Ithaca's Idols

Until this year, I'd never been bitten by the "American Idol" bug. Until this year, I'd never seen a single episode (though I'm a big fan of many of its alums). Until this year, I didn't really get what all the hype was about. But after much convincing from one of my editors, I finally broke down and began watching this season.

I can't say I'm all that impressed so far, however, certain tragically bad ahem ... interesting auditions have stuck out. Probably none more memorable than General Larry Platt's rendition of his original song "Pants on the Ground." Seemingly overnight, "the General" as he calls himself achieved William Hung levels of Internet meme success.

I absolutely hated this song and how popular it became after it debuted on "Idol". But the Ithacapella version is surprisingly catchy and oddly captivating. The all-male Ithaca College-based a capella group caught the attention of Ryan Seacrest Productions and will be featured on an upcoming show. And as much as I hate myself for it, I can't wait.

Check out their video (spontaneously filmed in a hotel room from what I can gather):

Permanently Hilarious

Most of my friends know and love hate me for correcting their grammar and spelling all the time. And though I'm admittedly not so great at the latter, I always use spell check -- something these people probably should have considered before getting misspelled/grammatically incorrect tattoos.

If you don't know the difference between "your" and "you're" then you probably shouldn't get it tattooed on your body. If you don't get the joke, you should probably give your grade school English teacher a call.

Thanks to my friend Lena for pointing this out to me. I haven't laughed this hard in a while.

One Tequila, Two Tequila, Three Tequila, Floor: The Obama State of the Union Edition

When Presidents used to make national speeches, the whole country would tune in to hang on every word he said because at least many of them cared deeply about what was being said. Nowadays, Americans are more concerned with what words the president utters because it's the difference between a swig of your adult beverage and not.

I did a quick GoogleNews search for "Obama State of the Union Drinking Game" and came up with around 6,300 results ... just in the last 24 hours. The only scarier fact is that there were only about 100 more on the State of the Union specifically. I realize that there is probably a bit of overlap, but within the first page that I checked, the results accurately reflected the search terms I was seeking.

It's a sad, sad commentary on our society, yet it's oddly fascinating and quite funny to glimpse through the ways the public plans to get sloshed tonight. The rules I found range from hilarious fantasies (the Huffington Post blog suggested taking a shot every time Joe Wilson yells something and an additional shot if Obama yells back) to more likely possibilities (like every time Obama says "make no mistake" or "let me be clear"). It's amazing how predictable one of the great orators of our times has become.

More serious sources are predicting the actual content of his speech will focus on the economy and unemployment, as well as the health care debate (each mention of which, by the way, will cost you another shot if you're playing along). Needless to say, it's crucial for Obama to give a knock-out speech tonight.

A VERY SERIOUS NOTE: I do not condone binge drinking.

LIVEBLOG: The Golden Globes

Roll out the red carpet, 'cause it's time once again for the starlettes of Hollywood to pat themselves on the back. The 67th Annual Golden Globes, hosted by Ricky Gervais (interesting choice), start tonight at 8 p.m. I'm not usually a fan of these shamelessly excessive awards shows, so what better way to enjoy it than to jot down some clever, sardonic quips as it happens?

I'll be live-blogging the show starting at 7 p.m. (for the Red Carpet pre-show) using Cover-It-Live (thanks to my editor, Eric Rezsnyak, for introducing me to it). Feel free to join me (below) in my inevitable snark-fest. Should be fun!



Check out my predictions from before and the actual winners here.

Golden Globe Predictions

*UPDATE* Now that the show is over, I've updated the list to include the actual winners (noted in bold).

Here are my bets for this year's Golden Globes. I'll use an asterisk (*) to denote my choice & elaborate on each.

Best Motion Picture (Drama)
*Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
Up in the Air

My Prediction: "Avatar" will probably win (it's got more buzz than an over-populated bee hive right now), but I wouldn't mind (nor surprised) if "Up in the Air" pulled out the win. No points for "Inglourious Basterds" in my book -- they spelled both words in the title wrong.

Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy)
(500) Days of Summer
The Hangover
*It's Complicated
Julie & Julia
Nine

My Prediction: I've only seen two of the five in this category -- (500) Days and Julie & Julia -- so it's hard to judge. From everything I've heard and read about Nine, it almost has no business being nominated (surprising, given Rob Marshall directed) and The Hangover was a typical frat-boyish humor movie, so it's chances are slim too. My bet would be on It's Complicated (it's got a bunch of Hollywood A-listers & has gotten pretty good reviews, despite its predictability).

Best Actor (Drama)
Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"
George Clooney, "Up in the Air"
Colin Firth, "A Single Man"
*Morgan Freeman, "Invictus"
Tobey Maguire, "Brothers"

My Prediction: This one's a toss up between Morgan Freeman, who was incredible as Nelson Mandela in "Invictus", and Tobey Maguire, who made a practically seamless transition from Spider-boy to emotionally wounded soldier.

Best Actor (Musical or Comedy)
Matt Damon, "The Informant!"
Daniel Day-Lewis, "Nine"
*Robert Downey Jr., "Sherlock Holmes"
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, "(500) Days of Summer"
Michael Stuhlbarg, "A Serious Man"

My Prediction: The only other person I could possibly see wining this category would be Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who was adorably funny in "(500) Days".

Best Actress (Drama)
*Emily Blunt, "The Young Victoria"
Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side"
Helen Miren, "The Last Station"
Carey Mulligan, "An Education"
Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious"

My Prediction: New Queen Emily Blunt will definitely beat out former Queen Helen Miren, but Sandra Bullock could be a threat (she did win the Critic's Choice Award).

Best Actress (Musical or Comedy)
Sandra Bullock, "The Proposal"
Marion Cotillard, "Nine"
Julia Roberts, "Duplicity"
Meryl Streep, "It's Complicated"
*Meryl Streep, "Julie & Julia"

My Prediction: Streep beats Streep in this category, but again, Bullock could steal the win here too (she made quite a comeback in "The Proposal" this year).

Best Supporting Actor
*Matt Damon, "Invictus"
Woody Harrelson, "The Messenger"
Christopher Plummer, "The Last Station"
Stanely Tucci, "The Lovely Bones"
Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds"

My Prediction: I didn't believe Matt Damon's British accent for a minute, but he was outstanding in that role otherwise.

Best Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz, "Nine"
Vera Farmiga, "Up in the Air"
Anna Kendrick, "Up in the Air"
*Mo'nique, "Precious"
Julianne More, "A Single Man"

My Prediction: Of the flicks in this category, I've only seen "Up in the Air", and neither Farmiga nor Kendrick gave an award-winning performance. Based on the buzz I've heard, Mo'nique has this one in the bag. You go girl!

Best Animated Feature
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
*Up

My Prediction: "Up" was not only funny, but also poignant and moving. I don't think there's a bad one in this bunch ('cept maybe Coraline), so this category could definitely be a toss-up.

Best TV Drama Series
Big Love
Dexter
House
*Mad Men
True Blood

My Prediction: After my European Mass Media professor raved about "Mad Men" for an entire semester, I finally broke down and watched a few episodes, and I have to say, I'm a fan. I've loved "House" forever (no matter how formulaic the show's plots are), but I seriously doubt it'll win again (Season 5 was a bit of a mess).

Best TV Comedy Series
30 Rock
Entourage
*Glee
Modern Family
The Office

My Prediction: Even though I wanted to hate it, "Glee" officially gets my vote in this category. I officially hate myself for loving that show. But it's fabulous.

Best Actor, TV Drama Series
Simon Baker, "The Mentalist"
Michael C. Hall, "Dexter"
*John Hamm, "Mad Men"
Hugh Laurie, "House"
Bill Paxton, "Big Love"

Hugh Laurie's always received high praise as House, but I think this could be Mad Men's year for a win.

Best Actress, TV Drama Series
Glenn Close, "Damages"
January Jones, "Mad Men"
*Julianna Margulies, "The Good Wife"
Anna Paquin, "True Blood"
Kyra Sedgwick, "The Closer"

My Prediction: I could see Kyra Sedgwick winning this award too, but she's already won in the past.