Monkberry Moon's Not Right

Still operating under the radar for a few days with buhdge. I'll be spreading the word slowly, like they do with big movies--you know, the ones with tall people.

Anybody out there like Monk? Not the fish, nor the order--the hit USA TV show starring Tony Shaloub. If you've been a fan, and notice I say "if," you've witnessed, as have I, a show that always seems to be in flux. Is it an out and out comedy? No wait, let's be a bit more serious than that and leaven the proceedings with humor. No wait, let's go back to the wacky comedy. Hey, let's give the characters some humanity. No, that's too much. Let's make them do things they would never do. That will get them watching.

It seems the people running this show simply can not make up their minds how they want the characters to act. One minute, Monk is a brilliant detective, very humane and astute; the next, he's a mindless idiot who doesn't have a clue that three-card-monte isn't a legitimate game.

And now, they've gone and upset the apple cart big time--they've gotten rid of the character of Sharona, Monk's "nurse," who acts more like his assistant, sometimes helping to solve crimes that Monk is working on. The creators have decided to go in another direction, and are casting for a thirty-something woman who, I believe, will be working in a bar. Yeah, that sounds like the right direction. Monk can hang around the bar and solve the case of the missing fifth.

Shaloub is a gifted actor, with terrific comic instincts, but he is increasingly poorly served by the scripts here. And he only has himself to blame, at least partially--he is a producer of the show.

The next batch of new episodes bows in January; hopefully, they will have worked out the kinks and bring the show back to its original glories.

Don't miss this weekend's USA Today. The Life section has a guide to the new fall shows; I'm really looking forward to J.J. "Alias, not Felicity" Abrams' Lost (40-something folks gets stranded on an island with a monster and who knows what else). I'm sort of looking forward to what will probably be the last season of NYPD Blue. I'm a longtime fan, and although it's not what it used to be--especially as it was in the Jimmy Smits days--it's still pretty solid. I'm looking forward to the sixth season of the West Wing, only out of curiousity. I'll have more on the new fall shows in a future post.

Back later.

Up, Up and Away

It figures that, if you are reading this, you're at least aware that buhdge the site has launched. You might also be aware that buhdge the site is operating a bit under the radar; come to think of it, you might not be aware of this at all. Hey, I'mbarely aware of it myself.

Well, it's up alright, and I think I finally got the bugs good and out. (This is why you go live under the radar, folks.) I'll be adding some reviews and articles in a couple of days, and then I'll be telling folks that we're up, up and running at full steam; right now, I'm busy recuperating from all of the last minute this-and-that relating to the launch. I'm also going through some great music that I'm going to review, in particular a wonderful album by Bob Burger, a New Jerseyite who some of you may know as a pal of the great Glen Burtnik, and co-writer with Glen of, among other songs, "My Crowning Achievement," from Glen's Palookaville album. Glen's new CD, Welcome to Hollywood, is also mere days or so from being reviewed on buhdge. Watch out for it.

Anyway, I'm tired and I want to go to bed, so that will be all for today. I didn't get to see any of the new NBC shows, but I'm hearing I didn't miss much. Oh well, next time, then.

Back later.

Pride and Pretzels

A few more things to monkey with tonight re: the site (I'm poking holes in the navigation, because I can, and I've got to load a sound file onto a page). Do some very last minute fixes if I need to, and tomorrow, voila! Please let me know what you think.

I'll try to catch Father of the Pride on NBC tonight...you know, the new DreamWorks cartoon "inspired" by Siegfrid and Roy. It's getting creamed in the press, but you knew that was coming. If I check it out, I'll let you know what it's all about so you'll feel good about tuning in next week, or tuning out for good.

As for that new cop show, Hawaii...I find it hard to believe that anyone thinks vomit scenes are important to any narrative. Color me tuned out.

Back later.

R.I.P. Laura Brannigan

Sorry to hear about the passing of Laura Brannigan this past weekend. Unbelievably, Brannigan just missed the number one spot on the Billboard pop chart in 1982 with "Gloria." I remember her being on every TV show imaginable promoting that song, pushing her arm up into the air, punctuating the beats. I could have sworn it was a number one. Anyway, she died of a brain aneurysm, in her sleep. She'd been taking care of her ailing mother. She complained about headaches, but didn't go to the doctor. Very, very sad.

Back later.

Time to start dropping the ball yet?

Well, two days to go until buhdge launch. I've got enough content to kick off the site; I would have liked more, but that's what big eyes at the table will get you. I'm going to write more later in the week, but, for now, I'm just going to do final testing to make sure all the links work. I may redo the navigation bar (well, navigation shape; you'll see what I mean on Wednesday).

I'm exhausted, man. This thing has been going through my brain and bouncing off the edges of my skull for a long time. I'm going to start small and build, one brick at a time. Just for fun. Remember, it's just for fun.

Back later.

Segall Down Below

Just a quick post before leaving for work. Caught Steven Segall's Fire Down Below last night, for like the 50th time, on cable's TNT network. This is the greatest movie ever, if you like really bad movies that are really good for the wrong reasons. I'm a Segall fan; his movies never cease to amaze me, particularly with Steve's deadwood delivery and stiff body movements--and ever-expanding gut, covered by his everpresent floor-length black letter jacket.

Fire Down Below has everything you could ask for, and that's not even counting Steve: The Band's Levon Helm as a preacher who's taking money from big, bad Kris Kristofferson; the great Harry Dean Stanton, slumming here as a overalls-wearing hick who dances bowlegged on his porch; Marg Helgenberger from CSI as a poor little country girl who was molested by her brother, who's in on the hazardous waste-dumping shenanigans in town; and Randy Travis, country singer, who here turns in a disastrous turn as a fake FBI agent packing heat the bureau would never allow, although Travis tells Segall's character that because they're out in the country, the bureau lets their guys do whatever they want. I haven't gotten into any of the set pieces yet, like the one where the other fake FBI agent, standing next to his car, after having crashed in it (don't ask), catches a flare that Steve throws at him (by the way, the guy is standing in a puddle of gas that leaked from the gas station pump...oh, never mind). Steve manages to shoot a bullet right at the lit part of the flare and obliterate it. What a talented guy.

Oh, this is just the greatest movie ever. And let's not forget Segall's hot gee-tar playing with Marty Stuart. Marty Stuart!!??

TNT seems to run Fire Down Below just about every week. I'll expound more on Steve in future posts. He's the male Cynthia Rothrock, and if you know who she is, you really need to get a life.

More later.

Eve of the Eve of the Eve of the Launch, or Eve My Kitten Alone

Yikes. Three days to go until the launch of my third website, buhdge (www.buhdge.com), following Pure Pop and The Golden Age of Pop. You may notice a theme there. When I began Pure Pop I was poppin' fresh; by the time I retired it and Golden Age, I was pooped out. So I went away for a couple of years, into what I self-depricatingly called semi-retirement. Actually, I'm too young for retirement, semi or otherwise, but I needed a break, so I took one.

About five months ago, I started writing a column for fufkin.com, which I call The World Is Round. The idea is that I write about a variety of issues--free speech and the first amendment have been pretty prominent topics--and somehow tie them into music, sometimes in only the most peripheral way. I am always surprised they don't cut me loose, considering I feel as though I am on the outside looking in, but they seem to like my stuff, and I like writing for them, so I continue, unabated, looking for my next soapbox on which to stand.

The writing for fufkin is the first I've done on a sustained basis for a very long time. Thanks to a variety of personal issues, I haven't really felt like coming out of my self-imposed shell. Now, though, I am making a concerted effort to look through the cracks and emerge whole. I love to write, and I need a creative outlet, so here I go, back into the fray. I've still got many of those personal issues, and I'm not guaranteeing I won't retreat a bit now and then, but I'm going to try as hard as I can to stop that from happening.

I'm not putting any big-time pressure on myself. This is just for fun. I'm not going to post new content every day, or every week, for that matter. Or maybe, just maybe, I'll post something every hour. We'll see how it goes. I've got a lot to write about. I've got a list a mile long of subjects I want to tackle, reviews I want to write. I'll chip away at that list, one chunk at a time, and see where this journey takes me. I'm going to at least try to keep this blog going with at least one post every day.

Back later.