HAVE A GOOD ONE

1. . . . A good what? That's what people say, I guess, instead of "Have a nice day."
2. I know I'm getting old when I learned Petula Clark (Downtown, 1965) turned 70 last Friday (November 15). Jeesh.
3. CHUBBY NO MORE. Al Roker is. He's standing in a huge pair of jeans he used to wear when he was 100 pounds heavier. On the cover of People. A shadow of himself now. Did he have the same stomach staple thing that Carnie Wilson had?
4. 8 Mile is pretty good. Eminem plays it cool and knows what he's after as a rapper. The movie might be his generation's Saturday Night Fever. Kim Basinger plays his trailer trash mom and she's believable. Music's good and the soundtrack is #1.
5. Don't we think Ben Affleck's taking a risk marrying Jennifer Lopez? She's risky business.
6. CNN's Lou Dobbs pronounced slain rapper Tupac Shakur's last name, "Shaker." Well, I guess anchormen can't know everything but I'd say it was an honest mistake.
7. Is a female CEO a She-EO?
8. NBC's Summer Concert series is now available on CD. That oughta be good.
9. Anybody like Michael Jackson's beginning beard? It looks like he's growing one of those Vandyke things. But the overall effect is a dirty face. (He's being sued again.)
10. TWO GOOD POP DOCS. Jerry Seinfeld's Comedian and Standing in the Shadows of Motown. Comedian really gets into what it takes to do standup from Jerry's point of view and from a younger, newer comic climbing the ladder. Really interesting how they think out their shows and try new material on their audiences. Motown is a terrific story of the unsung house band (The Funk Brothers) that backed up all the Motown stars in the recording studio. The survivors live to tell their stories of the music they created. It's gotten great reviews and is a must-see for any Motown fan.
11. "Not your grandmother's girdle." That's what Katie Couric said on a Today show segment on some new models. One featured a thong design. Another "sucks in your stomach and lifts up your butt." In good taste, the hip new undergarments were on mannequins, not real-live models. Aw shucks.
12. It's nice to go to the gas station now that it's sniper-free.
13. Tony Bennett and k.d. lang have a CD together called A Wonderful Life. The twelve cuts feature songs inspired by Louis Armstrong. It's a grown-up, quiet-sounding, listen-type album. I wanted more of a kicker in there somewhere but it's sort of down-low as one would say in the current hip-hop vernacular.
14. Dr. Phil did a show on potty training.
15. Is Adam Sandler always hang dog?
16. Mr. Big Stuff asked this: "Can you tell me what the hell that movie Santa Clause 2 is doing out when it's not even Thanksgiving yet?"
17. SOMETHING I'LL PASS ON: Hawaiian Punch-flavored candy canes. Yikes. Do they have to flavor everything to taste like something else?
18. Is Jesse Ventura gonna wind up on MSNBC? Probably. They need something. Is Donahue over? He might be.
19. Actor Joe Pantoliano said this in an interview with washingtonpost.com on how he gets his acting roles: "I've been puckering up most of my life." His Ralph Cifaretto was just whacked on The Sopranos. He's got a book out called Who's Sorry Now telling all about his life growing up in New Jersey and it sounds much like a character right out of the show.
20. Is that Campbell's Soup-at-Hand that you drink out of a cup just flavored broth or is there other stuff in it?
21. How much did General Motors grind into the ground those commercials featuring Billy Preston's Nothing From Nothing. I swear, commercials can take a perfectly good song and use it so much you wind up hating it due to repeated and repeated use. Another example is James Brown's Sex Machine (Get On Up) to sell Pontiacs. And now Tony Bennett's Steppin' Out is hawking the GMC Envoy. I just hope the artists get their money for the use of their songs.
22. Someone asked if Madonna was Guy Ritchie's Yoko Ono. Swept Away didn't spend much time in the theaters. It's now on video. Think they feel bad?
23. TIRED EXPRESSION: "Madonna's always reinventing herself."
24. When they got married Liza Minnelli's new husband David Gest looked like he was eating her face off when he kissed her.
25. We're sick of Barbra Streisand saying she "doesn't particularly enjoy performing on stage" anymore. For crissakes, do what you're paid to do and let that be it.
26. Actor Robert Blake has a good haircut.
27. GOOD MOVIE. Far From Heaven. Julianne Moore and Dennis Quaid as hub and wife in the 1950's with the picture perfect life, at least at first glance. Something like Peyton Place. Small town scandal. Things start unraveling, a secret is exposed and affections turn elsewhere. Director Todd Haynes does an excellent job at recreating the time period and the musical score is done by Elmer Bernstein, no less. A bit claustrophic due to things being hidden under the rug but the movie, I think, does what it sets out to do.
28. . . . The guy who plays the gardener,. Dennis Haysbert, also plays the president in Fox's 24.
29. STUPID THINGS IN LIFE: Dunkin' Donuts wrapping a muffin up so tight that it's hard to unravel when you get down to eating it. It's too much to take off while you're driving in your SUV on the way to work. Do things have to be that sanitary?
30. The movie Chicago looks like it's gonna be good. Has Richard Gere, Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones in it.
31. JOHNNY ONE-NOTE. Does actor Dylan McDermott who plays Bobby Donnell on The Practice ever smile? He's too stern all the time.
32. Arthel Neville owns CNN's TalkBack Live. Despite what many say, I think she's made the show better. She's gotten a bit more serious since taking it over but not too serious and gets right down to business.
33. . . . By the way, Art Neville of the Neville Brothers is her father and Aaron (Tell It Like It Is) , Charles and Cyril are her uncles.
34. So what will the new ABC/CNN news organization be called? Some say it'll be ABCNN. That true?
35. Lonnie Donegan, the guy who sang Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor (On the Bedpost Overnight (1961) died earlier this month. He was really Britain's first pop superstar and inspired many, including the Beatles, with his skiffle music, a distinctive, lively sound based loosely on American folk music.
36. Actor Frank Gorshin looks just like George Burns in his one-man Broadway play, Say Goodnight Gracie.
37. A LITTLE BEHIND IN HIS WORK. Is the butt that's shown in George Clooney's new movie Solaris really his? They say you see it two times - once while he's dancing and another while he's in bed. He better learn to put some clothes on.
38. "The Best of Bond ... James Bond," says a TV commercial for a new CD collection of Bond movie themes. "Twenty-two tracks, shaken - not stirred. " (1-800-833-7363)
39. Kathleen Matthews had her husband Chris Matthews as sole guest on Channel 7's Capital Sunday. He plugged his new book, talked a mile a minute and called her Kathy. She said the half hour show was the most time they've had together recently to sit down and talk. Maybe they should do more TV together.
40. The Wrigley's Doublemint chewing gum pack sports a new type face. It's the first time that's changed in years.
41. Tom Brokaw, author of The Greatest Generation, has yet another new book out, A Long Way From Home: Growing Up In The American Heartland. How does he have all that time to do so many books?
42. BYE BYE BARBASOL. CVS stores are no longer carrying the shaving cream - at least I can't find it. What gives? It's my fave.
43. REALLY FUNNY PLAY: Kiki and Herb in Pardon Our Appearance at the Source theater in Washington. A down-on-their-luck cabaret act with Kiki drinking and telling their story and Herb on the piano. A mixture of comedy and pathos with an over-the-top performance that's outrageous. 70's rock and punk rock songs on the piano with Kiki socking it away in between the patter. Catch it before it leaves the city.
44. Latina body shaker/singer Shakira's on the road. Her show's called Tour of the Mongoose, whatever that means. That woman can really shake her booty.
45. UH . . . Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground) - The Jackson 5 on Epic, 1979.




rocci@roccifisch.com




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