Yoann Lemoine aka Woodkid

Yes, I admit it, I've missed Gotye's hit song "Somebody That I Used To Know" by about a year.  Why?  Don't know. One thing I know is that Yoann Lemoine aka Woodkid won't escape my music taste.  Got hooked on "Run Boy Run". Woodkid is becoming bigger and bigger.  Check out the "Iron" also. Music reminds just rocks!

Speed cams in Chicago will soon grab your wallets?

Chicago Mayor, Rahm Emanuel, is finally getting his wish. Chicago is officially getting closer to installing the initial speed cameras at 50 locations by the end of 2013. According to Chicago Tribune, “state law allows Emanuel to install cameras at up to 300 locations in specially designated school and park zones” around Chicago.

The biggest surprise (not) is a recent test run by two competing vendors, ATS and Xerox State & Local Solutions, concluding the estimated revenue from the speeding tickets would exceed, wait for it, “well into the hundreds of millions of dollars in the program's first year”.

Emanuel's push for this huge revenue stream made everyone in the City Hall curious at first but now, everyone soaked their panties and some more. Reading about this cash grab, I sit there and wonder, why Chicagoans bend over and take it without a peep? Why not install a GPS systems in every car in Chicago and automatically withdraw weekly penalty from your checking accounts? It would be more cost effective.

What is wrong with you people? It's right there: revenue, cash stream, bring in, reap, millions of dollars. Nobody's taking about how many accidents will be avoided, how many kids will be saved, how many lives will be prolonged. Where are the pedestrian vs. car statistics? How will City Hall justify year after year of this new tax?

On the positive note, Emanuel's friends from Redflex Traffic Systems are persona-non-grata due to the bribery scandal with the red light camera program. I wonder who does the Mayor know at the ATS company?

You might call it a drive-through colonoscopy, but once again, Chicagoans got boned. This time with a camera tip light pole. And no, I'm not taking about a huge population of pale Poles in Chicago.

Happy Fassha Day

To all responsible fathers who take care of their families and try hard to raise respectful kids, Happy Fassha Day!

America’s Got Talent show taping in Chicago

Stage and the famous table

Tons of people showed up at the Rosemont Theatre for the taping of America's Got Talent Chicago.  And by tons, I mean thousands.  The tickets were free, yes free, and the crowd was psyched to see Heidi Klum, Scary Spice Girl Mel B., Howie Mandel, and of course, Howard Stern.

They taped two shows for three days.  I went on Thursday and was lucky to get a seat in the first row behind the judges table about twelve feet from Heidi Klum.  Yes, Heidi is a total lady.

The season's premiere is set for June 4th on NBC but we had a chance to see all the great and not so great performances live!

The biggest surprise was a black guy with dreads who was about the sing.  Everyone expected some modern cover song or some rapping but the guy actually performed "Granada" opera song.  And he was fantastic!

Howie Mandel had the best comment, “You have performed like a black Pavarotti, a Blackarotti!” Needless to say, the guy advanced.

The other surprise was a group of dancers who juggled and tossed wooden rifles ten feet into the air.  Perfection and precision was rewarded and they advanced as well.  The dancers wore very tight and revealing black spandex costumes with long capes so it was no surprise that Howie cracked another comment, “The performance had the perfect combination of difficulty, skill, and even a slight touch of camel toe!”  The ladies in the group automatically covered their groin area, it was hilarious.

Then, there was this wedding singer aka standup comedian whose performance sucked proverbial tea bags.  The whole theater booed him ten seconds into his lame routine.  The guy just didn't want to clear the stage.  The audience was just annoyed and even Howie couldn't put down the fire.  The guy was axed but Howard Stern really took his time explaining why the jokes sucked and perhaps sticking to the weddings was the best outlet for the guy.  The lesbian group labia majora aficionado actually kept it professional.  Keep it cool Howard!

Another fail was some Chi-town drag queen with his two minions dressed in black spandex.  Btw, what's up with the black spandex lately?  It's unflattering to the ladies and over bulging for the guys.  The skit totally blew.  What kind of a drag queen are you if you can't dance and sing?  Birdcage anyone?  Rejected.

By then, everyone was ready for some electrifying performance.  The next crew looked awesome: two guys in Halo armor with compressed air rifles, one on stilts, four girls with hard hats, metal chest and groin plates, welding goggles, swinging metal grinders.  What’s not to like?  Wrong.  The idea was great for an industrial rave party but not really worth a million dollars grand prize.  Rejected.

Finally, the act worth watching involved juggling and a Molotov’s cocktail on a balloon.  It was impressive and the juggler advanced.  The table was amazed.

There were some others but you will have to watch the show on TV to find out who passed and who failed.

Overall, America’s Got Talent was a total blast.  Everyone had a great time and we had a chance to see and talk to some interesting celebrities.  If AGT tapes in your city don’t miss it, you will have a great time.  Check out some of the pics from the show.  Comment on your favorite performer.

Heidi from behind

Table getting ready for a break

Howie, Mel B, and Heidi

Some makeup at the table

Mel B with Heidi Klum

Scary Spice – Mel B

People waiting before the show

Rosemont Theatre

Dead giveaway by Charles Ramsey

You can always count on Cleveland for a good story.  America was shocked by the discovery of three missing women found allegedly enslaved in one of the houses in Cleveland by three Puerto Rican Castro brothers.  Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight are free now thanks to a new American hero: Charles Ramsey.

Charles Ramsey deserves a lot of credit for being a concern fella in the neighborhood of who-cares-if-there-are-chained-naked-women-in-that-house.  Bill Gates, this is your guy!  How about rewarding Mr. Ramsey for his cojones.

 

Werewolf and department store discounts

The Twilight Saga movies became something comparable to the Star Wars Saga or Lord of the Rings Saga. Story about Bella and her adventures with the blood thirsty vampires and cuddly werewolves are here to stay.

One big question remains: Do werewolves get discounts on clothes at department stores?

After Jacob Black rips his clothes up eight times a day to turn into a werewolf, where does he get his new outfit? Does he have a Macy's baggie stashed away in the woods to quickly pop on some jeans and a cotton v-necks?

Perhaps, local Kohl's sponsors his escapades by providing seventy five matching sets of khakis and flannel shirts?

Or, he just visits a second hand store to save some money.  But wait, Jacob Black looks like a GAP commercial so it must be the discounts for werewolves.  BTW, is there a discount on chewing toys at the pet shops?  Because that would fall into the young werewolf category as well.

PSY is a true Korean gentleman

After the worldwide sensation "Gangnam Style", PSY cooked up another hit titled "Gentleman".  Yes, there are new moves associated with the song.  No choice but to learn a new dance after becoming proficient in "Gangnam Style".  Wedding DJs will be psyched. Pun absolutely intended.

Will the new song ease the tensions between North Korea and South Korea?  Perhaps Kim Jong-un could bust a move instead of busing a nuke?  Or, maybe North Koreans finally revolt against their butterball leader after realizing how much fun they've been missing all those years.

Undeniably, the song is a hit already.  At the time of this post, there are 6,901,112 YouTube hits already.  Go PSY!

UPDATE : 4/18/13   As of today, the video was watched 152,511,885 times! WOW!

UPDATE: on May 8th, 2013, PSY received 300,526,367 hits!