Uncle Paul Comes To Visit

Who would have ever thought back in the sixties that Paul McCartney would become America's favorite houseguest. That foreign cousin who stops by once or twice a year and always does something to brighten your day.

Watching Saturday Night Live this past weekend it became fascinatingly clear that our comfort level with Paul, along with his constant desire to please, makes him uniquely qualified to lift our mood.

Saturday Night Live's cold open this week featured only a children's choir singing. It was heartfelt and emotional and without addressing this past week's senseless tragedy dealt with it perhaps in a way that was more meaningful than any other tributes we will see.

The episode itself was uneven with only a skit called Your a Rat Bastard Charlie Brown and the always funny What's Up With That making me chuckle. Even Seth Myers struggled to be funny on Weekend Update although another edition of " Girl you don't want to start a conversation with at a party " showed that it is a keeper.

Sir Paul started his night off by performing My Valentine. All I can say to that is Paul we love you and we are glad you are in love again but that song is nothing we need to keep hearing. Much better was his performance of his new song recorded with the boys from Nirvana. Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, and Pat Smear joined him, as they did at the 12/12 concert for Cut Me Some Slack an original tune that features a Helter Skelter like feedback laced riff in which Paul shows that he can still howl pretty well, amazingly well for a seventy year old.

The last skit of the night featured host Martin Short and a character played by Paul auditioning to perform at a village Christmas concert. Short's character is the singer and Paul's only plays the triangle. Eventually the skit gives way to Paul asking the judges if he can sing now and of course they say yes and the stage is cleared and Paul joins his band to sing his Christmas single from the days of Wings Wonderful Christmastime. About halfway in he is joined by the same choir that started the show. Paul having great fun, and the joy on these children's faces as they sang with,inevitably some guy there parents were more excited by than they were, was a tonic we could all use about now.

So yes I believe if not in Santa Claus at least in America's new favorite Uncle. Uncle Paul with his vegetarian ways, his younger wives and his eccentricities. But Sir Paul still has his heart in the right place and he wants us all to feel better. He is welcome on our side of the lake and on our television anytime.

Thanks Paul

Tom Hanks on Jimmy Fallon Last Night

Some people are funny no matter what they do. Tom Hanks appeared on Jimmy Fallon last night. Hanks has been everywhere lately. Making a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live, working the phones on Jon Stewart's autism benefit, and then last night appeared on Fallon last night.

There might not be two more likable people in entertainment than Jimmy Fallon and Tom Hanks. Tom Hanks, now Hollywood Royalty, never seems to forget that he is the same person that we first saw on Bosom Buddies, or if you dig deep as the alcoholic uncle of Alex P Keaton on Family Ties.

Last night Hanks did a slam poem about the nineties sitcom Full House and as funny as that was the real highlight was just the stories he told while visiting with Jimmy. Telling the story of Jimmy's desire to appear on the Hanks HBO Miniseries Band of Brothers, and another story of Hanks almost playing guitar for Bruce Springsteen Hanks is just naturally funny. His ability to laugh at himself, combined with Fallon's constant joy in whatever he is doing made this fantastic television.

I watch a good deal of late night television. Only a few people are must see, Tom Hanks and Bill Murray are two of them. Hanks showed us why last night.

SNL at the Top of It's Game

Saturday Night Live has now been on the air 37 years. As we watch the show from week to week one of the most frustrating facts that we realize is that this show can in one week can go from funny and relevant to having an episode that is terrible. Sometimes the skits that do not work make you think to yourself who, in their right mind, thought this would be funny.

With that being true there is another truth however and that is that SNL has a place in our popular culture that no other show has. While the late night comics consistently pick on our politicians and the news as part of their monologues and Jon Stewart has turned political spear-throwing into an art form no show is more relevant than SNL in demonstrating the humor of current events.

Saturday night's show was not perfect. One wonders why we continue to see Kenan Thompson's French singer on Weekend Update for example, but to counter that the Arianna Huffington skit was topical, funny and biting. One wonders if Democratic candidates could speak on women's issues in as strong and sharp a way as the Huffington character in this skit does if they would be further down the path to victory.

The most predictable skit in the show this week was the opening sequence which covered the debate between the Vice Presidential candidates. Certainly both of the candidates gave much material to be parodied. The skit was very well done, both sides were picked apart, notably the easy parody of Biden's physical gesturing and interruption tactics came early, but the skit did not stop there. It was not just the easy targets but more nuance was also apparent. A wonderful skit.

Still outside the political the most talked about skit, the skit that perhaps was more scathing, more bite the hand that feeds you, than anything we have seen in years was the Tech Talk skit. With Christina Applegate playing the host of a show in which folks complained about their new Apple phones the bite was when she, as host, introduced three peasant workers from China who make the phones. The contrast between the two groups forces shame on the Americans complaining and is a great critique of the American consumer.

At it's best SNL still skewers the culture better than any other entity.

Muse on Saturday Night Live

I reviewed the new album by Muse recently and commented that I thought their music was interesting, big and alive with sound and freshness. I stated that I did not see myself going backward in their catalog but that were I twenty years younger I had no doubt that this band would be on the top of my list.

I have not changed any of my opinions but I will add this caveat. After watching their performance on Saturday Night Live this week, especially their performance of their new song Madness this is a band that any music fan needs to pay attention too. This performance was a game changer for me. This band must give an incredible live performance and the frontman is mesmerizing.

Thier is hope for rock and roll even in 2012.

The 2nd Law by Muse

I have come to find out that this band has been making music for a decade or more and I have had no real conception of what kind of band they were. I saw them on Saturday Night Live last year and found them so uninteresting that I fast forwarded through their performance. Recently I think I saw Kate Hudson on a talk show and she evidently is married and has had a baby with their front man.

So, with a slow week in record releases recently I decided to listen to their new album. I was quite pleasantly surprised. First it must be pointed out that I will not be going back to listen to the old catalog as I do in some cases, and most likely I will not be firing up Muse in any playlist of mine.

That said this album is strong and I do understand the appeal they have. As I listened three or four times to the album I hear influences that are far ranging. One cannot listen to any British band with a sound like theirs and not think of the glory days of Freddie Mercury and Queen but easily heard also on some notes is a bit of Bono. More easily discernible, at least to me, are traces of the pageantry of Use Your Illusion era Guns and Roses, and frequently Michael Hutchence comes to mind. So clearly the boys in Muse have many influences.

The album is strong and the interesting thing for me is that I have no idea what songs are the singles on this album. The band will be making another visit to SNL this weekend and it will be interesting to compare my reviews to the songs that htey play.


Standout tracks on this album are Madness and Panic Station with the latter dropping a few F Bombs and bearing witness to the tones of Hutchence. Operatic and bigger than life with a chanting backdrop, and a scream that compares with the singer from the Darkness the song Survival rocks. It is as big a sound as you will find in today's music. I am going to tell my son about it, a move I will probably regret when he starts playing it with his super speakers upstairs nightly. Still I feel compelled to share it with him.

A bit more accessible, still with a bit of an operatic voice, Follow Me is another winner that would best be played loud and sang strong. The other standout track for me is a song called Explorers that roars from a slow start, with piano backdrop into a fully orchestrated song in which the incredible tones and strength of the singer's voice is on display.

At the end of the album is a rather indulgent two song set both of which are called The Second Law that one will have to be a big fan to embrace but that said this album is strong enough that the band deserves to be a little excessive with their experiments.

This is a very strong album and for those of us concerned with the prevalence of bubblegum pop, boy bands, and rap music this is a hopeful sign that their are good modern bands that could easily have succeeded twenty or thirty years ago. I will not have this album on my rotation but were I in my teens and early twenties again this album by Muse would be at the top of my playlist.

Saturday Night Live Season Premiere

Saturday Night Live returned this past weekend for it's season opener with Seth MacFarlane as host. MacFarlane, best known behind the camera for his show Family Guy and this summer's hit Movie Ted, showed that he is certainly more than just a voice actor.

From an opening monologue where he went from impression to impression while singing, actually singing, to an impression of Ryan Lochte on Weekend Update, MacFarlane showed he is very talented.

The funniest skit was called " Introduction to Puppetry" with MacFarlane spot on as the energetic, over sincere teacher and Bill Hader as a dark Vietnam Vet who creates doppleganger puppet withthe same memories as him. When the camera shifts to the puppet and he is smoking you realize the skit is a pure homerun.

Jay Pharoah began his run as President Obama and in a classy move Fred Aremison introduced him as part of the handoff. Pharoah is a great impressionist but Aremison had geown into the job and had rhe nuances and verbal ticks down pat. There is no reason to think Pharoah will not be succesfull as well.

Frank Ocean played twice and showed why he is such a dynamic performer. On his second song, Pyramimds, John Mayer played guitar for him and in a move that has been talked about everywhere, during Mayer's solo, went to the sode of the stage and played one of the video games that lined the set. I do not know if it was planned or spontaneous but it was clever and certainly memorable.

All in all a good start for the season.

Mick Jagger on Saturday Night Live

Mick Jagger did double duty last weekend on Saturday Night Live as both the host and musical guest. Say this for Jagger he is a good sport. He was funny in his skits, most of the characters he played were a bit over the top so it was not a great challenge to a septuagenarian who dances around state in front of tens of thousands of people.

Saturday Night Live has been uneven this year, perhaps it has been many of the last few years, this last episode was one of the stronger ones this year. The skit that has people talking was the sentimental sweet last skit that had Jagger playing a speaker at a Graduation. The Graduation of course of Kristen Whig, the SNL actress who has been the anchor of the show for the last few years. Whig who is leaving the show was seriously affected by the skit as each of her costar came up to high and kiss her or dance with her. She choked up and the show ended on a high note with Jagger at the end of the skit leading the cast in a singalong of Goodbye Ruby Tuesday. This was very sweet.

Of course with Mick Jagger the highlight has to be music and in this he delievered. Rumors had bubbled all week that Jagger might be joined by his band mates and we might actually see The Rolling Stones. This was not to be and to be honest, this was a good thing. Why? Jagger performed magnificently with backing from two of the biggest bands in rock today.

In his first performance Jagger sang the the ancient " The Last Time" backed by Canadian Alternative Rock Supergroup Arcade Fire. Win Butler, his brother, and the rest of the band might well be the biggest thing in music that you have never heard about. Each time I see them perform live I become more enamored of them and resolve to listen to The Suburbs five more times to grow and appreciation for it beyond what I already have. Arcade Fire is fast becoming like Dave Matthews and Phish, a band that can best be appreciated live and backing Mick Jagger was a thrill for them but also seemed to energize Jagger.

Late in the show Jagger was joined by the Foo Fighters for a medley of 19th Nervous Breakdown and It's Only Rock and Roll that shook the building. It is interesting that in the twenty years since Kurt Cobain's death that Dave Grohl has become the go to guy in rock and roll. If there is a rock and roll event that needs someone who has the respect and respects the forefathers of rock and roll you will most likely find Grohl. Playing at a furious, sped up clip on 19th Nervous Breakdown my daughter said " Wow the band is so loud you almost cannot hear the singer." The Foo's certainly did not slow the pace for the old man Jagger.

On top of all the Mick can never be a good boy, his Presidential themed song about Governor Romney gained some controversy and caused some local stations to cut away. I am sure that made Mick happy, he can never be too conventional.

Perhaps Mick has another career ahead of him. One thing is for sure, he has more energy than any of the hosts we have seen earlier this year.

If you missed this the first time around be sure to catch it in reruns later this summer.

Game of Thrones Season Two

We currently have the last two episodes of Game of Thrones on our Tivo. This is not a good sign for the show. I must admit that I have found Season Two thus far to be a bit of a slog. The problem for me is that it is just about impossible to follow.

I like to think of myself as pretty intelligent, able to follow detailed plots and nuances and such. This show now as it has moved to it's seven kings for one throne phase needs to do something to make it more understandable. With brothers of kings, and bastards of kings, fathers, brothers, sisters and wives it is not easy to follow.

At this point I probably if I sat down with a piece of paper could tell you who the seven or more parties are vying for the crown. During the show however I often cannot tell who is who amongst the lesser combatants, it is just too much.

We will watch the episodes we have on tape and hopefully things will become more clear. I very much enjoyed the show last season and know how good this can be. Killing Lord Stark at the end of Season One was risky, it is not easy to give definition to a show when the main character that viewers identify with is suddenly gone.

Another controversy is the sex which is everywhere and often times gratuitous. Saturday Night Live had an excellent parody of this in a skit which told that the producers used a thirteen year old adviser to tell them when to insert sex scenes. At this point it is probably over the top, and certainly does little to advance the plot in most cases.

The show is strong, beautifully shot, and has some great story lines. Dragons are very exciting. It does however have challenges that are unique which will have to be solved if it is going to retain viewers beyond it's extreme fan-boy base.

Bridesmaids

This movie with a stellar cast was a big hit last winter. Written by and starring Kristen Whig the movie centers on Annie. Annie is single. She recently saw her small business called Cake Lady go out of business.

In the movie Annie is asked to be the maid of honor for her best friend Lillian. Lillian, played by Maya Rudolph also has as bridesmaids Helen, the wealthy wife of her fiance's boss played by Rose Byrne. Another is Megan, played by the hilarious Megan McCarthy.

The movie is loud and lewd. For a movie about bridesmaids there is much bodily function humor. Whig and her brand of physical comedy from SNL translates well to the big screen and it seems likely that she will have a good run of success on the big screen.

We laughed out loud. This movie works on all levels. McCarthy is also one to watch. A great Saturday night movie.

Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live is one of those shows that is violently hit or miss. At times we watch and wonder whonactually thought a skit was even remotely funny. Then other skits are very funny, and at times even laugh out loud funny. This is rare but it does happen. This last weeks episode was a little better than average.

Melissa McCarthy the sceme stealer from Bridesmaids and the new Emmy winner for Mike and Molly is a funny woman and her skits were funny. They were not intelligent skits, more they were squim skits that are funny but make ounfeel a little squirmy. In this case McCartgy played often to type as th e big girl....but she is a very funny lady.

Tivo was invented for a show like this. Weekend Update is still worth watching each week. All in all it is no longer must see tv, though when Zach Galifinakas is on it is, but it is still surely must tivo tv.