In keeping with the Bill O’Reilly mash mixup that Southern Beale featured earlier, it seems that all the money I’ve been spending supporting educationo by buying lottery tickets is finally paying off. Go watch this video at Coed Magazine.

Wannabe country music star Jessica Simpson may be making a big move - from L.A. to Nashville.  Casa Sugar is reporting that she may have purchased a 10,925-square-foot, 7-bedroom, 8-bath home in Nashville, TN, known as “The Queen of Northumberland” for $3.47 million.

I found it online and it’s a really pretty house. The inside is gorgeous:

And now, Daisy Duke:

The nominations for the Academy of Country Music Awards were announced this morning by Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley. The lovely and talented Steph In The City has a great slide show of the ceremony, as well as the low-down on the top artists this year.

Commentary: No, I still do not understand why Kenny Chesney gets all of the critical and fan acclaim that he does. Nope…I don’t get it nor will I ever, I’m afraid.

Country Standard Time has a complete list, and here are a few of the top categories:

Entertainer of the Year:
Kenny Chesney
Rascal Flatts
George Strait
Keith Urban
Brad Paisley

Male Artist:
Kenny Chesney
George Strait
Trace Atkins
Keith Urban
Brad Paisley

Female Artist:
Martina McBride
Miranda Lambert
LeAnn Rimes
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood

Top Vocal Group:
Diamond Rio
The Eagles
Emerson Drive
Little Big Town
Rascal Flatts

The Eagles?!?

My picks are as follows: Brad Paisley for Entertainer, Trace Adkins for Male (come on, he deserves a nod!), Taylor Swift for Female (she’s been hot this year), and Little Big Town for group (they are SO talented, and I could listen to both of their albums all day long).

What say you?

File under, “What will they think of next?”

The good stuff starts at about 0:29 seconds.

Saturday Night Live will be returning from hiatus with a pro at the helm.

NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” the only late-night show completely shelved by the writers strike, is planning a Feb. 23 return, and former head writer and co-anchor of “Weekend Update,” Tina Fey, is scheduled to host.

Fey’s show 30 Rock, along with Scrubs and The Office are scheduled to return to the small screen on April 10.  Law & Order and My Name Is Earl will also return in April, but looks like we’ll be waiting until fall for Heroes.

This is important. This means something. Today the teaser trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was released, and this just happens to be my favorite Valentine ever:

I’d say maybe I’m destined to spend my Valentine’s Day writing sweet nothings on my eyelids and fluttering them at Indy, but he’s starting to look like my grandpa. It’d feel a little incestuous. I’m pretty sure Shia LeBeouf’s of age, and he doesn’t look anything like my grandpa. Problem solved.

The released cast list includes Cate Blanchett AKA She Who Can Do No Wrong, and Jim Broadbent AKA Frank Butterman from Hot Fuzz, but sadly, no mention of Sean Connery AKA Hottest Scot Before Desmond Hume. Even without him, I’ll brave the theater at Shopry Mills to see this one in May.

High quality trailer here. Site has sound. Kind of loud sound, at that.

In the business, we call it REAL(i)TY tv.  Some of the shows are dreadful, others not so bad.  To help you out, Katherine Coble reviews the good, the bad, and the ugly.  See if you can figure out the show:

Show 1 - The Good
I admit I have a certain amount of glee when people point out a house they think they’d like to live in and she kindly tells them that the house goes for about triple the amount they can afford.

Show 2 - The Bad
Most of the time they want the valuation in order to get a large Home Equity loan for more renovations. But it still smacks of greed. I’ve seen people throw a fit because their house only appreciated $300K in two years. I just don’t get that mindset.

Show 3 - The Ugly
After watching about nine thousand half hour episodes I’ve decided this show could also be called Fools And Their Money. It’s gotten so bad that the newest episodes begin with a disclaimer about “real people risking real money” lest any of us other real people get an idea in our head.

Go ahead and try to guess what shows Kat is describing!  Her full post over here is very insightful and funny!

Most of you are missing one of the best shows currently on TV. Jimmy, over at ‘Music City Miracles‘ is not one of the ‘missing’:

This is a call to arms. If you haven’t watched {’Friday Night Lights‘} please do so ….. It is one of the top 5 shows on TV right now, and it is in jeopardy of getting cut because no one is watching it. I know that it is partially NBC’s fault for putting it on the wasteland of TV that is Friday night, but that is no excuse for people not to watch it.

Here are 3 reasons why you should watch it:

1. It is about football. That should be enough.
2. It shows the love affair that a small Texas town has with it’s high school football team. Is it exaggerated? Sure, but I bet it is closer than you might think.
3. The marriage between Coach Taylor, Kyle Chandler, and his wife, Connie Britton, is one we can all learn from. Their interaction is classic.

We’re rarely home on Friday nights because of our wild party life (translation: we go to the movies pretty much every Friday night of the year), but we DVR the heck out of Friday Night Lights. Even if you can’t stand football or rather ignore the sport, YOU can enjoy this show. There is football, but it’s a lot more about high school, relationships and yeah, that cliche’ from high school: the human condition.

Last night on the show, the mother of THE star player was talking about her faith to her son who had lost a scholarship to the school of his dreams. Regardless of what you believe or don’t believe, TV writers are usually tone death when writing spiritual dialogue (at least since ‘Joan of Arcadia’ left the air). Normally the tone is mocking or obtuse..last night’s was brilliant.

I’d have to say now that ‘Lost’ is introducing more and more characters [when are we going to see tourists on the island participating in ‘Lost’ tours?] and losing some of the early brilliance of the ensemble, ‘Friday Night Lights’ has the best collective of actors going..and it will be going going gone, if more people don’t watch.

Slarti reports at Ugly Betty News that, per Michael Eisner, the WGA strike is finally about to end. In the meantime, there’s always reality tv, and Squirrel Queen’s got links to some insider information about the season premiere of Survivor: Micronesia.

So far, there are some mixed emotions about last night’s Lost. I think Mari spoke for a lot of us when she said:

I thought the survivors were the lost ones, but it turns out it is the viewers, at least this one.

Introducing four whole new characters was a bold move, and since we’ve only got six more hours left in the season and there’s a lot of ground to cover, I expect fans will have some choice words about this decision. Still, I can see where the the pilot, the ghostbuster, and the physicist could help answer some of the Losties’ questions. I’m undecided on the anthropologist, whose name has Newscoma thinking.  And Kat’s got an analysis of Faraday’s name at her place.

In other Lost news, Les Jones links to Hurley’s personal blog, and SleepyDad posted a hilarious video that now has me mentally singing ‘You All Everybody’ on a loop. Somebody will pay.

Howdeeeeeee! I’m jest so proud to be h’year!

My name is Sharon Smith, I’m also known as your Sista. The kind people here at MCB have seen fit to put me in here as your Entertainment Editor. (Is that for real..Editor?!)

Just who is Sharon/Sista, you’re asking?

It appears I am one of a few bloggers who call Sumner County home. If they’re are more of you out there, it’s high time you showed yourself.

I wear lots of hats. I am a mother of three (2 teenagers and an elementary aged child with a minor disability), I am a wife, I’m a Sandwich generation-er daughter, I’m an aunt, a pet owner (2 dogs, 2 cats), I work full time, I’m a Church Lady (Hit it Pearl!) but I am not a PTA kinda mom. I love to cook, yet, I don’t bake cookies.

I have a photographic memory when it comes to things of an Entertainment and/or musical nature. I love me some Pop Culture and that kinda includes movies, tv, and useless facts. I am the self-crowned Queen of Useless Facts That Nobody Cares About. I kinda like to say I’m a little like this guy that way. For example, right this very minute, I have no idea where my cell phone is, yet, I can name that tune in two notes. I reckon it’s part of my charm.

I am not into politics. I have my opinions and for the most part, keep that to myself cause I like to let others blog intelligently about politics and social issues cause I’m just not good at it.

I’ve been married to one of these guys for 18 years. Before that, I had a unique view of the music biz through my late father who was good enough to let me tag along with him to events, to the Grand Ole Opry and he was really good enough to hang on to his massive collection of classic country albums and 45’s that I fell in love with as a kid.

I’ve lived in Middle Tennessee since I was 8 months old. I love Nashville.

In another life, I used to work in the music industry. The reason I don’t work in the music biz anymore is cause I realized that I actually love the music too much, if that makes sense. I enjoy watching it from the sidelines though the Mother In Law and dabble in songwriting, pickin’ and grinnin’ here and there.

I’m content, here in my old age, to blog and read other blogs. Why do I blog? Because I can.

Identify a problem, devise a solution, implement the solution, problem solved. That’s they way you normally think of it going. But if you think it’s always smooth sailing, you’d be wrong. Sometimes when someone tries to accomplish a goal, the very tactics he employs to accomplish it work against him.

Thus it was with RIAA and a buddy of mine whose frustration while trying to listen to music and watch a DVD that he bought and paid for led him to a conclusion that I’m pretty sure all parties involved were not planning for.

Says Eric, in ‘Thanks to the RIAA I just bought my last CD!’

I’ll admit it… I’ve spent far too much money on music over the past few years. I’ve probably spent well over $1,000 on CD’s during the past ten years, and more than $300 on iTunes (that was back when I was still using Microsoft Windows… now I’m on ubuntu and I don’t use ITunes). I love music, and I love to constantly have a lot of it readily available.

But recently I’ve been met with insult after insult when spending my hard earned money on music and DVD’s. Normally I’m able to ignore the record label lawsuit war on its own community, but now I find myself starting to feel the heat. And I haven’t even done anything wrong!!!

Click through and find out the excruciating details on what happened. For the record, Eric is from Chicago, not Nashville. But his beef is with the record labels and their policies. Where better to post this than here in Music City? Perhaps some of the movers and shakers over on the Row would like to respond.

Blue

Literally!!!   If R. Neal is correct on this, I just might go and get muddy!

Despite promoters’ denials of earlier rumors, the UK Daily Mirror reported yesterday that Led Zeppelin will headline this year’s Bonnaroo Festival in Manchester TN, June 12-15.

A look into the life of a Grascal wife and her Mista:

The alarm clock went off this morning. It was on WSM. Bill Cody said something about “An Evening With The Grascals and Eddie Stubbs.” First I’d heard about a romantic evening between them and Senor Stubbs.

A little later, they put this guy on the air and asked him trivia questions. This ol’ boy was on his way to work and he answered them all correctly and his prize? An Evening With The Grascals. Heh. That made me laugh very loudly at such an early hour. “Listen to that”, I said to Sleeping Beauty Mr. Smiff. “That guy’s prize is he gets to come see you. What a lucky feller.” Har har.

This post also serves to point out the contest you can enter to that you too can have an “intimate evening” with The Grascals and Eddie Stubbs. Go here for details.

It’s Friday. It’s cold. And dreary. I don’t know about you but I need a distraction to get me through the rest of this day. Let’s do another round of “Ask the Audience”! Here goes…

Do you know someone who was a truck driver and had a crazy handle? Did you DJ in high school or college under an outlandish call name? Have you seen a pen name in blog land that either makes you smile or makes you cringe?

I can’t answer the first two, but I’d have to say that in blogging, it warms my heart a bit to see “serr8d” in the comments. I find it quirky and clever and I’m the tiniest bit jealous that I didn’t think of it myself.

Your turn!

It’s been more than a century since you could legally partake of Absinthe, the mesmerisingly green alcoholic beverage with a hint of licorice flavour that was the favourite of artists, poets and the clinically insane.

But now, after one man’s long struggle with the government, Absinthe is once again legal.

Between yesterday’s Repeal Day and today’s Legalised Absinthe, it’s looking a lot like a tipsy week!

(Hat Tip: Mushin No Shin)

She’s running a contest whereby you may win a free Nano.

Just remember if you win it, you have to occasionally plug it in.

Tributes to this icon of many of our childhoods, Evel Knievel, who passed away today:

LeBlanc:

An icon of former children everywhere has made the greatest jump ever today, straight into Heaven.

Newscoma:

The Wide World of Sports was the big deal when I was a little kid, which means the Evel was the man.

He was pretty groovy in his Elvis outfits and the fact that he was the face of fearless when I was a little kid. I was nine when he did the whole Snake River thing…

…I miss those crashes. These kids on reality shows can’t compare to Evel.

He was the man.

Sadcox:

My absolute favorite toy as a little kid was the Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle. I’d wind it up as fast as it would go and send Evel flying up a ramp made out of an album cover and the phone book.

Thanks for entertaining us for all those years!

Slarti:

For men my age, Evil was a HUGE icon in our consciousness during childhood. I still remember building ramps out of bricks and plywood, and jumping whatever was handy (including, one time, my brother). I idolized Knievel that much. I was SO jealous of my best friend because he had the Knievel wind-up motorcylce/action figure. That had to be the coolest toy since the 6 Million Dollar Man action figure, with bionic eye and cool punching motion.

Evil Knievel is dead. I am suddenly feeling very old. Rest in peace, Evil.

Pistol Pete:

I remember watching Knieval’s daredevil stunts on Wide World of Sports growing up. He seemed to show no fear and took risks very few (if anyone) would take just for the thrill of saying he’d done it (oh, and maybe for the thousands of dollars he got for doing them). The benefits to the leap of faith he has now taken for Christ, however, are immeasurable…

…And now, as Kneval takes that great leap into the Beyond, I pray his fans and all who knew of him would likewise be touched by Christ so they might one day land safely home.

Les Jones simply posted a quote, which said it all…

“Ladies and gentlemen, you have no idea how good it makes me feel to be here today. It is truly an honor to risk my life for you. An honor. Before I jump this motorcycle over these 19 cars - and I want you to know there’s not a Volkswagen or a Datsun in the row - before I sail cleanly over that last truck, I want to tell you that last night a kid came up to me and he said, “Mr Knievel, are you crazy? That jump you’re going to make is impossible, but I already have my tickets because I want to see you splatter.” That’s right, that’s what he said. And I told that boy last night that nothing is impossible.”
– Robert Craig “Evel” Knievel, 1938-2007

As always with these roundups, if you post about the topic afterwards, just let me know in the comments, and I’ll give you some link love by adding you to this post.

Yesterday, I asked the guys about those electric razors that are heavily advertised during this time of year. There was a fun discussion that started with razors and eventually veered to vacuum cleaners! At one point, I thought my question for today would be the turning point of the comments, but since it only came up a few times I’ll throw it out there for the women* to answer.

Ladies…

Does Zales make your heartstrings zing?

Should he go to Jared?

Does every kiss really begin with Kay?

Basically…will all your holiday dreams come true if there’s a little velvet box waiting for you under the tree?

*Of course, I’d love to hear from the men, too!

I have a burning question for the menfolk* out there. This is akin to what Roger did a few weeks ago when he asked the gals about the appeal of celebrity news and the importance of breast cancer. However, it’s not as heavy a subject.

I’m watching television the other evening and naturally, with it being the “holiday” season, all the commercials are about gifts to get for your significant other, family members, hair stylist, etc. And inevitably a commercial comes on advertising the latest and greatest in men’s facial hair grooming tools - the electric razor. And in the commercial the man’s significant other tries over and over again to give him the perfect gift and fails repeatedly until she gives him this razor. He’s thrilled beyond all comprehension that she finally got him the electric razor of his dreams.

So, here’s my burning question. Guys, do you really pine for razors? And if you don’t, what should that commercial be advertising instead?

*Don’t worry, I have one for the womenfolk too.

First of all-full disclosure. I’m on the board of the Tennessee Repertory Theatre. Ask me about it sometime and I’ll talk to you about what a transcendant theatre experience they offer until your ears fall off.

But for a look behind the curtain, you should check out the blog of David Wilkerson, the stage manager of the Rep. He is also a local actor and fight-choreographer (coolest job ever!) and just an all around cool dude.

“A View from the Booth” offers a behind the scenes insider’s view of each Rep production, and I’ve always found it to be a fascinating read. David does more than just describe what’s happening on stage and backstage. He also writes eloquently about the decisions made during the creative process that most folks never think about. We are lucky enough to see the excellent end product.

His latest post is about the Rep’s upcoming production of “It’s a Wonderful Life-The Live Radio Play.” It sounds like it will be a treat.

“The story is the same one that we know and love from the movie of the same name. However, in this incarnation, it’s presented as a 1946 radio play. What’s great fun about this production is that we’re going to present a complete world from the moment the audience steps into the theatre. From the production assistant carrying scripts to my voice over the loudspeaker (what we call “the God mic”), we’ll all be a 1946 radio sound stage–WTRT. What’s a special challenge for us is that the “performance” won’t just start at 6:30pm (or 7:30pm) when It’s a Wonderful Life starts; no, when the house opens at 1/2 hour, we’ll be out there moving around and getting ready in our 1946 world. “

The interested public is also invited to a free LookIn next week.

“Tennessee Rep’s LookIns are a chance for the public to come get a peek at our rehearsal process. The director and designers will talk about their processes, the actors will present a short scene from the play, and there’s free food and drink. Our LookIn this time around will be 5:30pm on Tuesday, Nov. 20th at our studio in the NPT building at 161 Rains Ave. If you’re in the Nashville area, I encourage you to drop by and say hi.”

I’ve been to several of these and they’re always worth the trip over to the Fairgrounds for free food, drink and interaction.

Dear Jewel,

We’re concerned. Pictures of you at the CMA awards show your boobies seem to be shrinking. And not in a good way. Please take care of your boobies, they’re the only two you’ll get. Unless, of course, you get another boob job. Which would be fine, too.

Love,

Your friends at Music City Bloggers

Okay J.K. Rowling fans, this isn’t good news:

LONDON - J.K. Rowling has completed her first book not to feature teen wizard Harry Potter an illustrated collection of magical fairy stories titled “The Tales of Beedle the Bard.”

Only seven copies of the book are being printed, Rowling said Thursday. One will be auctioned next month to raise money for a children’s charity, while the others have been given away as gifts.

Rowling drew the illustrations herself and provided the handwriting for the five stories that make up the collection of fairytales.

“The Tales of Beedle the Bard” is mentioned in the final Potter book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” as a gift left by headmaster Albus Dumbledore to Harry’s friend Hermione, and provides clues that help destroy evil Lord Voldemort.

Only seven copies were made. Rowling does things her own way. No one ever said any different. Starting bid for the one book going to charity is a mere $62,000 dollars.

Does she take checks?

ED. Update: Copyright attorney Ron Coleman weighs in with a surprising (to me) opinion.

[Ed. Note: She’s done this before. I imagine there will be a decent interval after the charity auction and then there will be a longer print run also for charity.–KC]

News 2 reports that Porter Wagoner has passed away this evening.

Thanks ‘coma…that made me laugh, too!

Just for Roger, I feel led to post another celebrity oriented topic. (wink-wink)

I am not a regular watcher of “Dancing with the Stars” by any means. Last night, I was channel surfing, and stopped to watch Marie Osmond do her dance number, just because I really admire her for the strength she’s shown through all she has been through in the past few years, and here she is at 50 going for it in this competition. (Not that 50 is old, but these are some pretty strenuous looking dance numbers!)

Well, I was completely taken aback at what happened immediately after her dance. I’ll let Sharon take it from here…

After dancing the Samba with her partner, Jonathan, Marie Osmond was standing with Jonathan after the dance listening to the judges, and she suddenly collapsed.

There was no movement, and they immediately cut to commercial. It was a very long 5 minutes.

I was watching the show live, and I thought she was dead. She’s almost 50, with a history of health problems, and I thought she had a heart attack and died. I was thinking about her children, (she has 8 ) and every week several of them are in the audience. I thought about her eight brothers who were probably watching her on television and the hell they must have been going through for that five minutes.

It was a horrible, long five minutes.

When the show returned, the host let us know immediately that not only was Marie okay, but she was backstage waiting for her score. Apparently, she sometimes forgets to breathe, and has a history of fainting from that.

When they cut to the backstage area, she was being held up by her dancing partner, but she was able to talk. She still looked whoosie, but thank God she was Okay.

That was scary.

It really was scary. Okay, I know they are celebrities and not personal friends or anything, but the thought that I might have just witnessed Marie Osmond’s demise really disturbed me.

(For the men sports fans in the reading audience, I liken it to watching a football player down on the field who isn’t showing any movement whatsoever. You just kind of hold your breath to see if they’re going to be alright. Or when Dale Earnhardt didn’t get out of his car at Daytona, and nobody knew what was going on.)

Anyway, I’m glad to say that there’s a happy ending with this story, and she’s fine!