Eargasms

Rumors are starting to run rampant over the Internet that Madonna may be the "surprise guest act" recently announced for Superbowl XXXVIII. Of course, how many times have you been at a club where it's been rumored Madonna is performing? Reports have her spotted at an uptown Houston Starbucks earlier this week. Celebrities do jet in for the big game, but nearly a week beforehand? Sounds like something might be up. Let's hope for a profusion of love at halftime.

I'm really excited that my friend Jason Sellard's (aka Jake Shears) retro-electro act Scissor Sisters is taking off like wildfire. Getting featured on the BBC's Radio 1 is a big, big deal. DJ Pete Tong has been spinning them on Essential Selection for months now. Their sound is really original, a groovy version of the Bee Gees on speed. I wish them the best of luck. Their first single, a cover of Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb", will knock your socks off.

Let Me Service You

Is this a real ad for Travelocity? It should be.

And Eat It Too

The best thing about the cabanas at the Abbey in West Hollywood is that you can usually find good-looking boys eating Banana Split cheesecake in them.

Colin Farrell gets worked up about the gay sex scenes in Alexander the Great.

Cleveland Indians pitcher apologizes for appearing in gay porn video. Through an interpreter, Kazuhito Tadano tells the Associated Press, 'I'm not gay. I'd like to clear that fact up right now.' Hmm, I guess that means he's "Str8". Hard to say, but this is supposedly the video. I don't know, there's a sneer in there that looks mighty similar to the one on Tadano's baseball card.

WiFi changes the world. We can now email rural Cambodia!

Sample George Michael's new single "Amazing", or pay and download the whole thing.

For digital photo enthusiasts, Nikon unveils its $999 answer to Canon's EOS Digital Rebel.

To go with your minimalist fireplace, here's The Drift Table.

Spit and Image

"Spitting image, yet another term for "lookalike", was originally spit and image. Spit meant "likeness", so the term uses redundancy to bring home its meaning. It is first recorded in the late 19th century as spit and image, and by 1925 it had taken the current form. The Oxford Dictionary of English Proverbs, however, notes the saying "as like one as if he had been spit out of his mouth" as having been recorded in 1400, so the notion behind spit and image was already alive in the late Middle Ages. An apparently spurious etymology of spitting image has the term coming from spirit and image, and another from splitting image." — from Take Our Word For It.

With the help of our G:LAB event the other night and a couple big Red Bull and vodkas, I was able to add seven new images to the Spitting Image gallery. Thanks to those who participated, though it wasn't too hard to find volunteers. Never question the vanity of bloggers.

Academy Award Nominations

Well the nominations are out and all over town the overlooked are gnashing their teeth with jealousy and rage. The holiday season has just ended and here in Los Angeles it's begun again. Of course, this holiday season is far holier and even more materialistic to Angelenos than the one that takes place in December.

It always reminds me that I have yet to see so many films. Some thoughts:

Of the "Best Picture" nominees I've seen Lost in Translation and Master and Commander. I loved liked Lost in Translation even though the movie theater I saw it in was nearly 100 degrees because the air conditioning was broken. One too many languorous shots of Scarlett Johanssen looking out her hotel window. The perspective on the otherness of Eastern culture was dead on.

Master and Commander: I never thought I'd like a period ship movie so much. Swarthy, fresh-faced young men and their shipboard relationships: excellent. The pacing was balanced and exciting. Did anybody notice the inclusion of Russell Crowe's two second flirtation with the Brazilian beauty when the ship went in to get supplies? Just so people wouldn't get the wrong idea about his relationship with his naturalist shipmate?

Bill Murray was pure brilliance in Lost in Translation and although I haven't seen any other of the Best Actor performances I have a hard time believing the Academy wouldn't reward Murray with a trophy after his long career.

Best Actress physical transformations: Charlize Theron is the Nicole Kidman of 2003. Naomi Watts won't win, but this nomination and her performance in 21 Grams will catapult her to the upper ranks of wanted actresses. She was amazing in David Lynch's Mulholland Drive and she is finally getting the respect she's entitled to! 21 Grams was perhaps the bleakest film I've ever seen in my life. Benicio del Toro was incredible as well.

I'm really glad to see smaller films like thirteen, 21 Grams, Pieces of April, and Whale Rider getting nominations. It puts some faith in the Academy's process. It's interesting to see that the addition of the "Animated Feature Film" category has kept big-grossing quality films like Finding Nemo out of the "Best Picture" category, which I think was their intent when they added the category. Keeps everybody happy, but the animated category feels like an afterthought at best. Well-reviewed films like The Triplets of Belleville seems like they don't have a chance up against box office leviathans like Nemo.

Am I completely out of it or is the "Original Song" category really wanting this year?

American Splendor was a film that seemed fairly average at the time that I saw it, but has stuck with me throughout the year. I think Hope Davis' performance in that movie was really, really sharp. It's a quirky, oddly moving film with an incredibly original narrative style.

I'm a bit upset that Gus van Sant's Elephant, which won the top prize at Cannes, was completely overlooked. I thought it was one of the most original films of the year.