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May 30, 2006

What's New? Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up: The Dude Loses his Virginity with the Horses, and Stu is on a Celebrity Tear.

For this podcast, Stu and The Dude give their wrap-up of the weekend, but it really turns into betting on the ponies, celebrity talk, and if you were two months old, with three working arms, would you want doctors to chop one off?

Posted by Rightdude at 7:15 PM | Comments (0)

May 28, 2006

What's New? A Movie Review of "X-Men: The Last Stand."

For this movie review, The Dude on the Right caught "X-Men: The Last Stand" with Stu Gotz, who couldn't really give The Dude any insight if this movie followed any comic book storyline. The Dude on the Right did like the movie, thought, but can't get one scene with Phoenix out of his head.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:41 PM | Comments (0)

May 25, 2006

What's New? The Dude on the Right's "American Idol" Finale Wrap-Up.

For this podcast, The Dude on the Right gives his thoughts on the "American Idol" finale and his take on the difference between Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee. He also wonders if college kids were playing the "Soul Patrol" game.

Posted by Rightdude at 8:09 PM | Comments (0)

May 23, 2006

The Almost Last "American Idol": Katharine McPhee vs. Taylor Hicks

By: The Dude on the Right
Normally I would do a podcast tomorrow evening before "American Idol" giving you my thoughts on the Tuesday night performances and my Paula Abdul clips of the night, but since the two hour finale starts at 7PM here in the Chicagoland area, I know I won't be able to get it posted in time and oh so want to endure about an hour and 45 minutes of uselessness to see who wins.  So I figured I would blog my recap of tonight's performance, and give my podcast rehash on Thursday night.  So, without further ado, my thoughts on Katharine McPhee's and Taylor Hick's performance, who should win, and don't be surprised if they win.

ROUND 1
Katharine:  Black Horse and the Cherry Tree
Katharine did pretty well with this the first time around, and this time was just okay.  She looked great in the tight jeans and shirt showing her belly, but she kept singing to the two percussion dudes on stage rather than the audience.

Taylor:  Living for the City
He's being the Taylor he has become to be, working through the crowd, wearing a funky suit jacket, and still looking like he's going to take a dump on stage as he stretches for a note or two, but I think that's why we love him.

Winner of Round 1:  Taylor

ROUND 2
Katharine:  Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Again solid song for her, but she does not work the stage, nor the audience, well.  There she was, just sort of sitting on the stage, and doing, at first, a fantastic version, totally into the feeling of the song.  I felt so good for her, she needed the perfect version, and I really wanted her to get up somewhere near the middle of the song, work the front of the stage, and finish it on the platform behind the judges belting it out for the audience, but then two things happened that lost it for me:  First, she just stayed there, kinda crumpled on the floor of the stage, and second, she lost the feeling of the song and started "mugging" for the camera every time it came near her.  What I mean by mugging is she shifted from serious mode to the "grinning ear to ear" thing that has been bugging me about her all season.  Sad song, depressing song, it doesn't seem to matter for her, once that boom camera comes near her face, she shifts from serious and sad looking to "I'm going to smile now because the camera is coming in for a close-up."

Taylor:  Levon
I will admit I am a little biased because this is one of my favorite Elton John songs of all time, and Taylor does his own great way of knocking it out of the ballpark.  The thing with Taylor is when he's not being goofy Taylor, he does show that he has a fun voice, but this isn't really the song that showcased this, that one was a few weeks ago.  He still works the stage better than Katharine and exudes a confidence she just doesn't seem to have.

Winner of Round 2:  Katharine (but barely because of the mugging.)

ROUND 3
Katharine:  My Destiny
Singing what will be her first single, I am going to sound so incredibly mean right now, and I do apologize to all of the Katharine fans, and to Katharine herself, but here goes...

First off, and my mom has been saying it all along, but whoever has been picking her dresses is doing a horrible job.  Like most men, I would have lied to her because I knew I wouldn't get any at the end of the night by being truthful, but that dress made her look fat.  Oh, and this is going to sound worse than mean, but she looked like she was shoved in a sausage casing.  Something just fitted her totally wrong with that dress.  Randy said she looked amazing, but on TV, or at least my TV, that dress was horrible.

Next, this was a typical song for a "pop" idol, starting the singer off in a lower key and building them up to a higher register where they can take the song out of the ballpark, but she just seemed too nervous to pull that off and hit a blooper, pop-fly for an easy catch by the shortstop.  The other problem for her, and maybe she knew this, is that maybe Katharine knew people are tired of these kinds of songs from the finalists, and she also knew Taylor had the stronger song.

Lastly, from the show, and maybe I'm wrong, but it looked like Simon really wanted to just lay into her on every aspect about the performance, but knew this was the finale and if he came out blasting the song, her performance, and her look, that every aspect of marketing her would be blown off the map.  I'm sorry for being so harsh on her, but I'll try to explain more at the end of this way-to-long blog.

Taylor:  Do I Make You Proud
Sadly for the "American Idol" folks, this song has come out about a month too late.  Why?  Because high school graduation ceremonies around the country in every small town would somehow try to fit this song into the proceedings.  But Taylor doesn't have to worry about the graduates because I think he still has the wedding song market for the next six months if the bride-to-be is a Taylor fan.

Taylor didn't have to worry about an outfit, because, well, Taylor doesn't need to to look unbelievable, he just needs to look like Taylor, so his normal suit was fine.  What Taylor had going for him, that Katharine really didn't, is a perfect song for him.  It wasn't the greatest song, but so much better than Katharine's that it didn't matter, and Taylor sang it with the confidence that even if the lyrics were something like "Do I make you proud, because I was caught sleeping with a hooker that I picked up on the corner," he still would have pulled it off for his "Idol" fans who wouldn't have cared.

He knocked the song out of the ballpark for his "American Idol" fans.  And even Simon knew it.

Winner of Round 3:  Taylor

Based on Tonight, Who Should Win This Fight:  Taylor Hicks

Don't Be Surprised if This One Wins:  Katharine McPhee

The Dude on the Right's Final Analysis
Here's a little how I see this, so let's go...

With our two finalists, the marketing/public relations folks are really trying to scramble, and maybe just me, but I think Simon knows this.  Taylor is a great guy, with a great voice, and I am a fan, but where, on any radio dial, can you market him?  Somehow lots of the public loves him, and the single they have him recording has potential, but after the show is over, are you going to be clamoring out there to get any single/CD he puts out, let alone be the reason you go see him in concert?  Maybe I'm wrong, and I read this somewhere else, but he is the kind of dude who could, with his act, pull off a larger bar/club atmosphere where he sang a mixture of covers and originals, but his sound fits absolutely nowhere on the radio landscape, and that's a marketing nightmare.  His voice doesn't lend itself to adult contemporary, let alone a teen audience, and there are few rock stations that would play anything he puts out, probably mostly out of spite.

Katharine, though, almost has entire package, just not the presence of Taylor.  She's got looks, she does need a better wardrobe (and shorter hair to show off her boobs for me), but if she were to lose a little of the Celine Dion-ish posing, she could fill a huge void, sliding into a bizarre nitch between the world of Kelly Clarkson and Celine Dion.  Here's how I would have loved to see her performances go:  During "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" work the audience with an attitude.  No big grinning, just go out there, slap hands, work the stage, and keep an attitude like "I'm a bad-ass, hear me roar!"  Then, during "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," fine, start it crouched down on the stage, but get up, sing to the crowd, all of the crowd, but don't get caught in the glamorous moment - You're trying to find your way home, to a happy place, there's no place for smiling ear to ear during this song.  Lastly, you've got a lousy last song and you probably know it.  So what, go out there and just kick whatever ass you can find.

I feel bad about bashing on Katharine, because I think she has huge star potential, but somewhere, somehow, I think her biggest problem is that she was never taught to get into the feeling of a song.  All she knows is to sing the song, she doesn't know how to, and this is going to sound pretty cheesy, but be one with the song.  That, I think, is her largest stumbling block to getting herself to the next level.

I suppose I should wrap up this way-to-long blog by just admitting that you never really know what the fans out there in TV land are going to do in regards to voting for the "American Idol," yet I still love the show.  It will be interesting to see how the voting goes, but for me, I think Taylor will win, but Katharine has more potential for stardom.

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

Posted by Rightdude at 10:05 PM | Comments (1)

May 22, 2006

What's New? Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up: The Da Vinci Code and Sports.

For this podcast, Stu and The Dude give their weekly weekend wrap-up show where "The Da Vinci Code" played a big role, and Stu wonders what's up with Axl Rose.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:45 PM | Comments (0)

May 21, 2006

What's New? A Movie Review of "The Da Vinci Code."

For this movie review, The Dude on the Right wonders what all of the hubbub is about because he really liked "The Da Vinci Code." He's just hoping a certain woman can find a good man to carry on Jesus' blood line, and if Audrey Tautou is the certain woman, he volunteers to be that man.

Posted by Rightdude at 8:02 PM | Comments (0)

May 20, 2006

What's New? Exciting Sports, Women's Pro Beach Volleyball, Karaoke on Your TV, and TV Finales.

For this podcast, The Dude on the Right was surprised at the excitement of sports' viewing on his Saturday afternoon, wonders when he'll start singing karaoke, and is looking forward to the last week of TV sweeps.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:04 PM | Comments (0)

May 19, 2006

Our New "What's New?" and Blog Page, and A Dude Walking the Side of the Road.

By: The Dude on the Right
First off you might have noticed some changes with this page and the updates you receive.  Simply put, I've decided to combine our "What's New?" listing with our blog posting since, many times, they meld together.  Let me know if you "like it," "hate it," or really don't care.  I always like feedback.

That aside, this blog isn't about changes on the website, this is about something that is still kind of bothering me, knowing I should have probably called 911, or is it 999, or is it *999, or is it *911.  Let's start with the initial incident.

I was driving back to the dude-pad from a company where I do some consulting.  All of the traffic is cruising along the highway and I couldn't help but notice, up in the short distance, a dude walking along the highway.  First thought, a hitchhiker, although you don't see many of them these days anymore.  At quicker glance the dude didn't seem to be hitchhiking because there wasn't a thumb in site, and he was facing the direction of the traffic, but as my dude-mobile came nearer to him, he didn't look like others I have seen walking the side of a highway.  As I traveled past the dude I tried to take a look, and it looked like a younger dude, maybe even high school age, with a backpack, and I wondered if I should do something.  But what is that something I should do?  I could try and pull over and see if he was okay, I could try to call the police, and here is where, sadly, I ended up.  I decided to do nothing.

Lots of wrong thoughts have come into my head since I got home, had dinner, and have been doing this, that, and the other thing before writing this blog, and most of them have been bad, disappointed in myself, and hoping the dude is okay.  There is the simple thought that A) The dude was a psychopath, and if I had pulled over I might be on the evening news in a way I wouldn't ever see.  B)  The dude gets picked up by a psychopath, and if I had pulled over and tried to help, he wouldn't be on the evening news in a way I would be sad to see.  C)  Why didn't anyone else pull over?

Then I wondered other things like, in a fucked up kind of way, maybe life as a drifter is actually better than his life at home, and stopping him would have sent him back to the hell that had been his life, maybe I missed his broken down car and he was just on the way to the exit to get to a phone, or maybe he was just a kid looking to walk along the highway (and that could be a song lyric, but I digress).

But here is the weird thing, and since I'm a nut-job, for me it's crazy.  In the end, in the grand scheme of things, I wasn't sure of what number to call to report the dude walking along the highway in the first place.  At home, or even at work, the choice for an emergency is easy, it's simply 911.  But ever since I've sold cell phones, and have driven highways, the emergency number seems to be different.  I know, the easy answer is that I should have just pried my cell phone out of my pocket and at least tried to dial 911, but I became conflicted.  Is the best route "911."  Should I go for "*999," or is it "*998?"  Is the "*" necessary?  And "What Exit did I just pass up if they ask?"

In the end I called no one, but still, in my head, I see this kid/dude walking along the highway, and just hope, pray, and hope some more, that he is okay.  Why?  Because I did the same as everyone else in my front view and in my rear view mirror who drove past him - I did nothing.  I really hope I wasn't wrong to do that.

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

Posted by Rightdude at 8:07 PM | Comments (0)

May 17, 2006

What's New? The Dude on the Right's "American Idol" Wrap-Up: Elliot Should be Going Home.

For this podcast, The Dude on the Right still can't stand Katharine McPhee smiling during her performances, but loved her version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." The Dude's Mom didn't think that much of her, and doesn't like her clothes, and doesn't like her hair. The Dude on the Right has a problem with her hair, too, but only because it covers her boobs.

Posted by Rightdude at 8:06 PM | Comments (0)

May 15, 2006

What's New? Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up: Technical Issues and Movie Talk.

For this podcast, The Dude on the Right obsesses about how lousy this podcast sounded in his headphones, but after listening to it, it didn't sound that bad. In any case, Stu and The Dude talk about the movies, discuss a President speech on TV, and question the inclusion of "Plop, Plop. Fizz, Fizz" as part of The Dude's podcast sound effects.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:19 PM | Comments (0)

May 14, 2006

What's New? A Movie Review of "Keeping Up With the Steins."

For this movie review, The Dude on the Right debated between "Poseidon" and "Keeping Up With the Steins." He was really happy with his decision, and thinks Jami Gertz is a MILF.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:11 PM | Comments (0)

Podcast Contributors From Around the World, or At Least One, Hopefully, and Will it be "Oprah" or "President."

By: The Dude on the Right
Well, it appears that President Bush really doesn't give a damn about his approval ratings, which have been plummeting lately, because he has scheduled a brief speech for tomorrow evening, Monday, May 15th.  The speech is about things we have already heard or read about, at least if you pay attention to the news, so why he has decided to delay my Monday evening TV watching, I really don't know.  In any case, so far, according to my TIVO box, Fox and NBC have given in and will give the President his do, thereby delaying my switching between "Deal or No Deal" (which is very close to jumping the shark), and "24," but the interesting thing will be for ABC.  Their choice:  "Oprah.  President. Oprah.  President.  Oprah.  President."   My guess is that the ABC folks will call Oprah and ask for her permission to delay her special, because, well, Oprah is always right, and millions of Oprah disciples have already made their party plans.  My other guess is President Bush's next approval ratings will drop a couple of points, especially if Oprah gives the okay to delay her party.  Really, you're a member of the Church of Oprah, have all of your congregation at your humble home, geared up to watch Oprah Winfrey's Legend's Ball, which actually took place a year ago,  complete with recipes direct from Rachael Ray, and there is President Bush talking about Mexicans jumping across our border.  What a downer.  I suppose only tomorrow night will tell.

Presidential politics aside, I saw one great movie this weekend, "Keeping Up With the Steins," and one not-so-fabulous movie, "Just My Luck."  But more important than those things, I think I've also figured out a way to invite listeners to be a part of our podcasts, namely via Instant Messaging.  No, typing IM's back and forth during a podcast would prove pretty boring, but most, if not all IM programs now have talk capability.  I've only messed around with it a little, namely between a couple of computers at home and two different AOL accounts, but it seems to be working.  What I'm asking for now is if anyone out there in internet-land wants to be a guinea pig in my "The Dude on the Right Podcast Contributors From Around the World" experiment.  Okay, that's a pretty long title, but quite simply I'm looking for someone out there in internet-land, at this point with AOL and talk capability, although I think is will also work with Skype, Yahoo, Messenger, and Google Talk, although I haven't tested those yet, wanting to see if you want to be a part of our podcast.  If that's you, I ask you e-mail me at podcast@entertainmentavenue.com.  I'd rather keep the podcast about something simple, like "American Idol" or movies, so also leave a topic you might want to talk about.  There does seem to be some latency issues (delays back and forth, just like those satellite feeds you see on the news), but it might be fun to try.  I'm still looking at a way to accept phone calls, but right now, this looks a hell of a lot easier with a hell of a lot less wires.

May sweeps is wrapping up and summer is upon us.  "Survivor" finishes tonight and if things are right with the world, Terry will win.  "American Idol" fans  booted of Chris so it will interesting to see if there is a ratings backlash, or a Chris voting backlash (I think Elliot might be back in the running to win).  Jack Bauer has almost saved the world again, and with summer should come a new "Big Brother," although "Dancing With the Stars" has moved from a summer guilty pleasure to the normal TV season.  Sadly Beth Ostrosky, Howard Stern's girlfriend, says she has opted out of the next "Dancing..." series.  Oh well, I guess we'll see what the summer TV season will bring, and I'm sure I'll get hooked on something.

Alright, let's wrap up this blog.  If you are interested in being a part of one of our podcasts and have everything hooked up for AOL IM talk capability, e-mail me.  I think the President will win out over Oprah, but we'll see.  Right now I've got to go and fold some laundry and get ready for the "Survivor" finale.  Terry deserves to win, although Cirie would be a funny person to win, especially with her complaining about looking under leaves in the first episode. Alright, enough babbling.  I'm done.

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

Posted by Rightdude at 7:03 PM | Comments (0)

May 13, 2006

What's New? A Movie Review of "Just My Luck."

For this movie review, The Dude on the Right admits that he is addicted to Lindsay Lohan, and because of his addiction, he had to see "Just My Luck." In the imortal words of some wise dude who came up with the saying, as far as the movie goes, "It is what it is."

Posted by Rightdude at 3:43 PM | Comments (0)

May 11, 2006

What's New? The Dude on the Right's "American Idol" Analysis for May 9th.

For this podcast, The Dude on the Right has one suggestion for Katharine McPhee - quick smiling and losing the attitude of the song every time the boom camera comes in for a close-up. You change from "singing" the song, to "just singing" the song. He see's Taylor and Katharine as the final two, but for this week's episode, rather than a Paula Abdul saying, someone else had the "Saying of the Week."

Posted by Rightdude at 8:11 PM | Comments (0)

May 9, 2006

What's New? Drowning, Natalie Portman, Inventing, and a Nephew Dilemma.

For this podcast, The Dude on the Right has all kinds of problems right now, but nothing more important than trying to figure out what to do now that his nephew is in college.

Posted by Rightdude at 9:09 PM | Comments (0)

May 7, 2006

Natalie Portman, Angelina Jolie, Mia Hamm, and Wynona Ryder. They All Have Something in Common.

By: The Dude on the Right
Here in Chicagoland this weekend, we had some fabulous weather.  Saturday was just a tad cool, but today, Sunday, it was a perfect spring day.  So my choices of the morning were "It's a beautiful day!  I know what I should do, I should sit in a movie theater for a couple of hours!  That would be a great way to enjoy the weather!" or "It's a beautiful day!  I know what I should do, I should get out, maybe take a nice walk and smell the flowers!  That would be a great way to enjoy the weather!"  Well there wasn't any flower-smelling, but I skipped the movies (my choices were "United 93" or "Friends With Money") and did get to enjoy the weather a bit.  But there was still some work to do, namely finishing our latest episode of "Stu & The Dude Reviewin' the Movies for You!" where we did some talk about Tom Cruise and "Mission: Impossible III."  That's posted for your viewing pleasure.

As nice a day today was, my weekend started out in fabulous fashion.  I decided to figure out who my "Celebrity Love Match" was, and I was very much pleased at the women who would love me.  At the top of the list was Natalie Portman, followed by Angelina Jolie, Mia Hamm, and Wynona Ryder.  I have to say that I find all of those dudettes great and I was pretty excited, waiting for them all to fight over me, until I thought about this a little bit.  Natalie Portman is a reported vegetarian, so I'm wondering what she would think about my propensity for a decent porterhouse steak once in a while.  I have no idea how Angelina Jolie ended up as a match, although maybe since she's a mom now, well, she wouldn't try to have me carry around a little vile of her blood.  I'm thinking Mia Hamm really wouldn't be too proud of my work-out schedule, and being Catholic, would I have to convert to Judaism for Wynona?  I was supposed to try and work on some movie previews this week, but I think most of my week might be spent trying to track down the new love's of my life.  I just hope that by the time I find Angelina she's already had the baby and has any extra pounds she might have put on worked off.  Oh, and I hope she has her eyesight back because who knows what she sees in that Brad Pitt dude.  Just look at the size of my hands and feet!

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

Posted by Rightdude at 7:12 PM | Comments (0)

What's New? Stu & The Dude Reviewin' the Movies for You! Mission: Impossible III

For this episode of "Stu & The Dude Reviewin' the Movies for You!," "South Park" fans called for a boycott of all things Tom Cruise, but one of the reviewers just couldn't resist the pull of Tom Cruise and gave "Mission: Impossible III" 3 out of 5 stars.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:32 PM | Comments (0)

May 3, 2006

What's New? The Dude on the Right's "American Idol" Re-Cap, and You Thought You Had Weight to Lose?

For this podcast, The Dude on the Right gives his re-cap of the "American Idol" performances from Tuesday. He still thinks Katharine smiles too much and should remember to keep her facial expressions with the theme of the song. He also talks about a story about a man who needs to lose a hell of a lot more weight than you do.

Posted by Rightdude at 8:18 PM | Comments (0)

May 1, 2006

What's New? Stu & The Dudes' Weekend Wrap-Up: Seeing Movies and The Dude is in a Lot of Hot Water.

For this podcast, it's a new episode of "Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up." They talk movies, but The Dude on the Right puts himself in a lot of hot water with his sister. Ahhh, sibling rivalry.

Posted by Rightdude at 8:15 PM | Comments (0)