RECOUNT

For several years after I was critically ill in late 2004 - 2005, I would get sick to my stomach when I was driving down Buena Vista Street in Burbank. The reason was that St Joseph's Hospital is on that street, and the time I spent there was very traumatic.

I may be over most of those demons, but to this day, I still get that same sick feeling when I think about the events in late 2000 surrounding the election. Eight years later, I remember the pendulum of my emotions as they called Florida for Gore, then Bush, then no one... Gore gave up, then he didn't, then it went to court after court.

For that reason, I did not want to see RECOUNT, even though it had a great cast, good reviews, and was directed by one of the nicest guys I knew at film school, Jay Roach. Tonight I finally screwed up my courage and watched it.

It was very, very painful to watch.

But thank you, Jay for making it. The film is very good, and a very good thriller, even though we all know the outcome. But it is an important reminder of the events that shaped our country for the last 8 years.

There is also another tie-in between my illness and the election. If you've read my account of being sick, you'll know that I got sick just after the incredible depression of the 2004 election. And I don't think that's any coincidence. I had never in my wildest dreams imagined that this country could be stupid enough to re-elect a moron who lied to get us into an unnecessary war. But, as George Carlin says, "Imagine how stupid the average American is; then realize that, by definition, 50% of the country is even dumber than that."

There is a weird irony, though. No one could possibly have done more damage to the Republican Party than George himself has done in the last 8 years. At the same time, no one could have done more to help stop global warming than Al Gore, which he almost certainly could not have done if he had been elected.

Mysterious ways.

AMERICAN IDOL FINALE

I was at the Dodger game, so I was lucky; I watched the last 3 minutes of A.I.

The people ruled, and chose correctly. David Cook won in a landslide. The judges backpedaled, apparently suspecting that they were wrong last night. The only thing I missed by watching only the last 3 minutes was an explanation for why Randy was wearing Captain Kangaroo's jacket.

AMERICAN IDOL FINALS

The judges really, really want Baby Boy Archuleta to win. So much so that their accolades will almost certainly backfire and Cookie will win.

Archuleta was terrible all night long. His one strength was that he picked better songs. Elton John, John Lennon, and the hit-the-nail-on-the-head inspirational song were all better choices than Cook's. Archie did butcher Lennon's masterpiece, plus he had already sung it earlier in the season!

Cook had some weak moments in each song, but is much more talented. I think the judges are wrong to want Archie; obviously they thin he is more marketable. They might want to look at the sales figures on Jordin Sparks' album (last year's winner) versus Daughtry's. Cook will have a full career. Archie is a flash in the pan, and when he stops being "cute," all appeal is lost for him.

DialIdol predicts Cook by a significant margin. That doesn't include text messaging, which is a significant portion of the younger David's audience, so it will be hard to tell until tomorrow night.

AMERICAN IDOL 3 RESULTS

As expected, the black girl gets sent home, and the two white bread boys move on. It's too bad. I do hope Archuleta loses, it's like Barry Manilow and Liberace had a bastard step-child.

JOHN ADAMS

I've only watched 2 episodes of the HBO series so far, but it's outstanding. An excellent cast shows what it must have been like to live in the important age of the American Revolution. The series has excellent sound and music. So far the only criticism I have is the overuse of Dutch angles, which is very distracting.

Sex: The Revolution

Sex: The Revolution is a new documentary series on VH1. I expected it to be a little too much like INDIE SEX, which was pretty good. It covers some of the same territory, but instead of being about sex in media, it's about the sexual revolution. The first episode covers the 50s, with an emphasis on Kinsey and Hefner, and is definitely interesting viewing. So far I recommend it.

AMERICAN IDOL 3

Boy, oh boy, do the judges want Syesha out of the competition. The only problem with this is that it leaves David Archuleta in, who has a shelf likfe of about a year left before his white-bred performance goes stale.

It's hard to imagine that David Cook will not win.

AMERICAN IDOL 4 RESULTS

Jason Castro's singing may be half-baked, but he was totally baked on tonight's show, especially during his sing-off. At least the right person is going home.

Next week will be interesting. I think Syesha actually has a chance to knock Archuleta off.

AMERICAN IDOL 4

Not much to say here, except that it will be nice to see Castro finally go home. He should have left about 4 weeks ago. He was quoted in this week's Entertainment Weekly as saying he had pretty much given up and was ready to go. Forgetting the lyrics to a Bob Dylan song he had said was one of his favorites pretty much nailed the lid shut on his coffin.

David Cook continues to impress and may very well be their most successful find in the history of the show. Archuleta continues to un-impress, but the screaming teens may keep him on for the final two. Honestly, I don't think he belongs in the finals based on his vocals, Syesha is a much better entertainer, but as a black woman competing against a cute white bread boy, she may not have a chance.

Film Music Article

I'm quoted several times in this Arizona Republic article about film music. It's pretty introductory for anyone who knows anything about film music.

AMERICAN IDOL 5 Results

No surprise that Brooke finally goes home. I wish Castro were next, followed by Archulta, but I suspect that Syesha will be next.

AMERICAN IDOL 5

Perhaps the most interesting thing on the show tonight was Paula, who thought she heard Jason Castro sing two songs when he had only sung one, and who called Syesha "Brooke." (I'll cut some slack on the first mistake, they do a run-through before the airing, which the judges listen to, and she was probably remembering that.)

As for the contestants:

Jason Castro was terrible. I'd expect him to be in the bottom two except his history has been great due to teen chicks. It's nice to see that DialIdol has him listed last for one. However, one can never underestimate the text messaging of obsessive teens.

David Cook was great on his first song,and fooled the judges on the 2nd song; he's still the man to beat.

I like Brooke, but she was also very weak. She is always nervous, and she picked too low of a key for the Monkees song. I would expect her to be in the bottom 2.

David Archuleta continues his progression towards king of the Disney Cruise line. He gets worse each week, but he'll be fine, again thanks to teeny-boppers.

Syesha was great on the 1st song, good on the 2nd, and in theory should not have to worry, except that she's the only black person left, and a woman, which would normally put her near the bottom. DialIdol has her at first, but again, the text votes should drop her down.

AMERICAN IDOL 6 RESULTS

Juan Castro should have gone home, but he wasn't even in the bottom two, thanks to his hair and 13 year-old girls.

Carly's days were numbered anyway, she would have been gone in another week or two anyway. So it's not a huge loss.

AMERICAN IDOL 6

Andrew Lloyd Webber week... another reason NOT to watch A.I., but I'm stuck with it.

David Cook was a little weaker than the judges said, but he'll be fine.

Syesha was not as good as the judges made her seem, but she was still one of the best of the night.

Jason Castro was so awful he should be the one going home, but I think he's safe.

Brooke was nowhere near as bad as the judges made her seem for her false start.

Carly was not perfect but gave an excellent performance. Webber saved her ass by making her change songs.

David Archuleta was as vanilla as usual, but he's safe.

Castro should go, but it may be Brooke because of her false start and weak critique from the judges.

MR. WARMTH: DON RICKLES

Last week we were invited to an Emmy event where Don Rickles was interviewed at length by Jimmy Kimmel. Also present was director John Landis, who showed clips from the documentary he made for HBO about Rickles.

Rickles is amazing. He's 82 years old and sharp as a tack. He's constantly "on," and always entertaining. He's very old school, but so politically incorrect that he's still cutting-edge. Virtually every major living comedian is interviewed in the doc and worships him. And with good reason, he's very, very funny. The doc is definitely worth seeing, but even more interesting is seeing him perform in person.

Sampling Rates

I've frequently mentioned in classes the lack of double-blind testing on sampling rates, which has led many people to assume "the higher the number, the better it must sound."

Paul Lehrman has written an excellent article on sampling rates, including the results of the first extensive study I've seen. It can be read at Mix Magazine's web site.

AMERICAN IDOL 7 RESULTS

VoteForTheWorst.com has once again proved its irrelevance; Kristy Lee Cook finally went home. It was her time weeks ago, and I'm glad to see it.

AMERICAN IDOL 7

Kristy Lee Cook should have been eliminated weeks ago; her singing is weak and, frankly, annoying.

Carly Smithson gave a very weak performance. She embellished a melody that didn't need it, and did so by forcing her register. She was flat and grating throughout. She could be in trouble.

David Archuleta continues his drive to be America's best Disney Cruise singer.

Brook White gave her weakest performance yet; she should have used the band to back her on the bridge, and was extremely nervous and shaky. However, I think she will survive.

Jason Castro was good, but the congas did not belong in the song.

Syesha Mercado gave an absolutely amazing performance, one of the best this season.

David Cook is the man to beat.

NAB

Not really a lot new at NAB that I had not seen already. The new Digidesign Icon looks really hip. they've integrated three PT systems into one controller surface, so you can control any system from any part of the surface. The controller is expensive, $100k for just the controller and not including the PT HD hardware, but it's definitely a huge step forward in controller surfaces.

AMERICAN IDOL 8 RESULTS

Quite a shocker this week that one of the better singers, Michael Johns, was voted off. The worst singer by far, Kristy Lee Cook, was not even among the bottom three. Unfortunately, Michael, at age 29, is an old man compared to the obsessive adolescent voters who are text messaging in their votes, so it really shouldn't be that big of a surprise.