol.”

By:

The Dude on the Right
After watching "American
Idol" last week I have a prediction that next season there might be some
changing in how the top twelve finalists are picked, namely that from the "top
24" to the "top twelve" the judges will have a vote for who gets booted, kind of
like how the voting is handled for

"Dancing With the Stars," where the judge’s scores are averaged with the
phone-in vote. From the looks on Randy, Paula, and Simon’s faces, they did
not seemed pleased with everyone who made it to the top twelve.

And since I’m
not that pleased with everyone who made it to the top twelve either, and after
listening to

Howard Stern this morning, I am really close to jumping on the
"Vote for the Worst"
bandwagon and pledge my allegiance to

Sanjaya. As I write this I am even closer to trying to keep Sanjaya
around, especially after witnessing Brandon’s opening number for tonight’s show,
where he forgot the words to the song after his "Elvis Pelvic-Thrust Maneuver."
I suppose I’ll see how Gina does, since she’s from my neck of the woods, but for
now, as Howard put it, I would love to see Simon pulling out his hair as Sanjaya
gets closer to being our next "American Idol."

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

What’s New? Stu & The Dude’s Weekend Wrap-Up Podcast: Bet on Heather’s Leg, Happy Birthday Stu, A Trip to Ohio, and “300.”

For this podcast of “Stu & The Dude’s Weekend Wrap-Up” The Dude on the Right went home to Ohio, and his city wasn’t gone. Instead he tells Stu Gotz of things like bad radio, restaurant reviews, math, and “Dancing Queen.” The Dude also saw “300” and lets Stu know if he can expect nudity, sex, and violence in the film. Stu, on the other hand, celebrated a birthday but is in a bad mood because he didn’t get the present he was expecting.

Stu & The Dude’s Weekend Wrap-Up! Bet on Heather’s Leg, Happy Birthday Stu, A Trip to Ohio, and “300.”

By:

The Dude on the Right
For

last week’s episode of "Stu & The Dude’s Weekend Wrap-Up" Stu Gotz told a
great story about boobs during his trip to Las Vegas. For

this week’s episode I only went to visit the parents in Ohio, and my stories
have nothing to do about boobs, but I do have exciting topics such as bad radio
bits, bizarre restaurant reviews, people who can’t divide $30,000, and whistling
an Abba song. Along with that we both talk a bit about the latest South
Park episode, "With Apologies to Jesse Jackson," and Stu Gotz celebrated a
birthday without getting what he really wanted for a birthday present.

I also give Stu my recap of the movie "300," and if I ever get to writing the
review, I’ll give it 4 out of 5 stars, and maybe I’ll also place a bet on
Heather Mills and her leg.

Thanks for listening and your comments.

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

Download and Listen Here

Subscribe Here

Tyra Banks says “So What!”, I Say “Just Come, and Celebrate.”

By:

The Dude on the Right
I’ve got two topics I want to blog about this evening. One was brought
about by listening to Howard Stern the last couple of days when he was
commenting about Tyra Banks’ new "So What!" campaign where you can, as I’m
typing this (nice typo Tyra people),
"Upload You ‘So What!’
Video". The other is a quick comment about the Olympics. Sure,
maybe as a blogger I should separate them into two different blogs, but read
about what you want.

So let’s get to the Tyra Banks’ "So What!" campaign.
It seems Tyra is trying to empower women (and maybe dudes) to be happy and be
one with some self-esteem issues by simply saying "So what!" On its
surface it seems like a nice campaign, but what bothers me is that, for the most
part, it pretty much only deals with weight issues. She had women on her
show, wearing one-piece bathing suits, with their weight plastered on them, I
guess as a testament to their being proud of their bodies (if they were that
proud, shouldn’t they have been in two-piece suits? I’m sorry, I
digress.). Her website spotlights three women from the show, one who "So
what"-ed that her thighs rubbed together when she walked, another who "So what"-ed
she couldn’t lose the last 15 pounds, and another who "So what"-ed that her
thighs jiggled when she walked.

My problem is that weight should never be a "So what!" issue, and as someone
who continues to struggle with his weight, I’ve joked, thanks to Homer Simpson,
"I’ve been an obese man trapped inside a fat man’s body" many a time, but never,
as self-esteemish as it is, did I ever dream of shouting "So what!" about my
weight. From the way I see it "So what!" things should be left for things
like "Sometimes I like to pee in the shower," or maybe "Every now and then I
don’t shave my legs for a week," or maybe "Yes, I’m almost 40 and I like ‘Smallville,’"
or maybe "I like to smell my own farts," or maybe "Some days I like to wear
sweats and not do my hair," or maybe "I still watch ‘Survivor,’" or maybe "I’m a
women and have no problem going to ‘Hooters.’" And I could go on and on.

But do you recognize
something about all of the above "So whats!"? None of them are really
health issues.
Having a "So what" attitude about your weight is a health issue, and a life
issue, and if I were Tyra my campaign might be "It’s My Struggle, not Yours" and
not "So What!" Here’s what "So what!" about your weight might lead to:
Diabetes, heart issues, cholesterol issues, high blood pressure, higher
insurance costs, depression, and just dying before you want to.

I know there
are two things I need to do to get myself back to being a healthy person, but
for reasons not for here, not right now, I am not progressing at those two
things like I would want to. But even as I don’t do those two things have
I ever had the attitude Tyra Banks seems to want me to have about my weight,
namely "So what!", because at that point I might as well come back to another
quote I used to joke about, "I’m one with my fat self," and then maybe wonder
when being my fat self would make me have to take at least a half-dozen pills
just to stay alive.

For me I’m thinking I might have to focus a little more on
the two things I need to do to keep me alive a little longer in this world
rather than listen to the advice of "So what!" Sadly, for other people,
they will say "So what!" for a while, and then wonder why, when they are older,
they have to pop a lot of pills and say "Why me?"

Enough Tyra Banks.

Oh yea,
there’s that Olympic thing. This blog has gone on a little longer than
planned so I’ll just say this. The United States Olympic Evaluation
Commission is visiting Chicago this week to see if Chicago would be a better
place to host the 2016 Olympics as opposed to Los Angeles. Chicago is a
better place. Los Angeles already has stuff built. We get to build
new stuff. Isn’t that what the Olympics are about – New Champions, and new
stuff!

"If Chicago builds it, they will come. The World will.
Come. And Celebrate."

And if the Chicago Olympic folks want to pay me
for that slogan, I’m up for negotiations, that’s the Chicago way

"So What!" is
a crappy campaign, from Tyra Banks, but for the USOC, hey, just come, and
celebrate.

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

What’s New? Stu & The Dude’s Weekend Wrap-Up! “dirt,” Movie Talk, and A Sweet 16 Party vs Vegas.

For this podcast of “Stu & The Dude’s Weekend Wrap-Up!”, The Dude on the Right gets to tell Stu Gotz about his “exciting” weekend, seeing “Black Snake Moan” and “Wild Hogs,” while Stu tells The Dude about what happened while he was in Las Vegas, and that if The Dude had spent his travel money going to Vegas instead of his niece’s birthday party, well, The Dude could have also been a part of it. The Dude on the Right now has to keep reciting “Family comes first” instead of “I could have seen boobs.”

Stu & The Dude’s Weekend Wrap-Up! “dirt,” Movie Talk, and A Sweet 16 Party vs Vegas.

By:

The Dude on the Right
What happens in Vegas is supposed to stay in Vegas, but Stu isn’t one to always
keep his mouth shut, so for this episode of

"Stu & The Dude’s Weekend Wrap-Up" I really have to remember that family
comes first because thanks to my travels to my niece’s birthday party, I missed
a once-in-a-lifetime event. Sure, it was my niece’s 16th birthday party,
and I suppose that is a once-in-a-lifetime event, but it was nothing like the
one Stu and The Dude on the Left witnessed in Vegas, one that I could have been
a part of, but my travel money was spent on going to Houston instead of Las
Vegas. "Family comes first." "Family comes first." "Family
comes first." "Family comes first." I have to keep reciting that
otherwise, when I win the Mega-Millions tomorrow night, I might just hold a
grudge against my sister (hey, it is technically her fault my niece’s 16th
birthday was in January) and say something like "No money for you!" And if
my sister somehow wins the Mega-Millions game, I really hope she remembers that
I came down to help create the worst balloon drop ever, instead of going to
Vegas.

Anyway, while Stu was out in Vegas, witnessing the unbelievable, I
caught the movies

"Black Snake Moan" and

"Wild Hogs," and watched my Tivo’d episode of
"dirt"
which sadly wasn’t the episode where Jennifer Aniston kisses Courteney Cox, but
it did have a nice homage to "South Park," almost. Those bastards.

Thanks for listening and your comments.

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

Download and Listen Here

Subscribe Here

Maybe My Sister Should be a Movie Critic.

By:

The Dude on the Right
The movie industry is a bizarre monster, and so are the critic rating scales.
My case in point is the release of

"Wild Hogs" this week (and I suppose

"Norbit" a few weeks back). Hundreds, if not thousands of critics,
thought it (they) sucked, yet as of tonight "Wild Hogs" did about $38 Million
bucks worth of business for the weekend. Me, I gave it 1 1/2 stars out of
5, which pretty much for me means it’s a rental at best. But where did
these $38 Million dollars worth of people come from? Was the word of mouth
that great? Did people just want to see a movie, and rather than see
something that was nominated for an Academy Award, or the R rated "Zodiac" or

"Black Snake Moan" that also opened this weekend, did they just opt for
"Wild Hogs" by default? I don’t know, but maybe critics need a new rating
scale, kind of the anti-critic scale, so I’m trying to come up with one, based
mostly upon my sister.

You see, and I can’t verify this yet until she sees it,
but I think my sister will find "Wild Hogs" one of the funniest movies ever (she
also really liked
"RV"),
as opposed to most people who watch or analyze movies for a living. While
I was watching the movie I could pretty much envision every instance where my
sister would be laughing, mostly because there was a woman, a couple of rows
behind me as I was watching the movie, laughing at those moments. Me, I
found

Borat very funny, 4 1/2 stars funny, as did most critics, but this woman
behind me, during "Wild Hogs" well, from her laughter, this was probably a 7
Stars out of 5 comedy.

As a critic I try to at least relate my reviews to
those who might like the movie, and I can see how "Wild Hogs" can give folks
some entertainment for a little over an hour and a half. But you can’t get
that from a simple 3 stars out of 4, from a simple thumb, from a simple tomato,
or from a simple beer rating. Nope, who will like a movie is a hell of lot
more complicated than that, sometimes it just has to relate to my sister.

And
right now I’m just wondering what she would have given this movie?

Maybe, in a
bizarre way, there’s actually a place for her to be a movie critic. Too
bad I can’t offer her a job, unless, with the
Mega Millions jackpot at over $340
million, I might be able to, when my numbers come in this Tuesday night.

Then
again, maybe not, and "Wild Hogs" is still a 1 1/2 star movie out of 5 on my
critic scale, or also rated "Sister" on my new scale.

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

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

For this movie review of “Wild Hogs” The Dude on the Right thinks he needs to come up with a new rating system for movies, different from the “star” thing. He knows the Siskel and Ebert and Roeper “thumb” thing is the best, but has now realized that a movie like “Wild Hogs” needs one not related to stars, to thumbs, to tomatoes, or to beers. With that, The Dude gives the movie a “Sister.”