Heard this great song on a movie soundtrack a couple of weeks ago and I had to hunt it down. Now I listen to it all the time and it’s really got me turned onto this cool band, “The Feeling”. They claim both Queen and ELO as influences, but I hear a lot of Fountains of Wayne and just a lot of great Britpop sound.

Whatever their sound is, I like it and want to hear more!

This is the next big Will Smith movie and I have to confess I hadn’t heard anything about it till now. Smith plays the world’s most dysfunctional superhero and I have to say the trailer looks great.

Sure, everyone knows and loves The Walken and his cowbell, Monty Python’s Dead Parrot and Rick James (bitch!). But, Nerve.com and IFC have gone even farther and decided to compile the 50 Greatest Comedy Sketches of All Time.

Click Here to watch them all!

Little Becky from Dublin has become a huge hit on this site. Her first two articles, featuring her prank calls, have garnered over a thousand comments and brought many repeat visitors back to Merchantprince.com.

If you’d asked me what my biggest draws on this blog would be back when I started, I doubt it would have been an 8-year old doing prank calls. But there you are. And here you are again, for I have new media for all her fans.

Enjoy Becky on a UK Irish TV show from last Christmas, wherein she showcases a karaoke machine and charms everyone in the audience (of course).

It has been nearly a month since my last post. I have often found myself distracted, and sometimes feeling as if there’s nothing worth posting. Sadly, tonight I found a purpose. Another anniversary will pass in the next few minutes as I make this message public. It was one week ago today that our beloved family friend of so many years passed. Our dog Molly had been with us for 13 years. She grew up as my little sister grew up. During that time, she became one of our own.

After spending the last year ailing with creeping senility and other physical ailments, seven days ago tonight she succumbed. In fact, seven days ago at the moment I intend to post this message (1:18 am), Molly suffered a series of terrible strokes. Her body was wracked with seizures and her eyes with fear, as we struggled as a family to gather around and comfort her. We could only watch in helplessness as she faded away.

It has been many years since I have felt any degree of great emotional pain. I have often remarked on myself having become so emotionally detached that I feared nothing would ever affect me again. In fact, all my life I have been spared the terrible pain of losing anyone very very close to me.

I cannot — and would not — pretend that this treasured friend was anything more than a pet — an animal who grew close to our hearts. Yet somehow, after all this, it seems that that is enough.

Rest in peace, dear pup.

Regurgitating the Apple: How Modern Liberals “Think” was a March 7, 2007 address to the Heritage Foundation by Hollywood writer Evan Sayet (Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, Win Ben Stein’s Money).

During this excellent lecture, Sayet synthesizes the critical flaws in modern leftist thinking and provides a completely new way to explain those motivations in post 9/11 America.

Again, I’m rare with the political video on Merchantprince, but I heartily recommend this one:

How did I miss this? Man, I would have been geeked out enough to drive across the country to hang out with the old gang…

Friday, March 21, 2008

 

LOS ANGELES —

“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” was resurrected for one night only. The cast of the popular supernatural series, which ran from 1997 to 2003 on The WB and then UPN, were in good spirits Thursday while reuniting for a panel discussion at the William S. Paley Television Festival. That doesn’t mean fans should expect the gang to get back together on screen.

“So many stars would have to align,” creator Joss Whedon said about the possibility of a new “Buffy” project.

For seven seasons, the slayer and company battled vampires, demons, werewolves, high school and other forces of darkness with tongue planted firmly in cheek. “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” based on the movie of the same name, was never lauded with many awards, but it has been cited by many critics as being one of the most influential shows in TV history.

Sarah Michelle Gellar said she was surprised to find out moments before the reunion that her character recently had her first sexual tryst with a woman in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight,” a comic book series that picks up where the show ended. Gellar also reminisced about auditioning 11 times before landing the role of Buffy Summers.

“All my friends felt sorry for me because I was on a midseason replacement on a network no one had heard of on a show based on a movie that wasn’t all that,” the 30-year-old actress said.

Before the panel, audience members watched the fifth-season musical episode “Once More, With Feeling.” Other cast members at the reunion were Amber Benson, Nicholas Brendon, Emma Caulfield, Seth Green, James Marsters and Michelle Trachtenberg, who played Buffy’s surprise sister Dawn and will join the cast of The CW’s “Gossip Girl” this fall.

More coverage of the event:

Listen to the entire event here. (It starts after a musical intro of almost two minutes.)

Read a recap from TV Guide’s Michael Ausiello here.

The “Pink Is The New Blog” website has several photos here, along with some backstage notes.

E!’s Wanda Two Saints conducts backstage video interviews with Gellar, Charisma Carpenter, Seth Green and Michelle Tractenberg here.

Yeah, this song has been out for awhile now and everyone has heard it on the radio. I think it stands up well, though, seeing as I still enjoy listening to it almost every day.

In a sea of faux punk bands and other such manipulative drek in the top 40 charts, this little song stands out as sincere and pure.

Here’s a pleasant diversion for your weekend. Take a simple 3 minute test to determine which type of American English you speak.

Click Here to take the test. Feel free to comment below your results.

My Linguistic Profile:

55% General American English

0% Upper Midwestern

Which makes sense. I’ve never lived in the Midwest and grew up for part of my childhood in Texas, but have lived in Pennsylvania most of my life (sadly).