Now That "American Idol" Is Over

The finale last night was quizzical. There were a lot of things on there that didn't have to do with AI, such as that faux-1972 "audition" for Gladys Knight's Pips, featuring Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. (looking very good for an ex-junkie). But we were most impressed with the musical performances. Really liked Michael Johns and Carly Smithson teaming up, and that shot at the end of the show with Carly snuggling up to David Cook was precious. We are looking forward to seeing them in performance when the AI tour comes our way in August. But so much of it seemed to be selling something - commerce trumping art. (And Fox, like I've said, the end of the May Sweeps is way to early to be flogging your Fall crap.)

Congrats to David Cook - the "word nerd" did it!

ENOUGH ALREADY

In the last two days, I have seen ads for fall shows - and I certainly won't mention which ones - on Fox and CBS. Is it too much to ask, oh mighty TV networks, for us to have a SUMMER first?

McCracken Hangs It Up -- Again

Lest you think that the resignation from Harry McCracken from PC World Magazine is becoming an annual event, this time he means it. Last year, Harry (my very good friend of almost two decades) resigned in a dispute with upper management at the magazine, but later recanted the decision after powwwows. Now he's about to launch his own venture - we're not quite sure exactly what it's going to be but we know that Harry knows his way around HTML. We'll let you know when it launches! Good luck, Harry.

Oh Boy! Videos of Records Playing!

This guy direct-outed a couple of goodies. First, the Cold Blood version of the Donny Hathaway tune, "Valdez in The Country"...



And, Lighthouse's "One Fine Morning", played off the vinyl as it should be. Warning: Do not play any version of this song from a CD, as the remastered version is horrible. All you kiddies, this was like Canada's answer to Chicago, and it even had Howard Shore in the sax section.

7359: UGLY

Sadness of the day, more so than the Mets dropping the third game of four to the Nationals (so full of Mets castoffs it's embarrassing), was Mike Pelfrey's no-hit bid being broken up in the 7th.

Come on, dude. We need that no-hitter.