Look, I dont know if you were just looking for pimp in the phonebook and stopped at "PI."

It's really sad that I just picked up both the new Matt Nathanson and New Pornographers and yet looking ahead at the next few weeks I'm seeing the Shout Out Louds, Rogue Wave, Iron & Wine, Matt Pond PA and Broken Social Scene and thinking to myself, do I really have enough music for now? As for the two new albums, I'm digging both. Matt Nathanson has the "unfortunate" position of growing in popularity and therefore growing in album production which tends to get in the way of the 12 string guitar and vocals that made his previous albums so good. That's not to say it's a bad album, far from it. But whenever I heard songs like Bulletproof Weeks it makes me realize how good a singer/songwriter Nathanson is and how I wish that the accompaniment would pull back a little on the rest of his songs and let Nathanson do his thing.

New Pornographers' Challengers... it kinda of makes me sick how much talent this group has. You could put these 4 albums on permanent loop in the player and I'd be a happy man.

I'm intrigued by Eastern Promises. David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen made an outstanding movie in "A History of Violence" and I'm liking the thoughts of them teaming back up. Add to that Naomi Watts who has yet to reach the point where I can't stand here anymore or what I call "Nicole Kidman" status. Here's hoping that Vincent Cassel avoids chewing every piece of scenery in the room (note: I like Vincent Cassel but the man seems to be aspiring to Nicholson level mastication).

Notre Dame season kicks off this Saturday as the Irish taken on the worst fans in the league in Georgia Tech (sorry Crowley but you know it to be true). I think this could be a decent season for a rebuilding year but Lou Holtz is out of his freaking mind if he thinks the Irish are going 10-2.

News and Notes:

Just finished off Veronica Mars Season 1 on DVD again. Keith Mars is without a doubt my hero. But good god that was one of the greatest seasons of TV ever..... DAMN YOU WB!!!!

Per Michael Ausiello the Halloween episode of Bones will be "wonderful". Tim Minear directing? Just throwing out blatant vicious rumors.

Speaking of my favorite show creator who just cannot catch a break, Minear has a new show at ABC called Miracle Man. Per Hercules at Aintitcool: "It’s about a disgraced ex-televangelist with no faith who starts performing real miracles." I'm going to rise above the easy pun here and just say, Tim, I'm rooting for you.

Until next time:

"Jake, when did we become Republicans?"

"We haven't. We're just going with the flow."

Emmys gain perfect hair, lost all credibility

Ryan Seacrest? Are you kidding me? Look, I get annoyed at the Emmys just about every year but at least they've tried to remain semi-respectable with their hosts. Ellen DeGeneres, Jon Stewart, Conan O'Brian. There's a reason you go for comedians. They keep the awards from turning completely into one giant ass kissing ceremony by keeping the celebrities on their toes. But holy mother of Guadalupe, with Seacrest on stage? He's going to wet himself by the end of it. Why not just put Star Jones up there and get it over with?

I look like Manila Whore Barbie

Mustard: Read it or else!

Stardust – Gotta say, really surprised how much I enjoyed this movie. This is the best “fairy tale” movie I’ve seen since Princess Bride. And it’s in that same vein, a fantasy flick (we don’t count the LOTR in the same group as that’s a whole ‘nother ball game) that is actually made for an adult audience. Intelligent, funny yet dark enough at times to really be truly good movie. Great cast with Michelle Pfieffer apparently deciding that she needed to make up for lost time (seriously, how many movie has she been in this summer?). Lead Charlie Cox plays his role well in the iconic hero’s journey from wide-eyed naivety to confident champion. Claire Danes is great in the part of the “damsel in distress” but not idiotically helpless or, thank God, post-modernly ironic (see Shrek). And Robert DeNiro…that man is just having the time of his life at this point. Plus throw in fun little cameos by Ricky Gervais, Peter O’Toole and Rupert Everett with the narration by Ian McKellan and you’ve got yourself a great cast. The score itself while not entirely original, is a real stand out and one of the best I’ve heard this year. It really makes me sad that this little gem of a movie is struggling at the box office while Rush Hour 3 is making untold riches and shortening the IQs of moviegoers everywhere. Hopefully it’ll find its deserved appreciation, like so many similar movies, on the DVD shelves.

So can I just say how funny I find it that Guitar Hero III made a huge deal out of getting Slash to be a character in the game. Fine, it’s Slash, I understand. But the next huge addition: Bret Michaels. Really? Of Poison fame? Er, they do realize that it’s called Guitar Hero, not Lead Vocalist of a Crappy 80s Hair Band Hero, right?

New and Notes:

Mets @ the Nats this weekend. And it’s Abraham Lincoln bobblehead night on Saturday to boot (you gotta love/shake your head at DC)!

James Marsters will be on Without a Trace this season. Still not gonna watch it, but good for him.

We almost had Kristen Bell on Lost. She’d rather do Legally Blonde on Broadway? So sad…

Until next time:

“Any idea what our parents do Mondays and Wednesdays from 6 to 10 that requires an overnight bag?”

“As far as I’m concerned they play bingo at the VFW.”

Stop, in the name of American prudishness!

Mustard: With great power comes great responsibility… and a Spider-Pig.

The Simpsons Movie – Can’t help but feel a little let down after seeing it. Don’t get me wrong, it still had some hysterical bits in it. The opening church scene had some classic Simpsons in there and of course Ralph Wiggum (“I like men now.”). But maybe it’s just that after having become disillusioned with the show over it’s past few years to the point where I doubt I saw even half of last season, I had some hopes that they were gonna give us a reminder of the greatest of the show from way back when. And while there are a few of those moments, they sadly only push forward the fact that those days are really gone, probably for good. In one of the movie’s best moments Marge has a monologue directed towards Homer which eerily echoes the Simpsons fans feelings toward their one time favorite show. It’s a sentimental moment which once upon a time were a vital part of the best episodes of the show, getting the viewer to not only laugh with the zany antics of the cast, but also get emotionally attached and care about the Simpsons family. Unfortunately the past few years has been hard pressed to find a genuine moment when you could actually understand why in the hell Marge hadn’t dumped Homer years ago. In the end this movie was definitely better than any episode over the past few years, but at the same time cannot live up to the hype of nearly 20 years of buildup.

So Rob Thomas is now a consulting producer to Big Shots? If you haven’t seen the previews for the new ABC show, imagine a desperate attempt to create a “Sex in the City” for men. Did no one else really want Michael Vartan? Rob Thomas is going to have his hands full turn this thing around.

Brady Quinn finally signs with the Browns. As much as I like the guy, he doesn’t come out of this one looking so great. And before people jump on me about “well, he was just looking for incentives for playing time” it doesn’t matter. He’s missed 2 weeks of training camp with the team and with the Browns needing a legit quarterback, he was in great position to pull an Eli Manning and get in there to be immediately groomed for the starting position. Now he’s got all kinds of goodwill to make up.

News and Notes:

I still can’t really say whether or not the show itself is all that great, but I damn sure want the soundtrack to the Flight of the Conchords whenever it comes out. The songs are nothing short of brilliant.

Bonds hit 756! They hype can now slowly start to die! Can I get an Amen?

Does Mark Texiera joining the surging Braves make me a little nervous? Maybe…

Until next time:

“You've gone mad with power!”

“Of course I've gone mad with power! Have you ever tried going mad without power? It's boring and no one listens to you!”