She Bust The Windows Out Your Car

A great new clip from FOX's new high school show "GLEE" has been posted online...along with news that the series will start up again on September 9, a week earlier than originally planned. FOX aired the pilot for this unique musical comedy after the "American Idol" finale in May leaving fans hanging for four months for the next episode. A lucky few saw episode 2 at Outfest in LA and there were raves--GregInHollywood has some details and great pix.

Anyway, if you haven't seen GLEE, it's on HULU and it's amazing. One of the best pilot episodes for a series I've seen in years. But then again, as a gay man who writes teen novels/movies, I just might be their target audience. ;)

GeekOut! It's The New Tron 2 Trailer

Alright...I know I posted about this before, but Disney released a new HD trailer at ComicCon '09 last week and it is badass. The only thing about it that sucks is that we have to wait til next year to see it. Originally, the release date was 2011 but I guess having seen the rabid fan boy response to that first trailer, someone at the Mouse House got wise and moved it up.

Though I often complain about today's action movies resembling computer games (see ridiculous jungle chase in "Indiana Jones 4" or any scene from "Fast Furious 4"), Tron Legacy would be the exception to this rule because, uh, it is a video game. Except now with deadly consequences!

The Lady Is A Champ

On Saturday night, I went to Joe's Pub to see the amazing Lady Rizo in her first solo show. It was fantastic! She has been described as everything from a modern Mae West to a male Justin Bond to a naughty Barbra Streisand. But the bottom line is that this Lady is one of the most dynamic and original and hysterically funny performers I have seen on the downtown circuit in quite a few years. And she easily held the stage on her own, like she's been doing it for years. As it turns out, she has...sorta.

She has performed at Joe's, the Highline Ballroom and other venues around town along with the Burlesque honeys "The Assettes". She's also an accomplished recording artist, having worked with Moby and Yo-Yo Ma. But seeing her live is the thing. Her 90 minute show had a little bit of everything, from her unique covers of pop songs (Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" as a polka? YES) to her heartbreaking singing on ballads like "Lilac Wine". There was even a rousing Edith Piaf number which practically turned into an audience sing-a-long.

She also had a sassy, spontaneous rapport with the audience between numbers that was often hiliarious. She even asked a couple people in the crowd to come onstage and help her with her costume changes, of which there were a few. This is a woman who wears gowns like nobody's business yet, by the end of the show, had showered her torso in glitter while wearing a sheer wrap. Now that's range!

At one point, Lady Rizo lamented that not enough people were writing about her. So I'm going to start a trend here with my second Hi-Fi post about her, after previously mentioning her standout appearance in Your Hit Parade at Joe's Pub back in April. If you want to check out this uniquely talented chanteuse, she's at Joe's Pub solo again this Friday July 31st. And back again with her Assettes on August 22nd and 23rd. You will be entertained....I guarantee it.

Star Trek Meets "The A-Team"

There have been many versions of this genre of mash-up on You Tube, where someone takes an ensemble drama and mixes it into the opening sequence of "The A-Team". The "Star Trek" one is my favorite. Of course, I'm a big Trekker so that has something to do with it. But they've done the best job matching the original opening shot by shot...and there is one section where I consistently LOL, the freeze frame moment above where Spock jams. Check it out...and have a fun weekend!

Obama Born In The USA....Still

Believe it or not, there are still people in this country who think President Obama is not a US citizen. A disturbing YouTube video was featured last night on the NBC Nightly News, showing a "birther" at a recent town hall meeting in Delaware getting all bent out of shape because she wants "my country" back.

Fortunately, Brian Williams followed this with a thoughtful discussion including Washington correspondent Pete Williams about how most reasonable Republicans (even somewhat unresonable Michael Medved!) don't believe this is true. They also recalled how this issue has dogged Presidents and candidates from John McCain (born in the Panama Canal zone) to Barry Goldwater (born in Arizona when it was a territory) to President Chester Arthur (born in northern Vermont but maybe the woods of Canada). They then aired a piece thoroughly debunking the notion that Obama is not an American, producing not only the mystical Obama birth certificate but also a birth notice in the Honolulu daily paper published a week after he was born.

I find it curious this non-story, a regularly recurring one throughout the 2008 campaign, is even in the news again...especially in the first segment of the evening news. But then I realized that this week, the President is trying to push through a massive reform of the nation's health system. As happened throughout the campaign, the re-emergence of this issue is yet another distraction from the real issue at hand; the health care crisis in this country. After 20 years of political distractions from Vince Foster to Monica Lewinsky to Swift Boats to Sarah Palin, it's time for our government to take care of business...namely the business of the nation's health. And that's what this American President is trying to do.

That Bearded Guy On "Mad Men" Is Kinda Cute

I never particularly noticed actor Michael Gladis as one of the ad boys on AMC's brilliant, Emmy award winnning series "Mad Men". But as I work my way through Season 2 via DVD, I find myself intrigued and somewhat drawn towards his character, the debonair, nattily dressed junior adman "Paul Kinsey". Maybe it's just the new beard, which gives him a sort of early Orson Welles quality. Or maybe it's the way his character is so 60's-style suave, drinking brandy at a party or puffing on a pipe in the office. He's also the one guy on the show who seems to have aspirations outside of advertising, as he pecks away on his Great American Novel using an IBM Selectric (stolen from the office even!). Finally, he's causing a stir at Sterling/Cooper with his new relationship with a black woman. So Paul seems to be the new, subversive bad boy of the bunch. And he's kinda cute too.

Big Changes For Bleecker Street Station

The Bleecker Street station on the 6 line has been one of my regular "home-stations" for nearly 20 years. Oddly enough, though many other subway stations in my neighborhood have been restored, rebuilt or renovated, Bleecker remains the same cramped, dank, crappy station since I moved here. In fact, the last major upgrade the station received was in the 1940's when the platforms were lengthened to accommodate longer trains.

This summer, the MTA has finally begun a renovation that has long been in the works. The plan is to connect the uptown 6 with the Broadway-Lafayette station with escalators and a new entrance. Some architectural renderings were recently released and posted about on Second Avenue Sagas, my favorite subway blog. It's going to be long time before the project's done, not til 2011. But it looks like the fancy new, multilevel station with cool neon artwork will be well worth the wait.

From The Earth To The Moon Via Bethpage

In case you've missed out on the nostalgia-fest, today is the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. The airwaves and the Internets are filled with the famous clips, the iconic sound bites and the now elderly astronauts reminiscing about their heyday. I didn't think there was too much to add to this hubub until I read an article in today's TIMES about how NASA built all the lunar modules on Long Island, at a Grumman plant in Bethpage.

In fact, LI has a long history of being at the forefront of aerospace research and design, going back to Lindy's trans-Atlantic flight that left from Roosevelt Field (now Roosevelt Mall) back in 1927. Today, Long Island is known more for it's traffic jams and the Hamptons than for anything actually being built there. But it's interesting to note the major role it played in today's historic anniversary.

Cupcake of the Week: World's Largest

At the Mall of America (of course!), the world's largest cupcake was unveiled Saturday. Can you say slow news-weekend? Frankly, as much as I love cupcakes, I think there is something ridiculous and oxymoronic about it. The point of a cupcake is that it's a small, handheld cake. I mean, would someone ever try to create the world's largest minivan? Anyway, here's the deets from Fox News.

Shirtless Dudes From Cali Hit Soho....TOTALLY

I was walking home from the subway yesterday when I spotted two shirtless dudes wearing boardshorts and sunscreen on their noses, standing at the corner of Broadway & Houston. Apparently, they are the permanent doormen at the new Hollister store in Soho which just opened yesterday. Curious to see what that was all about, I stepped into the "Hollister Pier" which is a four story quasi-recreation of the Huntington Beach pier with supposedly live feeds of the real beach playing on Hi-Def windows.

Other than those windows, the space was incredibly dark and felt more like one of those "Dark Rides" at the boardwalk except, instead of a skeleton popping out from every corner, there were shirtless guys all saying the exact same thing; "Hey Man--what's up?" Scar-reeee! I wandered around and, no joke, was greeted 12 times in the roughly 10 minutes I was in the store. Oddly enough, I didn't see one cash register in the joint which I thought was odd given it is, like, a store and all. But there were piles of t-shirts with faux retro prints and board shorts that were nearly evening-gown length. I guess if you actually wanted to buy something one of the buff dudes would help you out, fer sure!

Anyway, the place is worth checking out for it's curiosity as a retail theme park. It also serves as a lovely respite from the July heat...they had the best air conditioning! Totally.