Web Find: Dickipedia

This past Saturday, my sister sent me an email that turned me on to a website called Dickipedia. The email contained a link to Greta Van Susteren's page in which it stated that the Fox News Channel personality is a dick.

Launched by the political humor website 23/6, Dickipedia aims its poison arrows at people and institutions both past and present. With a layout designed to mirror the mega popular online resource Wikipedia, each entry on Dickipedia starts out with an opening that includes the name of the person/institution, their year of birth/introduction, their main claim(s) to fame, and their dubious title of dick. Example: "Kanye Omari West (born June 8, 1977 in Atlanta, GA) is a Grammy-winning producer, a platinum-selling rapper, and a dick." The entry then provides a biographical sketch of the person/institution, including reasons for why they are considered a dick. One thing I enjoy about Dickipedia is that it has an irreverent laugh out loud edge you won't find on Wikipedia. In the entry for Sean Penn it says:

"Often described as an acting “powerhouse,” Sean Penn is known for his intensity and humorlessness. He has been a druggie, a delinquent, mentally-unhinged, and a retard. He has also played those characters in films."

On its main page, Dickipedia has its dickroll broken down by categories (latest, political, media, sports, entertainment, international, and miscellaneous). In addtion to the people I previously mentioned, some of the others getting the dick tag hung on them include Barack Obama, Joe Biden, John McCain, Sarah Palin, Naomi Campbell, Simon Cowell, Kobe Bryant, Ann Coulter, and Sean Hannity. Dickipedia even takes aim at Santa Claus, oil, The Olympics, and Halloween.

For each Dickipedia entry, visitors can login/register and add their comments. However, unlike its well-established counterpart, Dickipedia is unavailable for community editing at this time.

Having said that, after viewing its dickroll (which you can reach by clicking the word "Dickipedia" in the opening sentence of this post), is there anyone/anything you'd like to see added to Dickipedia?

And the Winners of the 7th Season of DWTS Are...

Brooke Burke and Derek Hough! No argument from me; Brooke and Derek were the most consistent dancers throughout the 7th season. From day 1, they were the pair to beat. With that being said, Brooke and Derek's dance last night where she ended it by hugging two of her daughters did come off as shameless pandering.

Some other observations from last night:

* 2nd place finisher (former NFL player Warren Sapp) picked up a lot of fans due to his appearance on DWTS. In addition to his engaging personality, Warren's dancing skills were a revelation to many of us.


* Ex-NSYNC member Lance Bass (who wound up in 3rd place) was the sleeper of the season. For the most part, he was in the middle of the pack. However, as the season wore on, he picked up steam. Another thing I enjoyed about his appearance is that he and his partner (Lacey) took chances. The risks may not have always paid off, but they rarely played it safe.

* With the exception of injured volleyball player Misty May-Treanor and singer Toni Braxton, the other 8 celebrity contestants who had been eliminated performed a dance routine. I was pleasantly surprised that celebs such as comedian Jeffrey Ross and TV personality Kim Kardashian performed as well as they did. If you saw them during the competition, you know exactly what I mean because their routines during the competition rated high on the cringe-o-meter. When some of the eliminated celebs were asked why they performed so well last night, they said that the pressure wasn't there because they weren't competing.

* Although Jeffrey Ross' roasting of the three finalists, himself, and Cloris Leachman was on odd fit for DWTS, he did get some funny lines in:

People keep asking me if I lost weight during the show. I don't know, how much does my dignity weigh?

Cloris, was that even dancing? Your partner Corky just dragged you around the floor like a... it was like Weekend At Bernie's the Musical... just relax Cloris, you had your 15 decades of fame.

Doesn't Brooke look great? Especially considering she gave birth to her 15th child 3 hours ago backstage. And congratulations, I hear Lance is the father. Maybe the baby will come out of the womb and the closet on the same day.


Below is the winning team of Brooke and Derek performing the salsa during week 9 of the competition:

In Praise of Annie Lennox

This past Sunday evening, Annie Lennox received the Award of Merit at the 36th Annual American Music Awards. Ever since her days as one half of Eurythmics, I've been a fan of Annie's vocal prowess and sense of style. While channel surfing during a break in the Sunday Night Football game, I turned it on ABC and caught the tail end of Annie performing her solo hit "Why". Thanks to ETHRILLnet for posting the entire portion of the Annie Lennox segment on You Tube, which you can watch below. During Annie's performance, she demonstrated that she is still one of the premier voices in popular music. As she accepted her award after her performance, she was both humble and gracious. I didn't expect anything less.

Final Results of the Recent Sesame Street Muppet Poll

With over 40% of the vote, Grover was chosen as the favorite Sesame Street Muppet in the most recent poll. Take that Elmo!

I was a little disappointed that two of my favorites as a kid (Bert and Ernie) didn't perform better in the poll. Maybe voters were hating on Ernie because he had a hit record once ("Rubber Duckie"). As for his roomie, voters might have been reluctant to cast their lot with him because of the Bert is Evil rumors.

Here are the final results:

Grover- 44%
The Cookie Monster- 33%
Kermit the Frog- 32%
Oscar the Grouch- 25%
Count von Count- 21%
Big Bird- 19%
Elmo and Mr. Snuffleupagus- 16% each
Bert- 12%
Ernie- 8%
Other- 4%

Here is a 1975 clip of the winning Muppet Grover doing his "Near and Far" sketch:

The Retro Mix Playlist For 11/21/08

7 pm hour

Hollywood Swinging- Kool & the Gang
American Heartbeat- Survivor
A View To A Kill- Duran Duran
Just A Touch- Keith Sweat
Stutter- Elastica
People Are People- Depeche Mode
No Sleep till Brooklyn- The Beastie Boys

The Guilty Pleasure of the Week:
Together Forever- Rick Astley

Bad Girls- Donna Summer
It Takes Two- Rob Base & D.J. E-Z Rock
Your Mirror- Simply Red
Private Dancer- Tina Turner
I Ain't No Joke- Eric B. & Rakim

8 pm hour

Tubthumping- Chumbawamba
Vanity Kills- ABC
Higher Ground- Stevie Wonder
What It Comes Down To- The Isley Brothers
You Learn- Alanis Morissette
Don't Change- INXS
Will It Go 'Round In Circles- Billy Preston
Talk Talk- Talk Talk

Double Retro segment's feat. artist: David Ruffin & Eddie Kendricks
You're My Everything- The Temptations (released in 1967)
I Couldn't Believe It- David Ruffin & Eddie Kendrick (released in 1987)

It's A Mistake- Men At Work
Look Away- Big Country
Salvation- The Cranberries
Fear- Lenny Kravits
Runnin' With the Devil- Van Halen

The Retro Mix Clip of the Week: Will It Go 'Round In Circles by Billy Preston

Old School Friday: Jazz Tribute

For my first selection on this week's Old School Friday, I chose the legendary Cab Calloway's signature tune... Minnie the Moocher. Although Cab recorded Minnie the Moocher in 1931, I'm not sure of the date of the clip I selected. Whenever I think of him, I'm reminded of a story my mother told me when I was a kid. During Cab's heyday, she and her friends would see him perform live. She said that while performing, Cab would shake his head in such a way that his processed hair would be all over one minute and right back in place the next.

For those of us who weren't around during Cab's prime, we probably remember him from his role in the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers (he played Curtis, the orphanage worker who introduced Jake and Elwood to the blues). One of the highlights of the movie was when Cab performed Minnie the Moocher, all decked out in a white-tie-and-tail suit.

This week's 2nd selection is by The Crusaders and is perhaps their most famous song, the 1979 hit Street Life. Featuring female vocalist Randy Crawford, the song has been featured in the films Sharky's Machine starring Burt Reynolds and Jackie Brown (starring Pam Grier in the title role).

You can watch the clips to both "Minnie the Moocher" and "Street Life" in the You Tube player below.

This meme was developed by Marvalus View and Ms. Grapevine. The rules are simple:

1. Anyone can participate; any music genre
2. Old School is defined as music created before 1999
3. No offensive words allowed, please use edited radio version
4. Post a video of your favorite Old School song to take us back down memory lane
5. Add your name to the meme list so that others can check you out
6. Have fun & don't forget to leave comments for other participants

If you want to join in on the fun, click here.

Please Take A Moment To Vote In the Current Sesame Street Poll... Thank You.

The Death of Julius Carry, the Original Sho'nuff

One of the downsides of this age of information overload in which we live (sorry Sir Paul, but a 2nd "in" isn't needed) is that some stories slip through the cracks. About a month ago, I read that there is a remake in the works of the 1985 cult classic The Last Dragon. In the update, it's been reported that Samuel L. Jackson will take over the role of Sho'nuff, the Shogun of Harlem. While reading about the upcoming remake of The Last Dragon, I learned that the actor who played Sho'nuff in the original version (Julius Carry) died on August 19th of pancreatic cancer at the age of 56. Carry is one of those performers whose name may not cause a clanging sound, but chances are you've seen him. Although he had scores of acting credits (including regular roles on Doctor, Doctor and The Adv. of Brisco County Jr. and guest appearances on such series as The Cosby Show, Moonlighting, Murphy Brown, The Hughleys and JAG), Carry is perhaps best known for his role as Sho'nuff in The Last Dragon (pictured below in a scene from the film).

Were it not for Carry's scene-stealing turn as the meanest... the prettiest... the baddest mofo around, it's likely that The Last Dragon would have wound up in the trash heap of forgotten 80s films alongside such relics as Beat Street, The Wild Life, and Midnight Madness. If none of those films registers on your 80s movie meter, I rest my case. If they do, you're a bad mofo yourself.

As I mentioned earlier, it's been reported that Samuel L. Jackson will step into role of Sho'nuff in the upcoming remake of The Last Dragon. Even though it's a role that Jackson was practically born to play, he still has some big Converse shoes to fill thanks to the memorable performance by the late Julius Carry in the original. Below is the scene from The Last Dragon where Sho'nuff and his goons invade a local movie theater.

The Retro Mix Playlist For 11/14/08

7 pm hour

Informer- Snow
Yes I Am- The Emotions
(Every Time I Turn Around) Back In Love Again- L.T.D.
The Love Parade- The Dream Academy
The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead- XTC
Do You Want Crying- Katrina and the Waves
I'll Be Around- The Spinners

Common Thread segment: 44th b-day tribute to Joseph "Run" Simmons of Run DMC
Mary Mary
The King of Rock
Down with the King

All I Wanna Do- Sheryl Crow
Ride Captain Ride- Blues Image
Evil- Earth, Wind and Fire

8 pm hour

Major Tom- Peter Schilling
The Sign of Fire- The Fixx
Dust In the Wind- Eric Benet
Believe- Cher
I'm Qualified To Satisfy You- Barry White
Lowdown- Boz Scaggs
Mary Goes 'Round- Ready For the World

Now & Then segment's feat. artist: Labelle
Rollout (feat. Wyclef Jean, from their 2008 CD Back To Now)
What Can I Do For You (released in 1975)

One Week- Barenaked Ladies
Lawnchairs- Our Daughter's Wedding
The Glamorous Life- Sheila E.
More Than A Woman- Tavares
Heart Shaped Box- Nirvana


The Retro Mix Video of the Week: The Love Parade by The Dream Academy

Old School Fridays: Songs From the Year of My Birth

Below are not 1, but 2 tracks from the year I was born... 1967. The first track holds special meaning for me because it was the #1 song on the Billboard Pop Singles chart on the day I was born (November 13)... the title song to the Sidney Poitier film To Sir With Love by Lulu. The second track is one of the funkiest tunes ever committed to vinyl, Boogaloo Down Broadway by The Fantastic Johnny C.

You can watch/listen to both "To Sir With Love" and "Boogaloo Down Broadway" in the You Tube player below.

This meme was developed by Marvalus View and Ms. Grapevine. The rules are simple:

1. Anyone can participate; any music genre
2. Old School is defined as music created before 1999
3. No offensive words allowed, please use edited radio version
4. Post a video of your favorite Old School song to take us back down memory lane
5. Add your name to the meme list so that others can check you out
6. Have fun & don't forget to leave comments for other participants

If you want to join in on the fun, click here.