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October 31, 2007

In The End, I Just Wanted a "Wheel of Fortune" Blinky Pen.

By: The Dude on the Right
So I briefly talked about my heading to auditions for "Wheel of Fortune," so I thought I might fill you in a little bit more about the experience because it was really nothing like I originally envisioned though I guess this blog is more of a story so it's a little longer, sorry...

It all started a few months ago when the "Wheel of Fortune" folks announced they were going to be filming some shows in early 2008 at Navy Pier in Chicago, and that eventually they would be holding auditions. I like "Wheel," think I do fairly well at guessing the puzzles before a lot of the contestants, and yell at the TV when I think vowels are bought stupidly. As such I figured "What the hell? When they come to town for auditions why not give it shot?" At the time I figured you just got in a line, they had you fill out some kind of "who are you?" form, maybe do a quick interview, and then would call you later if you qualified.

Then it was announced that the Wheelmobile would be in Chicagoland (actually Rosemont, IL), the weekend of October 20th, and as many times as I saw the Wheelmobile promo during "Wheel" I never paid attention because what actually happens at a Wheelmobile event is nothing like I initially imagined. Nope, it's part game show, part audition, part comedic entertainment, but sadly for me, not part "getting on stage." I did re-check the "Wheel of Fortune" website before I went to the "auditions," and learned a little bit more about what happens. So here you go...

For the Saturday stop it was announced that there would be three "shows," at 1PM, 2:30PM, and 4PM, and that you really just needed to arrive about an hour before each "show."  So, of course, I'm at the Rosemont Theatre at about 11AM, which was easily an hour too early. But I get there, they give you a little slip to fill out with pertinent stuff like your name, address, phone, and a line for hobbies and cool things about you. I dipped back into my love of bowling (which seemed to be very popular among the people who ended up on stage), and movies, but then realized my life is fairly boring because I couldn't think of anything else. I probably should have called some of my friends at the time, like some other people were doing, to remind me about what is cool about me, but then I realized most of my friends would probably just say "Dude, you don't do anything fun, other than seeing a lot of movies by yourself, and you used to see a lot of concerts. Hey, what happened with that anyway? Maybe you need to quick watching so much TV?"  After I put my slip in the collection box it occurred to me I should have written down "I can wiggle my ears."

So I fill out my form, buy a $3 bottle of water, drop my slip in the collection box, (remember about my ears), fill out another form to win prizes, and find a nice aisle seat, with an hour and forty-five minutes yet to kill before the 1PM "show." At this point I am ecstatic, well maybe not ecstatic, but I'm happy I bought an iPhone so I surfed the web and played some games in anticipation of the start of the show.

The time comes, actually it's a little before 1PM, and the first level of the theater is packed solid. Out come Marty and Heidi (okay, I have to admit, I'm not totally sure those were there names, but it's the best I could find via Google at the time, and I'm too lazy to actually make a phone call or two to confirm, so for now I'm going with Marty and Heidi, without any last names) with Heidi playing the role of a fake Vanna White, and Marty (who seems to be a big fan of the movie "Old School") actually having a harder job than Pat Sajak because he has to act as MC, interviewer, game show host, and all around funny dude. The process is then pretty simple: All of the audition slips have been put in this big gold drum, Heidi spins the golden drum and pulls out five names, Marty calls the names the best he can and the five people come up on stage. Marty then interviews them, one by one. Then he spins a wheel to see which parting gift they will win (things like caps, t-shirts, duffel bags), and then adds an extra couple of trinkets, like a Wheel of Fortune deck of cards or Wheel of Fortune blinky pen. And finally Marty directs the five folks through a speed round, you know, the round at the end of "Wheel" when Pat gives the wheel a final spin, the contestant picks a letter and tries to solve, the next contestant picks a letter and tries to solve, etc., etc., and the same thing happens on stage except there's no giving a wheel a final spin. The five folks pick a letter, try to solve, eventually one of them does solve the puzzle, and then five more people get their shot at being on stage.

The weird part about being there is that for about 45 minutes it's kind of like part game show, where you are in the audience, but since you are there to hopefully get on the show (at least most of the people are), there's also that anticipation part that maybe this time your name will be pulled from the golden drum, there's also that part where you are sitting in the audience knowing you would be better during the interview than that person up on stage right now, there's also that part that you can't believe the person picked that letter, and there's also that part when you know the answer to the puzzle and can't believe no one else on stage has solved it yet.

Then the last 15 minutes come.

Now the realization and disappointment begins to hit because your name hasn't been called yet, you didn't get your chance to show you would be the greatest "Wheel of Fortune" contestant player ever, you wish they would go a little quicker on stage so that maybe the golden drum will spin one last time and your name will finally be called, and you start to get a little pissed as you look back on the people who did get called to the stage and wonder what in the hell they were actually doing there. During my little show there were two people that stood out as "You took my spot!"-ers, and probably have no chance in hell of getting on the show. One person was this little old lady who maybe enjoys watching the show, but it sure hasn't helped her command of the English language. Her interview was exactly what you would imagine of a grandma, right off of the boat, not really understanding the phrase "What do you do for fun?", and even after she starts to figure out what you are asking, you can't understand her even if you wanted to. Part of the other thing about getting your chance at the audition is that sure, maybe you are nervous, but if you let that inhibit your having fun, I'm guessing the folks who pick the folks for the next round of auditions skip right over you. This case in point came from a lady who wouldn't sing. At the beginning of the show Marty mentions that if you want to sing, well, sing. If you want to dance, dance. If you want to tell a joke, go ahead, just keep it clean, so as he's doing his quick interview of the lady he asks what she does for fun. She mentions she likes to hang out with her family and sing karaoke. Marty sees the opening for her to maybe seal her spot to the next round and asks her to sing, to which she shyly declines. He even prods her a little more, but she still says no. A few contestants later a dude says he likes to shoot pool, or something like that, and sing. Marty gives this dude his opening, asking if he'll sing, and he belts out a quick verse. I'm guessing he had a really good shot to go on, while "no-singing lady who took my spot," not so much.

And so Marty announces the last five names are coming out of the golden drum, my name isn't called, and it's time to make a choice: Stick around for the next show (although from the line that snaked around the Rosemont Theatre at the time I'm guessing it was already "Sold Out"), stick around even later for the 4PM, or just head back to the Dude-Pad and get some things done. Sure, my dedication for getting on the show maybe wasn't as high as those who tried every show during the weekend, but after going through the last 15 minutes portion of that first show, the disappointment that I didn't get my chance to shine, and the being pissed off because I know I would have been better on stage than the old lady, I felt ready to retire my interview speech: "My name's The Dude on the Right. By day I'm an consultant for the construction industry and by night I publish an internet magazine. I love movies, music, and TV. I have 3 fish.  Steve's about 6 years old, Ashley's about 5, and Bam is about 3."  Marty would say something, because he wasn't wasn't paying that much attention like, "You don't know the age of your children?", to which I would retort, "I said 'I have 3 fish.'", and the people would have laughed.  Then, of course, not to split the crowd like the Cub's fan did, I would have yelled "Go Bears!"  In my head it worked perfectly, but sadly, Heidi never picked my name out of the golden drum.

Not getting picked aside, though, it was actually a pretty enjoyable time. I'll give a ton of credit to Marty for his ability to keep things fun and deal with people who are either nervous beyond belief or goofy beyond belief or have no point having their name in the golden drum beyond belief, and I would say that even if you don't want to be on the show, and if the Wheelmobile comes to your town, head to the auditions for an fun experience.  Around me I heard a lot of husbands and boyfriends saying they were there for their wives/girlfriends, and hoped they wouldn't get picked to go up on stage, to which I say, "Don't fill out the damn audition slip and take my spot!", but I'm guessing, in the bottom of their stomachs, there was this little part of them hoping their name would be pulled from that golden drum.

Even though I blew my chance at attending another "show" on Saturday, what pissed me off more was that I wasted more chances by staying at home to watch the Chicago Bears implode on Sunday when I could have been at another audition or two during the crappy football game, and if, by chance, Heidi pulled my audition slip, and Marty mispronounced my last name (because, for whatever reason, people can't pronounce "Right"), I could have been able to tell about how much I love my fish and might have remembered that part about being able to wiggle my ears.  Even, if in the end, after getting up on stage, I still didn't make it to the next audition round, I would have really liked to get that "Wheel of Fortune" blinky pen.

Like the Chicago Cubs, I guess, maybe I'll have to wait until next year, unless, somehow, someway, my audition slip is pulled at random for another chance at the "Wheel of Fortune" Chicago finals.  I guess, right now, I better hope I wrote my phone number or e-mail address in a legibly fashion when I was transcribing it on my audition slip using my "Souvenir," "Wheel of Fortune" computer CD as a clipboard, otherwise they might be trying to contact who knows who.  Such might be the life of a wannabe "Wheel of Fortune" contestant.

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

Posted by Rightdude at 7:18 PM | Comments (3)

October 29, 2007

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! The Bears Blow Up, Stu saw Movies, The Dude and a Wheel, and a Bachelor Meltdown.

For this podcast of "Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up!", The Dude on the Right is sort of in the dumps because he wasted a Sunday afternoon watching the Chicago Bears, didn't get picked to go on stage during the "Wheel of Fortune" auditions, and feels bad for dead men's ashes. Stu Gotz saw some old movies, namely "Smokin' Aces" and "Employee of the Month," and had a hard time getting breakfast. He is also proud of his Mexican heritage. At least The Dude has one thing still making him happy, and that is Hillary's meltdown on "The Bachelor" from last week.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:58 PM | Comments (0)

October 28, 2007

Things I Should Have Done on a Sunday.

By: The Dude on the Right
As I woke up this morning, actually remembering that Daylight Savings Time wasn't ending this weekend as it usually would have, I did sort of wish today was the day to "Fall Back," getting an extra hour of sleep, because I just couldn't drag my butt out of bed.  But I did get my butt out of bed, thinking of all of the things I wanted to accomplish but wouldn't as this would be a Sunday to hunker down on the couch as the Chicago Bears would show they could save their season.  I decided I would skip seeing any movies (who really wanted to see "Dan in Real Life" anyway, but from the box office reports, it looks like "Saw IV" was the place to be), do some quick grocery shopping, and sit back and watch the Bears kick the Detroit Lions collective butts.

Then the game came, and other than seeing a movie, here are some other things that I should have done instead of watching the Bears implode...

• Do some cleaning around the Dude-Pad.
• Go back to the "Wheel of Fortune" auditions.
• Go for a healthy walk in the crisp, fall, air.
• Contemplate getting a Nintendo Wii or PS3 so I could buy "Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock" on Tuesday, then find any cheat codes I could to make it easier.
• Buy a Slingbox for my mom so I could watch the Cleveland Browns games here in Chicago as they seem to be my only hope for football now.
• Write a DVD review of "Knocked Up."
• Write a CD review of "Magic" from Bruce Springsteen.
• Write a buttload of Movie Previews for the website.
• Keep digitizing my old photos in hopes of finding another gem like "Five Moons in The Bay."
• Work on a Christmas Party weekend.
• Take a nap.

Every one of those things would have been better than watching the Chicago Bears lose today.  All I can say now is screw Rex Grossman, screw Brian Griese, bring back Kyle Orton!

What a waste of a Sunday - at least I wrote this blog. And did laundry.

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

Posted by Rightdude at 7:13 PM | Comments (0)

October 27, 2007

One of My Favorite Photos: Five Moons in The Bay

By: The Dude on the Right
At first I considered blogging about my attempt, today, to get on the "Wheel of Fortune," but I'm not really up for some sad story-telling tonight (as you can guess my audition slip didn't get pulled from the big, gold drum, but an older lady, barely able to walk, with an accent heavier than a ton of bricks, well, her slip did get pulled, and if that makes me sound bitter, well, yea, I am), so I thought I would blog about something that every time I see it, it just brings a smile to my face.

What could do something like that?  Well, of the thousands of pictures I have taken over the years, between the concert photos, the candid photos, the sports photos, there has always been one that is in my top ten of the most memorable photos I have taken but for years it was sort of lost.  Then, a few days ago, as I have been diligently digitizing my negatives, I finally came across it, and as my scanner finally did its job I yelled, "There it is, 'Five Moons in The Bay!'"

It was over ten years ago, in 1997, on a trip to Long Beach Island, NJ, where a whole slew of my friends decided that spending a 4th of July weekend in New Jersey had more potential for fun rather than hanging out in Chicago, and it was fun.  But as my luck would have it, on a lovely New Jersey night, with the moon aligned just right, and the reflections coming off of the bay, I was able to snap a masterpiece with my trusty camera.  Was it my ultimate masterpiece?  Well, I don't know, only time will tell, and when I die, like all great artists, we will be able to see how it stacks up with the likes of the great photographers, but as photographs are sometimes supposed to make you smile, this might be my "Pièce de résistance."

Without further ado, I give you, if you scroll down a bit, ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Five Moons in The Bay

 

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

Posted by Rightdude at 6:39 PM | Comments (0)

October 26, 2007

What's New? A CD Review of "Exile on Mainstream" from Matchbox Twenty.

The Dude on the Right has one memory he tries to treasure, and that was interviewing Matchbox Twenty when they were matchbox 20, before they hit it big, and finally got a tour bus. But who in the hell gives a crap about that, what about their new CD, "Exile on Mainstream." The Dude loved the fact that most of the boys got together to write and record the new songs and gives the fan six new songs, at probably the best ratio of "new songs" to "greatest hits" songs ever on a "Greatest Hits" compilation. Now he just hopes for a tour and a chance to interview them again, some 10+ years later, and wonders if Rob Thomas ever got the boys to go to an off-ramp to record some songs.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:42 PM | Comments (0)

October 25, 2007

What's New? A Podcast of: Apple Releases a Leopard, Here Comes Halloween, and Teases from "The Bachelor."

The Dude on the Right is flying solo for this Thursday podcast, and advises anyones who listens to replace the word "Wallow" with the word "Rejoice." He admits he was confused, but he was happy to rejoice in the dismissal of Hillary on "The Bachelor," even if it is mean. He also talks about his review, or rather just discusses, the release of Apple's Mac OS X Leopard, wondering if its release might impact his iPhone. The Dude also talks about Drew Carey hosting "The Price is Right," hopes Paris Hilton's latest setback doesn't send her on the road to partying, and he's paranoid about Halloween. Okay, maybe not paranoid, but he hates being stuck with so much candy.

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

October 23, 2007

November 2007 Might Get Me Back to Concerts.

By: The Dude on the Right
Maybe it was my excitement of getting a ticket to see Garth Brooks at my local movie theater, or maybe it's just because I need to finally get out of my "not reviewing concerts" funk, or maybe I just need to get the fuck out the dude-pad and quit watching TV, or maybe I need to get back with the concert going people, but as look back with regret at all of the concerts I've missed for the year, the end of October and most of November finally might get me off of my ass to review some concerts in Chicagoland.  There are a ton of shows I would like to see, oddly most not legendary (Neil Young and John Fogerty aside), but shows I know have the potential for something great like Kid Rock at the Aragon Brawlroom, I mean Aragon Ballroom, or Sammy Hagar at the "way-to-nice-although-George Thorogood-played there too" Rialto Square Theatre in Joliet, IL.  If I can pull it off quick enough I would like to see "Augustana" at the House of Blues to close October, and as much as I love Marc Cohn, I've never seen Kelly Clarkson and always wanted to, and she's at the Chicago Theater next week.  A Saturday tosses a decision of shooting for radio dude Jonathon Brandmeier in a crazy Sundance Saloon v. Red Jumpsuit Apparatus at a not so crazy Vic Theatre, and then, if I can't get a chance to see Garth Brooks live and in the flesh early in his 9 show stint in Kansas City, I'm sure Stu Gotz would like to see Tori Amos wiggling on her piano stool at the Auditorium Theatre.

And that's only half of November.

Continuing, as much as I would like to see Gary Allan opening up for Keith Urban at the Allstate Arena, I'm thinking I'll like the Shaw/Blades (that's Tommy Shaw from Styx and other bands, and Jack Blades from Night Ranger and other bands) show at Joe's on Weed Street a hell of a lot better if I can get there early enough to get a spot at the front of the stage for photo purposes.  Then there is Vanessa Carlton at the perfect Park West, and even though she has a new album out I would like to see her play "White Houses" (even though Steve Dahl in Chicago at WCKG couldn't seem to get a line in the song right when it came out), but the Thanksgiving holiday might throw a monkey wrench into my seeing  "The Swell Season," the group of musicians from the movie "Once" whom I've come to love lately.

As October comes to a close I'm guessing I'll miss "Hall & Oates" at The Vic due to a reunion weekend, but as December hits, on the 1st, a new dilemma comes:  Shoot for Billy Joel at the Sears Center in Hoffman Estates or stake my spot at the reunion dinner.

The end of October, all of November, and the beginning of December have so many choices.  I suppose I just better get off of my ass and make some, choices that is.  And quit watching so much damn TV.

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

Posted by Rightdude at 7:27 PM | Comments (0)

October 22, 2007

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! The Dude does Movies, Stu does Jewel, The Dude Walks, and Stu MySims.

For this podcast of "Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up!", don't believe the title about Stu Gotz doing Jewel, he only went to see Jewel in concert thanks to Mama Gotz. Stu, also, didn't enjoy the lovely weekend weather in Chicagoland, instead he forgot "Sweetest Day" and walkthrough'd his MySims game. The Dude on the Right, though, got out of his mourning the loss of the Cleveland Indians and into his afternoon by talking about the Chicago Bears win. The Dude also tells Stu about some movies he saw, and dreams of being on "Wheel of Fortune." The Dude's dreams don't reach that high sometimes.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:36 PM | Comments (0)

October 20, 2007

I've Got a Ticket for Garth Brooks!

By: The Dude on the Right
I can't believe it!  After all of these years I am going to see him in concert again!  No, it's not Bruce Springsteen (he wanted almost a hundred bucks for his concert tickets), nor Rick Springfield.  No, it's not Neil Diamond, nor is it Wayne Newton (thankfully he's finally off "Dancing With the Stars.")  And no, it's not even Roger Waters.

I'm going to see the one and only Garth Brooks, in concert, at the Kerasotes ShowPlace 16, in Naperville, IL.  And StubHub be damned, it's only costing me eleven bucks (damn Fandango fee)!

Yup, there it was, Friday morning, and as I was getting ready to see "The Comebacks" I remembered tickets for Garth were going on sale that morning.  So I fired up my computer, headed to the Garth Brooks website, clicked on the link to buy tickets, and they kept sending me to the Fathom Events' site which was obviously overloaded, and it was just like trying to get home opener tickets for the Chicago Cubs - I kept getting denied any access.  Then it occurred to me, and I headed to the Fandango website, and sure enough, with minutes I had it:  My receipt that I would have a ticket to see the man, the myth, the legend, the dude who won't tour until his kids are grown - Garth Brooks.

And it only cost me eleven bucks (ten bucks for the ticket, one buck for the Fandango folks)!

Okay, sure, I'll be in Naperville, IL., during a concert that is actually taking place in Kansas City, MO., but the ten dollar cost actually got my investigative interest up, namely what will it be like to attend a "concert" at my local gigaplex?  I know they don't serve beer at my local movie theater so I'm guessing there won't be an issue of the dude behind me dumping his beer down the back of my shirt.  I know you can't smoke, but I also wonder if the smell of some wacky-weed might permeate the air at times?   Will people be using their cell phones as "lighters" during some of the reflective songs?  Will I be able to use my iPhone to take a picture of the screen?

The other thing that I really wonder is if there is a "secondary" demand for tickets to see Garth Brooks at a movie theater.  After I figured out the Fandango option, and got my single ticket, I wondered if I should have bought the maximum allowed, maybe even "invested" money across these United States, to buy as many tickets for a Garth Brooks concert at a movie theater, and then simply tried to double my money.  Could I have used Craigslist, eBay, StubHub, or any other of the many places to post tickets for sale, and then made a little more money on the handling part of the "shipping and handling" of the transaction?  But no, I was too lazy, hell, I didn't even ask any of my friends who are Garth Brooks fans if they wanted to go, so if I can get my ass out the door, on November 14th, I'm going to see Garth Brooks on my movie screen.

And now all I can really think is "Can Garth Brooks actually put on a concert to excite a group of people watching him at a movie theater?"  If he can Garth might go down as the best entertainer, ever, otherwise I'll just be kind of pissed that I didn't stay at home and watch "Bionic Woman."

Now all I've got to do is figure out how to see him live, in Kansas City, MO.

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

Posted by Rightdude at 6:57 PM | Comments (0)

What's New? A Movie Review of "Rendition."

For this movie review of "Rendition" by The Dude on the Right, he thought there was actually a really good movie buried in between too many story-lines trying to be forced together. And, oh yea, he also didn't like the "twist" at the end showing you that one of the story-lines wasn't in the same chronological order as the other things going on. The Dude also would have preferred Reese Witherspoon not being pregnant, with most of the movie concentrated on her in Washington D.C. fighting politicians, but if you go and see "Rendition" be prepared to be told how all of the pieces fit together.

Posted by Rightdude at 5:41 PM | Comments (0)

October 19, 2007

What's New? A Movie Review of "The Comebacks."

Movie reviews, like this one for "The Comebacks," always have The Dude on the Right fearing he will lose any ounce of credibility as a reviewer, and not because the review sucks, but because he liked a movie that most reviewers will think sucks. He suggests you watch the trailer for the film because it tells you exactly what to expect. The movie is rated PG-13 so Brooke Nevin keeps her clothes on, but she does have a nice cure for "the dropsies."

Posted by Rightdude at 4:22 PM | Comments (0)

October 18, 2007

What's New? A Podcast of: Ellen DeGeneres, Britney Spears, Joey Bishop, and Go Tribe!

For this podcast The Dude on the Right is flying solo and gives his take on this entire Ellen DeGeneres dog crap, is in the corner of the "Mutts and Moms" people, and thinks the problem might not be the dog, it might be the cats. He also is baffled at how Britney Spears can still be screwing things up with her custody issues and practically begs her to move out of California. With the death of Joey Bishop, well, The Dude is sad to see the last of The Rat Pack go, long live The Rat Pack.

And of course, most importantly for him, screw the "feel-good" team of the Colorado Rockies getting to The World Series, for him it's "Go Tribe!"

Posted by Rightdude at 7:33 PM | Comments (0)

October 17, 2007

Ellen DeGeneres and Her Dog? World War III? Who Cares, Drew Carey is Hosting "The Price is Right."

By: The Dude on the Right
After the events of yesterday I was going to blog about Ellen DeGeneres and her dog fiasco, but since the audio is really the key I figured I'll wait for my hopeful podcast tomorrow to fill you all in on my feelings about Ellen.  The dumb part is that I didn't tape today's episode of "Ellen" to see if she had anything new to say so I suppose I'll have to do some investigating tonight.

Other than Ellen the other news of today was that President Bush said we might have World War III if Iran developed a nuclear, or is that nucular, weapon.

But that's not important either.

What is important is that this week new episodes of "The Price is Right" returned to the airwaves, with Drew Carey now hosting instead of Bob Barker, and at this point in time I'll just say, "I guess we'd better revisit this in a month or two."

I asked for my mom's first impressions but she didn't see it yet.  I also asked her if dad watched it and what he thought of it, but she pretty much acknowledged dad doesn't like Drew Carey, and once dad has something set in his mind, Drew could come off as the greatest game show host ever and my dad would still not like him.  Mom still has yet to report back if dad even watched the new episodes.

But I TiVo'd the second episode with Drew, and all I can say is that you can tell Mr. Carey is trying to feel his way into being the host of the show, and for me, it's not working right now.  But I suppose that shouldn't be a surprise.  Hell, he is taking over for Bob Barker.

The first problem I had was that Drew Carey tries a little too hard to relate to the contestants and sometimes seems to talk too much.  He hasn't come up with that smoothness Bob Barker always seems to have with the contestants, no matter how loopy the players seem to be, but that might come in time.  The second problem I had was the camera work seemed a little choppy, and this kind of surprised me especially with the history of the show.  The third problem is Drew doesn't seem that comfortable explaining the games which should be second nature no matter what stage you are at hosting.  And the fourth problem I had was Drew's wireless microphone, with that big box on the bottom, looked stupid compared to Bob's sleek one.

Since I'm usually doing stuff during the morning and don't watch "The Price is Right" until I visit the old homestead because dad is a fan, as an un-regular watcher Drew Carey has a lot of work to do to get his familiarity with the show down, and I guess that's why I started this blog with a mention that maybe we should revisit Drew Carey's hosting of "The Price is Right" in a month or two.  There is some potential for Drew, but in my weird observation he just needs to quick trying too hard, don't try to relate to the contestants, and just kick back, relax, and let the show be "The Price is Right."  The contestants usually know the show, and you don't need to care that much about them.

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

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

October 15, 2007

What's New? A Podcast of: Who Cares About Don Imus, O.J. and Jail, Paris Hilton is a Good Girl, and Go Cleveland Indians.

For this podcast The Dude on the Right is flying solo on a Monday because he and Stu Gotz couldn't sync things to do a weekend wrap-up. In any case The Dude on the Right tells of his movie going weekend, with "We Own the Night" and "Michael Clayton" being his choices, as well as doing a CD review of "The Soft Addictions" from Cleveland's own Michael Stanley. He also talks about O.J. Simpson, Paris Hilton, and he still can't figure out why, but also Don Imus. He would have talked for hours, but he had to get back to watching his last chance for giving a damn about The World Series, The Cleveland Indians.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:14 PM | Comments (0)

October 14, 2007

What's New? A CD Review of "The Soft Addictions" from Michael Stanley.

For this CD review of "The Soft Addictions" from Michael Stanley, The Dude on the Right gets a little reflective about living in Chicago and sometimes hearing "Midwest Midnight" on "The Steve Dahl Show." Then he reviews the CD and likes the fact that Michael Stanley has grown up and has maybe gotten a little more reflective about life. If you've grown up with Mr. Stanley you'll probably like the CD, and if you don't know who he is, well, you probably aren't from Ohio or never saw the Michael Stanley Band open up for Foreigner, or Steve Dahl.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:16 PM | Comments (0)

What's New? Movie Reviews of "Michael Clayton" and "We Own the Night."

The Dude on the Right saw two movies over the weekend, "Michael Clayton" and "We Own the Night." He really liked "Michael Clayton," but understands if you think it sucks, and didn't like "We Own the Night" that much, but understands if you think it's great. His suggestion is this: For a lot of violence see "We Own the Night," for thought-provoking suspense you should see "Michael Clayton." Maybe if you could meld the two movies together you would have something for everyone!

Posted by Rightdude at 6:08 PM | Comments (0)

October 12, 2007

A "Moment of Silence" in Illinois School's Rant, and My Weekend Goals.

By: The Dude on the Right
As I head into this coming weekend I have four obvious Entertainment Ave! goals, some "behind the scenes" work for the site, but before I get to that, and I hate to sometimes get political, but here in Illinois I want to know "WHAT THE HELL IS OUR LEGISLATURE DOING WASTING THEIR TIME WITH A LAW ABOUT A "MOMENT OF SILENCE" TO BE HELD AT ALL ILLINOIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS WHEN THEY CAN'T EVEN GET A BUDGET DONE?"  Yes, that phrase is meant to be in all CAPS because if this were a podcast I would be yelling, and I don't even have kids.  The Chicago Sun-Times has a nice article about it, and reflects that "Rep. Will Davis (D-Homewood), the bill’s chief sponsor, denied he was promoting school prayer but instead said a moment of silence possibly could avert tragedies like the recent school shooting in Cleveland, where a troubled 14-year-old shot two students and two teachers before killing himself. 'Just think if that student had an opportunity maybe to sit and reflect,' Davis said."  How Utopian can you be?  My guess is Asa Coon, the 14-year-old dude who shot four people before killing himself and had a complete history of a messed up life, would have just used his time to contemplate things like "I can enter through the south doors, those guards are lazy and don't give a damn, and I could easily get to Room..."

The other thing is that according to the article "But supporters of the legislation, backed by Concerned Christian Americans and the Illinois Family Institute, said it would help young people come to terms with the everyday stresses in their lives."  How the hell does this not scream "prayer" in school, and how the f$%# does a "moment of silence" help young people come to terms with the everyday stresses in their lives?  Do you people even understand the stresses in their lives?

Look, I went to a public school from K-4, and a Catholic school from 5-12, and whether it was the Pledge of Allegiance or a prayer at the beginning of the day, or just a lull in the action of the day, there is always a moment of silence in a school day, and you don't need to make a law to make that silence.  But had I had a moment of silence at the beginning of the day I'm thinking my thoughts would be things like:

• In the younger grades: "I really hope we get chocolate-chip cookies today.  Those oatmeal cookies are yucky!"
• A little older: "Why does Gary keep pulling Mary's pony-tails?  She's always nice to me."
• In the slightly middle grades: "I thought playing strings meant learning to play guitar, not the violin.  But mom likes me playing violin, so I guess I'll stick with it"... Or... "I really wish I could remember how to spell 'ate' (This is complicated because I did spell "8" correctly, but the teacher was just looking for the word 'ate,' and no one asked for the definition)."
• A little older: "Maybe Bxxxx will be impressed if I run home really fast."
• Growing up some more: "Wow, Patty is first chair, and I'd like to be first chair, but she sure is cute.  I guess this violin isn't a bad thing."
• Somewhere around 7th grade: "We are so much cooler than those 5th graders."
• High school:  Pretty much every moment of silence would be about a girl I liked and was scared to death to let them know.... except....
• Every other day, with any kind of test, every thought would be diverted in that moment of silence to "(Insert various expletive here), I knew I should have studied more."

Good luck Illinois schools, explaining to your students why they are having a "moment of silence," but if you don't want any lawsuits you had better just let the kids think about, in those few seconds, or minutes, or hours (hey, the lawmakers didn't say how long the moment of silence should be), what any student at that age might think about.  The scary thing is that the silence might be something as simple as what kind of cookie they might be getting later in the day, but also might be about what is the best way to get into the school with a couple of guns later next week.

Because this blog has gotten too long, on a quick, lighter note my four obvious goals for Entertainment Ave! are reviewing the movies "Michael Clayton" and "We Own the Night," and reviewing new music from Matchbox Twenty (Exile on Mainstream), and Michael Stanley (The Soft Addictions).  Hell, if I really get ambitious there might also be a DVD review of The Collector's Edition of "Knocked Up."  And I didn't even get to some iPhone ranting or my planning on doing some walking.  Maybe next time.

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

Posted by Rightdude at 6:58 PM | Comments (0)

October 11, 2007

What's New? A Podcast of: Water Taxing, Weather Falling, Stars Denying, and Wayne's not Dancing.

The Dude on the Right is flying solo for this podcast and wonders if you might want to be a future guest on the show. He also wonders about Mayor Daley in Chicago wanting to tax bottled water, is sort of liking the fall weather, and wonders about the denials of Pam Anderson, Lindsay Lohan, Angelina Jolie & Jon Voight, and Bobby Brown. At least he knows Wayne Newton isn't on "Dancing With the Stars" anymore.

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

October 10, 2007

Garth Brooks Still Isn't Touring, but He Might be at Your Movie Theater (sort of).

By: The Dude on the Right
I can't believe I wasn't paying attention on this, but over the weekend Garth Brooks has so far lived up to his promise of not touring, yet did sell out nine shows in November in the musical mecca that is Kansas City, MO.  He's opening up the new Sprint Center in good ol' K.C., and had I been paying attention I almost might have tried to get a couple of tickets and make the 7 hour and 43 minute trip (according to Google Maps) to catch the show.  But, alas, I wasn't paying attention, and he pretty much has sold out all nine dates in like 5 minutes (okay, a little longer than that, but it was Hannah Montana quick).

Now none of that sounds that weird, I guess he already made a previous commitment to do a concert or nine there, but the interesting announcement was made a few days later, at the official opening of the Sprint Center, where Garth announced one of the shows would be simulcast to movie theaters across the United States.  Most likely it will be handled by Fathom Events, since this is already what they do, and they have a quick blurb on their website announcing it, but no specifics are set yet.  The thing is, other than not actually being at the live event, squinting to see Garth on stage from a million miles away where you find yourself, a lot of the times, just watching the giant video screens anyway, might it be almost just as cool to see him on your movie screen where if you take a picture with your camera phone you might just get a decent picture of Garth?  Okay, fine, I don't think so either, but if he still has that kind of demand for live concert tickets, it will be damn interesting to see the demand to see him on the big screen, and how will the ticket scalpers handle that?

And you thought getting tickets for a venue that holds 18,000+ difficult.

For a lot of you Garth fans, seeing him at your local gigaplex might be your only chance to "see" Garth Brooks, live in concert, at least until his kids are grown, unless, of course, he has so much fun in Kansas City that he decides to take his kids on what might be the most exciting "see the world" experience of their lives.  If not, well, hopefully you can still get free refills on that bucket o' popcorn when you see him on the big screen, if you can actually get a ticket.

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

Posted by Rightdude at 7:09 PM | Comments (0)

October 8, 2007

What's New? Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up Podcast! The Cubs are Gone, The Bears are Back, "Balls of Fury" is Done, and Stu is "Sim"ed.

For this podcast of "Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up!", Stu Gotz got to see the Chicago Cubs final game of the season, The Dude on the Right finished the "Stu & The Dude Reviewin' the Movies for You!" episode of "Balls of Fury." The Dude was happy the Chicago Bears beat Green Bay, neither of them had any delusions of entering The Chicago Marathon, and Stu might be getting addicted to MySims for his Nintendo Wii.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:25 PM | Comments (0)

October 7, 2007

I Can't Believe I Overslept.

By: The Dude on the Right
Well, if you are a reader of my Entertainment Ave! blog, as well as my MySpace blog, you will probably notice that this blog post is the same in both locations.  I figured since I usually keep my MySpace blog to my many exercising and eating healthy dilemmas, while the Entertainment Ave! blog is usually about everything else, and since this blog post sort of encompasses both, I would be lazy and just post it in both places.  Sorry for my laziness.

Anyway, maybe it was because I was so beaten down by the trouncing the Chicago Cubs took yesterday, or maybe it was because I shouldn't have gotten sucked into watching "Independence Day" on cable last night, but this morning I overslept and missed The Chicago Marathon.  Yup, I had every intention of going to The Chicago Marathon, but of everything to forget I actually forgot to set my alarm.  Oh well, I suppose with the heat today it might have been for the best, but not going did allow me to finally finish our animated review of the movie "Balls of Fury" for Entertainment Ave!  Sure, the movie's been out for over a month now, and sure, not many people saw it anyway, but me and my buddy Stu Gotz put forth the effort to write and record the audio, so I figured I might as well get the damn thing finished.

But it did feel good to get that off of my plate, so until the next animated review I can get back to some new music from Bruce Springsteen, Michael Stanley, and matchbox twenty to review, get my movie previews back up-to-date, and catch some concerts.  I can also get back to some more consistent exercising (I admit I missed a couple of morning workouts this last week - I could use the animating as an excuse, but that's just lame), and even shift from all cardio to some actual strength training.

The good thing with the Chicago Cubs out of the baseball playoffs is that at least now I only have one team to cheer on, namely my hometown Cleveland Indians, and if the Chicago Bears lose to Green Bay and Brett Favre tonight, my football season is pretty much complete, and I'll have plenty of time to get ready for next year's Chicago Marathon.

I was sort of looking forward to going to the marathon this morning, to cheer on the runners.  Please tell me you didn't actually think I was planning on running in the marathon?  First off I've only been exercising for a month and that has been on my exercise bike at home and walking outside.  By my calculations, even if I could make the 26.2 miles, at my walking speed it would take me around nine hours to finish the thing.  Second, I don't know if my "bowler's knee" could even survive that pounding.  And lastly, I would probably die.  But if the Chicago Cubs had won yesterday it would have been fun to cheer on some of the runners near Wrigley Field and then catch today's Cubs game in Wrigleyville, with my plan for the Cubs loss to be to head to Chinatown where it is supposedly party central to cheer the runners on, and then get a great Chinese lunch.  Oh well, at least I got "Balls of Fury" done!

After last night and this morning, I guess the appropriate phrase for both The Chicago Marathon and The Chicago Cubs is "Wait until next year!"

And that's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 6:18 PM | Comments (0)

What's New? Stu & The Dude Reviewin' the Movies for You! Balls of Fury

For this animated movie review of "Balls of Fury," both Stu Gotz and The Dude on the Right thought Maggie Q was great in the film. The rest of the movie, though, pretty much shows that it isn't that easy to make a good comedy about ping pong. The boys do play a little table tennis themselves during their reviewing, and they've both got some skills. It probably won't help either of them impress Ms. Q, however.

Posted by Rightdude at 3:26 PM | Comments (0)

October 4, 2007

What's New? A Podcast of: A Shout-Out to My Favorite Niece, Britney has a Good and Bad Day, and Go Cubs.

For this podcast The Dude on the Right gives a couple of shout-outs, but mostly ponders about Britney Spears and her highs and lows. He also gives her some advice, namely to move out of the TMZ. He also mentions that in Chicago a sport's weekend of all sport's weekends is coming up.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:46 PM | Comments (0)

October 2, 2007

Dear MLB, TBS, and Whomever Else, I didn't want to watch the Chicago Cubs anyway!

By: The Dude on the Right
Dear Major League Baseball, The Chicago Cubs, TBS, and whomever else set the TV schedule for the upcoming baseball Divisional Series,

Thank you!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
And let me write it again - Thank you!

I would like to thank you for scheduling the first two Cubs games for the Divisional Series at a time when there is pretty much no way in hell I'm going to watch, and even more importantly at this stage of my Fall TV season, I won't miss any of my old favorite, nor new favorite TV shows. Yup, you scheduled the first two games on Wednesday and Thursday nights, to start at 9PM CDT. Sure, first pitch is supposed to be at 9:07ish PM, or so someone said on the radio this morning (and out of sheer curiosity I might try to sneak and see when that first pitch actually gets thrown tomorrow night, probably during a commercial break of a new episode of "South Park"), but even in the best of chances it would be a major miracle for the games to finish by 11PM, and even a minor miracle for them to finish by Midnight. As much as I love the Cubs I don't have the late nights available for these two games unless I wanted to be a zombie at my morning meetings on Thursday and Friday, and besides, if the Cubs do win both games, the game that really matters will be at 5PM on Saturday evening, where hopefully the Cubs will clinch their series at The Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field!

Also, with those games not starting until after 9PM, I'll have no conflict with my normal slate of Wednesday nor Thursday night TV viewing and TiVoing. I'll have no worries of missing "Bionic Woman," "Survivor," "My Name is Earl" & "Smallville" (both on TiVo delay), "30 Rock," and anything else coming along those two nights.

And sure, as a transplanted North Coast resident (Lorain, OH - Represent!), I am also cheering on the Cleveland Indians, but my mom pretty much figures the New York Yankees already have that series wrapped up, so I figure why bother watching. Even so, their games are actually early enough they have the potential to be over by my TV time anyway.

So, again, baseball and TV folks, Thank you! I didn't want to watch the Chicago Cubs anyway!

Sincerely,
The Dude on the Right

And that's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:02 PM | Comments (0)

October 1, 2007

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up! "The Big Bang Theory" and More TV, The Cubs and More Sports, and eBay Dummies.

For this podcast of Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up!, The Dude on the Right and Stu Gotz get into the fall TV season, both liking the new show "The Big Bang Theory" yet wondering if most of America will get it. Stu tells of his weeping at the passing of Flower on "Meerkat Manor," and The Dude lets Stu know if he should go to the theater and see "The Kingdom." They both have more TV talk, chat a bit about the Chicago Bears and Chicago Cubs, and The Dude tells Stu about a "not so happy" birthday for a Mom.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:38 PM | Comments (0)