Entertainment

This video made me smile, a lot. And realize all is right with the world. So long as little girls dressed up for a wedding can dance with such energy and joy. Have a watch. And laugh. (She warms up after a minute or two; her marvelous Gangnam style gets going after that.)

I am hugely proud that my wife and I watched the recent MTV Video Music Awards. We are hip, with-it, cool seniors (both 64 years old) who appreciate the youthful side of life. Like Miley Cyrus's uninhibited tongue-protruding booty-shaking performance at the VMA's. I liked Lady Gaga more, but we were impressed with how fully Miley has left behind her clean-cut Hannah Montana days. Miley is on the right; Gaga on the left. Both demonstrated a marvelous fact of modern culture: it is totally fine for females to strip almost naked and gyrate on national TV, but men must preserve…

Friday Laurel and I made our annual pilgrimage south from staid sleepy Salem to the wonderfully bizarre, creative, and energetic Oregon Country Fair in Veneta-- one of the wonders of the world.  (Including extra-terrestrial worlds; can't believe there is anything like the Oregon Country Fair anywhere in the universe.) Here's some photographic glimpses of what we encountered.  Soon after entering the Fair, we came across these two girls performing a charming "butterfly dance" to a group's music. Video recording isn't allowed at the Oregon Country Fair. Wish it was. The girls were enchanting. These guys appeared to be shopping for…

Oh, yeah. I'm almost a Bollywood star.  Defining almost to mean...  Someone who caused Shahid Kapoor, a Bollywood star, to become a vegetarian. Since what Kapoor eats is what makes him up, and I changed what he eats, ergo: I'm almost a Bollywood star. (If you don't think too much about the logic of that last sentence.) Read all about me! Here's my bro, Shahid, looking cool and doing his dance thing. We vegetarians have got it going on, for sure.  

It's been a good show business week for the First Lady. Last night she announced the Oscar for Best Picture via satellite from the White House. I thought she did a better job than many of the "real" presenters, including a curiously distracted Kristen Stewart. (In Stewart's defense, she arrived on crutches, so probably was in pain while onstage.) Earlier, on Friday, Obama rocked some dance moves with a cross-dressing Jimmy Fallon on his show. I'm sure happy her husband beat Mitt Romney. Could Ann Romney have pulled off what Michelle Obama did?  Watch and marvel at some damn good dancing.…

If you think you'd know if a skilled pickpocket was taking your watch, wallet, or cell phone, think again. That's the lesson I've learned from watching a video of theatrical pickpocket (meaning, a legal "stealer") Apollo Robbins. I've watched the video several times, I'm so fascinated by Robbins. His physical skills are amazing, but its the smoothness of his whole persona that is particularly impressive. Without that, his pickpocketing would be much less successful. Have a look. And a read, if you click on that link.   

Overly optimistic me actually was eager to open a recent email from DirecTV with a subject line, "Information about your DIRECTV account." I hoped the big news was that, finally, DIrecTV had reached a deal with the Pac 12 Network, and that I wouldn't have to miss any more football, basketball, or baseball games shown only on that network. But no. I learned that we're going to pay 4.5% or so more this year. For nothing that means anything to me. Disney Jr. channel has been added along with some other yawn-inducing programming. Whoopee. Here's what I told DirecTV, using their…

I suppose there's worse ways to go crazy than have your mind repeat the "One Pound Fish" ditty incessantly. So far, that hasn't happened to me. But it could... Be warned. If you're prone to catchy songs playing uncontrollably in your head, don't watch these videos. (Assuming you're one of the few people in the world, which included me up until a few days ago, who hasn't seen them yet.) Background story here. This is the original video of the fish seller.   And this is the jazzed up post-viral video version.    

Gorgeous! Both the guys and gals. Take your pick. Who do you respond to the most after hearing Call Me Maybe? The split screen version is my favorite. The troops in Afghanistan did a terrific job mimicing the Miami Dolphins cheerleaders. Whoever shot the video was highly skilled also.    Here's the troops by themselves.   And the cheerleaders by themselves.  

Thank you, Salem Progressive Film Series, for showing "The Happy Movie" last Thursday. I enjoy going to your showings at the Grand Theatre, but usually they're a bit of a downer. After all, economic inequality, pollution, environmental degradation, and other socially significant subjects aren't exactly smile-inducers. But happiness is. I hugely enjoyed learning about what contributes to happiness from experts in psychology, and also seeing happy people in action.  Here's some themes from the movie that I remember.  Flow. Yeah, flowing with life is the way to go. There was quite a bit of talk about flow, losing yourself in…

The sports page informs me that next Saturday's Oregon-Fresno State game only will be televised on the new Pac-12 Network. I want to watch the game. But paternalistic DirecTV doesn't feel that I should.  Today, once again, I contacted DirecTV, saying that one of their Important Subscribers, namely, me, wanted the pissing match between them and the Pac-12 Network to be resolved. Pronto! Before Saturday.  I got an annoying email response from a customer service rep. My reactions to the annoyances are in italics. Dear Mr. Hines,  Thank you for writing about the Pac 12 Sports Network. I see you…

Saturday the OSU Beavers and Oregon Ducks start their football seasons. But us DirecTV subscribers won't be able to watch the Beavers on the Pac-12 network unless DirecTV works out a deal to get the channel. Do it, DirecTV! It wasn't long ago that we lost Comedy Central and other channels because of a corporate pissing match with Viacom. It was a pain in the butt to try to find The Colbert Report, Daily Show, and other necessities of life on Hulu or wherever. Don't screw us DirecTV subscribers again with a Pac-12 Network dispute.  If you're a DirecTV subscriber…

Back in 2006, after extensive watching/reading research, I concluded that Jack Reacher, ex-MP hero of the terrific book series by Lee Child, was tougher than Jack Bauer, terrorist battling hero of the terrific TV series "24." In an unarmed mano-a-mano, you’d have to bet on Reacher. He’s 6’ 5” and about 250 pounds. Puny Bauer and his pussy martial arts moves would barely get Reacher warmed up. I fondly remember one Reacher bar fight which began with him calmly sitting at a table. He’s confronted by half a dozen guys out to give him a bad time. Reacher suggests that they should…