Lip Sync Battle – The Voice Edition

photo from NBC.com

There’s no other way to say it – yesterday was a tremendously shitty day for me. I had one of those days where nothing really seems to go your way and you wind up questioning your abilities and judgment. It was simply not a great 24 hours and by the time I got home from work last night I was truly and utterly defeated. A pep talk from a friend helped restore some of my confidence, but as I continued my marathon of The Roosevelts I still was all sorts of melancholy.

So, of course, Jimmy Fallon knew exactly what I needed to put a smile temporarily back on my face – a lip sync battle!

I’ve written before about how much I enjoy these segments on The Tonight Show and I’m glad that they are using them sparingly; I don’t know that I would ever actually tire of them, but I like that these bits are an unexpected surprise. Since I’ve been struggling with insomnia all this week due to stress – I’ve managed about 12 hours of sleep over the last 4 days – I’ve been able to watch my late night shows live rather on DVR at a later date, so I was able to experience the awesomeness that is an unexpected lip sync battle first hand. It snapped me out of my wallowing for a bit and was just what the doctor ordered. I don’t watch The Voice regularly and I’m lukewarm at best to Gwen Stefani, but she and Blake Shelton did a fabulous job, so kudos to them. “Call Me Maybe” is a guilty pleasure of mine, so that only increased the awesomeness of this whole endeavor in my opinion. I’m thankful to anything that gives me some reprieve from feeling awful; I’ll even forgive Stefani for her butchering of my pal Colbert’s name at the Emmys after this. Shelton is a regular guest on The Tonight Show and proves that once again he is game for anything.

Check it out for yourself:

 

John Krasinski’s lip sync will always be my favorite because he was first and because I have *ahem* strong feelings for Mr. Krasinski, but Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani were more than admirable combatants. Actually, they have yet to have a lip sync battle that wasn’t great. Let’s hope the streak continues.

Don’t forget…I’m blogging this month to raise awareness and funds for the Children’s Tumor Foundation. If you enjoyed this post or the blog in general, please consider making a donation on the blog’s fundraising page. So much gratitude to those that have already donated – we’ve surpassed my first fundraising goal!

Pop Culture Odds and Ends – 12/12/12 edition

Happy 12/12/12 day – or to the good people of Wisconsin, Happy Aaron Rodgers Day! (I refuse to acknowledge what Bostonites are referring to today as.) I’m not really sure what we are supposed to be doing today to commemorate the last time we’ll see a date like this in our lifetime, other than pointing that fact out, but it’s still kind of fun. Mostly is has resulted in newspapers and news programs trying to find something interesting to say about today; my local paper went with discussing the significance of the number 12 in religion, math and myth. Seems like a stretch to me, but whatever.

So while you are pondering what today means in the grand scheme of things, take a little break to catch up on some of the pop culture stories that you might have missed in the last two weeks.

• Don’t forget that you can watch tonight’s 12-12-12 concert for Sandy relief online and on cable. I still wish I was going to be there, especially since Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl will perform together for the first time since the end of Nirvana.

• THIS is the kind of news I like to wake up to – Netflix has expanded their order for new Arrested Development episodes. 10 episodes were originally expected, but it may be closer to 12-15. Hooray!

• The SAG award nominees were announced this morning.

• Ravi Shankar, legendary sitar player, has passed away at the age of 92. I know him mostly from the time he spent with The Beatles and George Harrison.

• Frankie Muniz of Malcolm in the Middle fame is recovering from a mini-stroke. He is 27.

• Fred Armisen and Bill Hader couldn’t hold it together during dress rehearsals for a sketch that didn’t make the final SNL broadcast.

 

• I am sooooo loving the new Twitter account (@SeinfeldToday) that imagines contemporary Seinfeld episode premises. The person behind this nails it.

Get the gang back together. I would totally watch this!

• Google has a fun Easter egg for Seinfeld fans. Type Festivus into Google and see what appears.

• Hear the first new song (“Boxing Day”) from Blink 182’s upcoming new album Dogs Eating Dogs. I’m still mad at these guys for cancelling their show in Saratoga in 2009 at the last minute.

• This one is a head scratcher – AMC has a comedy pilot in development titled We Hate Paul Reserve that centers on two brothers liking in Colonial Boston who don’t like Revere. Ooooookkkkkkaaaaayyyyy.

• A sequel to the 2010 Angelina Jolie film Salt may be happening. I wonder if there is any chance that they will film here again – I missed out on stalking running into Brad Pitt last time.

• John Krasinski and Matt Damon are in a movie together? I don’t know if my heart can take it.

• Kevin Youkilis is now a New York Yankee – a move that seems to have managed to upset Red Sox and Yankee fans alike. I personally don’t care – we needed a temporary 3^rd baseman and he was the best we could get – but it’s going to be an interesting season.

• Comedy Central has set premiere dates for a bunch of new shows featuring comedians I like.

• FX has ordered a pilot from the producers of Homeland. I hope it is better than this season of Homeland; the show when from great to inconsistent far too quickly for me.

• Nine Inch Nails will be recording a new album.

• Top Gun is getting an IMAX 3-D re-release in February.

• Gwen Stefani joined her husband’s band Bush on stage over the weekend.

 

• I’ve never heard of a better guest star/television show pairing: RuPaul will make an appearance on Happy Endings.

• I’m fascinated by the people who do the set design and props for movies and TV shows. Entertainment Weekly talks to Parks and Recreation’s prop master about her favorite pieces.

• An “Angry Birds” movie is coming in 2016. And, of course, it will be in 3-D.

• A new trailer has been released for Man of Steel, the new Superman movie.

I’m pretty meh on this franchise; I’m usually all in for superheroes, but Superman isn’t doing it for me.

• Busy Phillips (Cougartown, Freaks and Geeks) announced on Twitter that she is expecting her second child. She’s one of my faves, so I was happy to see the good news.

• David Hester has filed a lawsuit against Storage Wars, alleging the show is rigged. He claims he was fired for complaining to producers about the practice.

• Avril Lavigne has covered a song by her fiancée’s band Nickelback. God help us all.

 

• The Buffalo Bills have once again let me down. I’ll have to wait yet another year for the possibility of seeing a winning season.

• Will Stephen Colbert run for the Senate? Probably not, but it’s fun to think about.

• Jon Stewart almost quit The Daily Show. Perish the thought!

• The BBC has ordered a TV series based on J.K Rowling’s book The Casual Vacancy.

• Vulture put together a Bill Murray Character Matrix that is quite amusing.

• The South Korean rapper Psy – the guy behind “Gangnam Style” – is catching heat for two anti-American performances that he participated in over a decade ago.

• The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced the 2013 inductees. Congrats! Flavor Flav! Better luck next time, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and N.W.A.

• Florence Welch (of Florence + The Machine) stopped a concert in Scotland to break up a fight. Who in the hell is getting into a fight at a Florence + The Machine concert?

• Shia LaBeouf will make his Broadway debut opposite Alec Baldwin in Orphans.

• Also coming to the stage as a musical? Pan’s Labyrinth. I’m skeptical.

• DMX performs Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Fantastic!

 

• Ty Burrell (Modern Family) will star in the Muppets sequel. That feels right.

• Bravo is not happy to let some things die. Not only do they want to a TV show based on the movie Heathers, but they want to make the 1992 film Death Becomes Her into an hour long drama.

• Dan Aykroyd could walk away from (the Bill Murray-less) Ghostbusters 3.

• Vulture names their Top Ten stand-up specials for 2012.

• AMC is the best; they sent Aaron Paul (“Jesse”) Breaking Bad inspired cupcakes. Oustanding!

• Kevin Smith still plans to retire from directing, but it sounds like his last film will be Clerks III. That seems like a fitting end.

• I have no idea what to make of this rap battle between Santa and Moses (the latter is played by Snoop Dogg), but I’m pretty sure I can’t unsee it.

 

• This blog supports graphs, Mad Men and drinking. Put them all together and you get this awesome infographic of how much each Mad Men character drinks.

• Even though they just released a new album, Mumford and Sons are already working on new material. That’s music to my ears.

• I was ridiculously happy to see Vanity Fair’s piece on the oral history of Freaks and Geeks.

• Kristin Wiig may appear in Anchorman 2 as a love interest for Steve Carell’s character Brick.

• The Wreck-It Ralph director wants to feature Mario in the sequel. I approve.

• The proposed new fountain at the University of Albany appears to have been featured in a recent episode of Parks and Recreation.

• Loyal blog readers know that I am a fan of the mashup. I couldn’t resist this one – It’s Always Sunny in Homeland

 

• The Killing will be back on AMC for a third season.

• USA network has ordered a WWII sci-fi pilot from Walking Dead producer Anne Hurd.

• Ice-T will appear in the 30 Rock finale.

• HBO is developing a sequel to Game Change focused on the 2012 election.

• Oprah has announced her new book club selection.

• Reading Rainbow Remix!

 

• Scientists have named an extinct lizard after President Obama.

• CBS has given Chuck Lorre yet another sitcom.

• A man shot his girlfriend over an argument about The Walking Dead.

• Dennis Haysbert will replace Michael Clarke Duncan in the Sin City sequel.

• The Pete Rose reality show will debut in January on TLC.

• Hannibal Buress has a cop sitcom in development at ABC.

• Disney is planning on making a third Tron movie.

•  And finally, what if the Breaking Bad credits were done in the style of The Wire? Wonder no more – feast your eyes on this epicness.