Mo' Mohels

So in case you didn't see it, Mohels had it's 2nd episode at Channel 102 on Monday and got voted back for another episode. You can check it out here.

Also, the newest Improv Everywhere mission is up. Check it!

Greetings and Salutations*

Went to Charlotte to visit my brother and Meredith and Liney and the newest addition to the Charlotte Shelks, Baby Anderson. Here are some fun snaps from the trip. Feel free to ignore if you are heartless and don't enjoy cute pics.

Uncle Nay & Baby Anderson. Shelkey's enjoy a good nap.


Caroline, my niece---part Swamp Thing. She's giving us a rare glimpse of her transformation.


Giggles! We're going to the Pool! Pools are so FUN-ny!


Anderson and Liney contemplate each other. I think it's a good idea for siblings to do this from time to time and just stop and stare at each other.



Daughter & Dad wear matching frog and turtle hats.

[If you are obsessed and want to see more pics here are some from my birthday party and the full set from Charlotte.]

* see I'm clever, that's what Charlotte says when she meets Wilbur in Charlotte's Web. And I went to Charlotte. Get it? Oh, I'm too briliant by far I know.

Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, Steven Seagal

Saw this in the Wash Post this morning.


And I was amused and intrigued. Then I dug a little more and found this.



And this...



These pictures are amusing for the guitar faces alone. They are also disturbing. For instance, what about the outfit? It seems like he has some sort of tour scheme going on. The gold one is sort of Indian but the purple is completely Austin Powers. The first pic is fine, it's your general 'rock shirt'. I'm sincerely hoping that those second two are from the past and the first one is the current look. Otherwise, Miles(Copeland, his manager) needs to do something about this. If I ever start wearing something like this for a show and I appear to do be doing legitmately and without a hint of fun. Please STOP ME. Consider it a cry for help.

Dad Accessories

For instance, The Daddle....

Note, that the Daddle can be bought along with Knee pads("Horseshoes for Dad"). I might buy this for my brothers.

(From Thighswideshut)

40 Million Things That Are Wrong Today

They all start with the fact that Click was #1 at the Box Office this weekend. Click! You know, the movie with Adam Sandler where he has a magic remote control that can control his life. I think I saw this movie before, oh I remember, it was called BRUCE ALMIGHTY! Don't get me wrong, I like Adam Sandler. I love his songs. And I enjoyed Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison as much as the next guy. But Click looks D-U-M, dumb. Of course, the big complication of this movie is that at some point the remote keeps fast forwarding and he's missing all of the good things in life. Whatever. Snooze. I'm sorry, I'm must have fast forwarded the part where I care about this movie. Zing! (Sidenote: This is one of those movies that is pefect for bad reviews. Because the reviewer can cleverly work in some way to reference the title, like 'Click Draws A Blank' or 'Click Clack Clunk!')

Meter

I watch ESPN. And almost everyday, I watch Pardon the Interruption(PTI) with my hometown boys Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser. They always have the same announcer on PTI. It's some girl. And I HATE the way she reads the ads. It's always the same. And it bugs the crap out of me. She's like Don Pardo but not charming. Someone should tell her to vary it up a bit. Doesn't she have a mid-year review like the rest of us?
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Last night, I was talking about with someone about mixes. You know, mix tapes and the like. And for whatever reason, every since I got a computer at home, I stopped making them. Even though it's easier than ever to make them. And just now I was trying to think of the last time I make an MO tape. If you're a guy, you know that means a 'make out tape'. I think it might have been h.s. maybe college. Here is my guess for what were surely the top 10 entries in" MO tapes. In no particular order...

--"In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel. This is every girl's favorite song. It's not even that great a song. This is when you know you are making a MO tape. You start putting songs on you don't even like.

--"Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton. I believe this is the ultimate slow song. And it's the perfect compromise song for guys and girls. It's not too girlie because it's EC. But it's definitely a charming song for girls too. Sidenote: He writes this song but when he wanted to win George Harrison's wife, he writes "Layla"? Great song. But like until the piano part doesn't seem like a love song to me. Still, what do I know? She chose Eric instead of George(and dissed his song "Something In The Way She Moves")

--"Somebody" by Depeche Mode. If you were a girl who spent any time in the 80's, you loved this song. And by the way, for guys, if you made a list of what you wanted in a girl, the things he talks about? You could do worse. I'm about 90% certain somebody used these for their wedding vows too. "I want somebody to love me/And give me support/And in return/They'll get my support." It sounds awful just to read it like that, right? But once you add brooding piano with massive amounts of reverb and delay it becomes unstoppable.

--"Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin. Ok, this one's a little bit more primal. But you can't have a MO tape that's ALL slow jams.

--"Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye. This is pretty obvious right? This is basically the most Andrew Marvel of all carpe diem love songs anywhere. I love how he tries to get this lady in bed with lyrics like, "We're all sensitive people/with so much to give". True that, Marvin.

--"Unchained Melody" by the Righteous Brothers. There's a problem though. After GHOST, it wasn't as cool to have this song in there. It felt like you were trying to relive the movie. And who has the pottery equipment around to do that?

--"Just My Imagination" by the Temptations. This is clearly the R&B portion of the tape, but you know what? You don't mess with something that works.

--"More Than Words" by Extreme. This is a tricky one. It means you had to go out and buy Extreme's album which you don't want to have. And if you buy the single, well, that makes you a little guilty. And it's a cheesy song. But you know what? There's good cheese and there's bad cheese. And this is GOOD cheese. If you know how to play this on guitar and can sing that high? You don't need to be making this tape, you're making out right now.

--"The Flame" by Cheap Trick. Cheap Trick is a weird band. They spanned a pretty long period of time from "Surrender" to this tune which was probably in 1986. If it seems like I have a lot of songs from the 80's on here, well this is when I did most of my thinking about MO tapes, so it stands to reason. But come on-with lyrics like "I'm energy fire, I'm in way too deep over yoooooooooouuu!" I don't need to make excuses. The song speaks for itself. Cheap Trick? Maybe. But effective.

--"Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" by the Platters. This is where you prove you're classy. An oldie but goodie! Plus show me a person who doesn't love the shawop-shu-wop part of this song and I'll show you a person who hates themself.

--"Crazy Love" by Van the Man. Repeat this and tattoo in under your eyeballs young Lotharios---no MO tape is complete without Van. It's basically impossible. But there's a caveat and this is important. Just like it's sometimes difficult to go and see a comedy and try and be as funny afterwards, it's vitally important you do not try to sing with Van. You can't do it. He's the most soulful white man alive AND dead. You're just going to sound silly and you will be found wanting. So let the man do his work, and you do yours, cowboy.

Is this list complete? By no means. Still, I feel it's representative. And it makes me sad. Because I think if you made one now, it would come off as creepy. Still! It's an art. A dying art. The Make-Out Tape.

Amy Poehler’s 8 Simple Rules

Amy P's 8 Simple Rules for Being a Civilized New Yorker

from New York Magazine...

Party Of Five World Domination Begins

I'm not sure if you're aware of this but ABC has a new show coming out. It's called the Nine. And it stars a certain Scott Wolf aka Bailey, Party of Fiver. This makes me wonder if ABC execs were thinking, "We brought back Charlie from P05 purgatory and Lost became a hit. Why not bring back some others?" Clearly, CBS already beat them to the punch with Jenny Love and Ghost Whisperer. But ABC can still come up with something for Lacey Chabert and Neve Campbell and whatever that kid's name who played Owen was. Not to mention Jeremy London. Note: this also stars Tim "I used to be on Wings" Daly. Where is Tony Shaloub? He can't be far behind. Monk got cancelled right? Finally, here's a pertinent question: How old do you think Scott Wolf reads on screen now? For years, he played guys that were 18 or in their 20's until he was at least 35. Now, he's 38. I bet he's playing a dude he's 28 in this new thing. I honestly feel that Katie Holmes will have this problem too. She looks weird next to grownups. She's 28. But she still looks like she's 17. I wonder what the first movie Micke Rooney did where he finally looked non-kid like and normal. Probably never. When he grew up, he became creepy.

Cruel Summer

Coming soon to a theater near you.... I know there are quite a few dumb movies coming out this summer like Snakes On A Plane(which seems designed to be dumb) and Little Man(which seems organically dumb), but for me, it's actually this movie, "The Lake House". "How do you hold on to someone you've never met?" That's the tag line. See, it's about Keanu and Sandy Bullock who both are living in the same lake house but two years apart. And somehow they are able to send messages to each other through the (magical?) mailbox. At what point where the studios execs, saying YES! This is the stuff we've been missing. Crap like THIS! But here's the worst part. Ebert and Roeper gave it two thumbs up. Yeesh. I'm scared.
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Also, a follow-up. I finally watched the Ghost Whisperer because I was bored. As suspected, it's awful. Jenny Love sees ghosts everywhere and tries to help them become ok with them being ghosts and then they move on. So it's basically the Sixth Sense but without the suspense or the twist and instead of a little kid, he's a she and she's grown up with big boobs. The best line of the night was when her husband who's a paramedic said, "And I was just thinking, NO! I'm not going to send another one to you! Not this one! (sotto voce) Not this one..." See, he was bothered by the fact that he dealt with people who were alive and she with people that were dead. But if he failed, then she got them. Pretty deep, Ghost Whisperer. Pa-reeet-ty deep. As with any Jenny Love production, the producers obviously realize that her boobs are her best asset and they contrive ways for her to always be in a nightie or in workout clothes or a low-cut top. Still, it's not worth it. Oh, and this is for Natasha. Wentworth Miller was the guest star. His agent must really think Prison Break is going to tank. Or he's just not a good agent. Guest star on the Ghost Whisperer? They should bring back Battle of the Network Stars and he can be on that next. (Oh wait, I just IMDB'ed him and that was the pilot I saw which was shot in 2005 BEFORE Prison Break. So you're off the hook Wentworth Miller's agent. FOR NOW.)(Ooh! This gets even MORE interesting. Wentworth must have a thing for Jenny Love or vice versa. Or Wentworth's agent does---because he was also on her short lived show "Time Of Your Life".)

Uncle Nate Parts III & IV

I submit evidence of two super cute bouncing baby boys. The first little dude is Anderson Michael Shelkey(born 5/22/06), my brother Brent and his wife Meredith's little guy! The second handsome devil is Dylan Patrick Yeo, my sister Lou and her husband Eric's first lumpkin(born 6/10/06). So I now have a full set. Two nieces and two nephews. Pretty sweet, right? And now this means Uncle Nate can start buying some really rad toys for some little duders. I smell remote control cars, I'm sensing trucks, I'm seeing super soakers, I'm thinking mad scientist goopy goo. Don't worry, the nieces won't be neglected! But it'll be a nice change from princess accoutrement. Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDERSON AND DYLAN!(It looks like Anderson is precocious, note how he wrote "I'm a boy!" on his hospital crib thingie)

7th Place, First In Your Hearts...

So the results are in. Huck Slim came in 7th out 10 last night with 41 votes. Thanks to all who came out! We realized that it was going to be a tough time going against bands that were bringing upwards of 80 and 90 people. But it was fun to play at the Knit. We'll be back!(I just looked up what the winning band had. 237 votes. WOW. But you know what? I liked them. They are called Hollis Browne. So I don't bedgrudge those guys. If you can get 200 some people to come to your show, you deserve to win.)
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Vince bought a used car. It's a Saturn wagon. The best part is on the back window is a sticker. It says, "Starfleet Academy". I really hope he keeps it on. Which makes me think of the whole "Baby on Board" phenomenon. What was that all about? I feel like cars are a bit like guitar cases. You're either the kind of person to put a sticker on it or you're not. Which reminds me, I need to post a picture of Birch's bass guitar case. Birch is most definitely a sticker on your case kind of guy and it's a phenomenal job. It's a mosaic practically. A piece of art. You'll see what I mean. I on the other hand, only recently started to put stickers on my case. It's slow going. I have a rule, I'm not going to just like put a bunch of stickers on to get coverage. I want them to be cool. So far I have like 4 stickers on it. So if you have any cool stickers, send them my way! Or if you have a line on places to secure great stickers this would be good too. Right now I'm just doing my acoustic case. I think I will leave the Ric for another day.

Day of the Beast

It's 6/6/06 today. And you know what? It doesn't feel scary. Friday the 13th always feels a little scary. And Halloween sure. But today just feels like Tuesday. I think Monday is scarier than Tuesday. Still, the day is young---demons could arise at any moment.

The Modern Ending: I'm like Estella

You know, it used to be fashionable to have a happy ending. Somewhere along the line in the 20th century (and especially in the 21st), that became moot. There was of course, the unhappy ending too. And of course traditionally this is that very easy dividing point between comedy(happy) and drama(unhappy). But then writers got cute. And they created the modern ending---where nothing is resolved. It's all up in the air. And they'll even use this in the comedy too---for instance, a classic modern ending is the close of the Graduate. She leaves the dude at the altar and then gets on the bus with Benjamin, but you don't know what's going to happen. And it certainly isn't happen. Especially not as "The Sounds Of Silence" by Simon & Funk kick in!

I realized this weekend I hate the modern ending though. We went to see "The Break-Up".

If you care about plot twists in this movie and you're going to see it, don't read on....

And I don't think I'm going to spoil it for you but maybe I am: IT DOESN'T END WELL. It's all fun and games for awhile and then all of a sudden it turns very very serious. And she rejects him right at a crucial point where he seems to have learned everything and you think oh this is perfect, they are going to get back together. The whole audience is in fact rooting for that moment. But she doesn't. She rejects him. And maybe that's just like life. But I guess that's just not what I want to see. And test audiences agreed with me because according to Siobhan, they rewrote the ending. And they have a scene now where it seems like things might just start up again. And then we fade to black.

This problem with the modern ending isn't new though. It reminded me how Charles Dickens did the same thing with "Great Expecations". His readers didn't like that Pip and Estella never get together. So he changed it. But it's also still very modern with it left up in the air, do they really get back together or just it just seem like it? And I hate that. I like a completion. And when I see a movie that's billed as ha ha good time chuckles with Vince and Jennifer, I want to see them smooch it up in the end. I think it's the addition of Vince though. If it was just Jennifer, we can see her in movies now where it ends unhappily, but Vince has never ever played a character like that. It's always good times with him. Or he's a bad guy. I guess we can be content in knowing in real life, they did get together. But I'm selfish, I'd rather it didn't work out in real life but did on screen. When I go to see a Hollywood movie, I want a Hollywood ending.

Frightening

Spence is right. This guy is prolly one of the ugliest guys in sports.

Hiring The Enemy

I can't believe this. If you're an Orioles' fan, you need to read this:

Washington Post article

You remember Jeffrey Maier? That snot nosed kid who interfered with the ball that Tony Tarasco was going to catch in the ALCS with the Yankees? It made it a home run instead of a warning track out. And the Orioles didn't go to the World Series. Even though it was THEIR YEAR. This was the last year that Orioles were really competitive. But I mean, what a year! I think that year was the year they spent every day in first place. This was the year that Davey Johnson won Manager of the Year. And then this little freaking KID ruins it. To the Yankees of all teams!

Anyway, so get this---the Orioles are now thinking of putting Maier in uniform! Apparently, now 22, he's a pretty good college ball player. Ugh, I don't know what to think about this. It pains me.