Queen King

You've Got A Friend

Our six American Idol finalists faced song of Carole King this week. Here is how I saw it, on a scale of 1-10: James & Casey topped the group, each with a 9. Lauren scored an 8. Haley & Scotty trailed with a pair of 6s. Jacob bottoms out the group with a 5.

• James: Incredible acapella start. Nice to see soft side of hard rock turtle.
• Casey: Can't get much better. Full package. Good entertainer.
• Lauren: Really sold it. Felt like a concert. Still improving.
• Haley: Trainwreck of a performance. Bad choice. Done poorly. Nothing worked.
• Scotty: Picked a great song and ruined it. Almost terrible.
• Jacob: Shrill yelling sounds like crying, whining, complaining. Enough already.

Back To The Future

  American Idol goes to songs of the 21st Century. Seven contestants will soon be down to Six. Here is how Johnnny ranked them this week: #1 Casey Abrams: A+ In it to win it. So frickin good. Matches his best so far. #2 James Durbin: A- Awesome as usual. Not that crazy about it. Bit extreme. Futuristically cool. #3 Haley Reinhart: B+ My favorite of hers so far. Not too growley. Bit of the yodeler. Great choice for her. Nicely confident. #4 Scotty McCreery: B+ Nice medium upbeat performance. On pitch. Safe but boring. #5 Lauren Alaina: B+ Enough to stay in competition. Just OK. Needs to step it up. Enough make-up for a week. #6 Stefano Langone: C+ Tone of voice is shrill. Stopped singing half way thru. Trying to be too sexy man. #7 Jacob Lusk: C+ Don't pick songs that make you start crying. Tired of Mr. Overly Dramatic Scream Fest.

Rewriting History

A curved flat roof prevents water accumulation

Back when Christopher Columbus first discovered that someone else had already discovered America, all the "experts" thought that all buildings should be flat. But after each heavy rainfall, these flat roofs had chronic leakage (the earliest form of domesticated running water). Then, when the Wright Brothers took their maiden voyage, their maid discovered that all this unwanted roof rain retention might be solved by curving the roof to emulate the earth's horizon. Now, normal flat roof construction has added a curve (or "convexation") thus allowing all the rain run-off to come down in a controlled area and be routed directly into your garden or fish pond.

Depth of Feel

3-D 4-Shortened Depth of Field

Songs From The Movies

The countdown continues with songs from movies

American Idol marches on with Songs From The Movies night. There are so many tunes from which to choose. How could you ever pick just one?

My notes in groups from best to non-best:
Top
James: I'm not a heavy metal fan. T'was incredible. He's being true to himself.
Casey: Great jazz version of Nature Boy. Successfully takes chances. True artist.
Lauren: Best woman left in the competition (only one other). Great song for her.
Middle
Paul: Crowd pleasing singalonger. Unique but limited.
Bottom
Stefano: Not pleasing to my ears. Strained. Wouldn't want his CD even if it twas free.
Scotty: Opryland here we come. (He should have sung his first choice.)
Haley: Average performance. Bad choice of song. Nicely dressed.
Jacob: Overly dramatic. Self indulgent. Predictably lusky.
Going Home
Stefano or Haley!

Through The Looking Glass

Read the directions and directly you will be directed in the right direction. --Alice In Wonderland

Rockin Roll Week

American Idols rockin the house

Tonight's American Idol show was Rock and Roll night. What a great theme for our nine singers to perform within. Everyone did well but someone will have to be eliminated. Sorry! I really enjoyed seeing Todd Rundgren (my favorite musician) get introduced from the audience, right after Pia had finished her yelling.

My performance notes in grouped order:

Top Group:
James Durbin sang Guitar Gently Weeps. Started a little boring but quickly got great. Very Adam Lambertish. Quite Durbinesque. Love that he takes chances.

Middle Group:
Haley actually did justice to Janis Joplin! Really liked it.
Jacob sang Man in the Mirror. This was the most that I have ever not disliked him.
Lauren did a nice job of Natural Woman, but bad hair and too mucho makeup.
Stefano: Surpri-sing-ly good sounding performance but could he ever open the eyes?
Casey sang Have U Ever Seen The Rain? Mist some due to a DVR pause mishap but saw the final recap. Why does he have to end every line with "eeee-ah" and look intensely evil for a second?

Bottom Group:
Paul McDonald had a farm: E-i, E-i, No! Johnny Cash would have gone thumbs down, but Rod Stewart probably loved it.
Scotty (beam me down) needs to learn how to hold the microphone normally. His Elvis didn't move the Pelvis.
Pia picked a nothing song that I didn't care for and she didn't do anything great with it.

Going Home: Paul. (Really going out on a limb!)

Sun Shade

Photon Mitigation Device

Here is another addition to my blog's Art Gallery. We're calling this Sun Shade. Any sunlight that makes it into the room, is painted a nice shade of peach. The scientific name for a window shade such as this is a photon mitigation device (PMD), but most folks still just call them curtains. As with any blog picture, you can click on the picture to see it a bit bigger. Happy Saturday!