A collection of views, gripes and nonsense

Gripe of the week

The iPod commercials aren't technically bad, but they are repeated far past the saturation point. U2 promoted its new album by giving everyone a taste of "Vertigo" - which had the special quality of being annoying after the very first listen. Now it's Eminem's turn to cross-promote iPod and his greatest hits CD, Curtain Call: The Hits. As if everyone in the world hasn't heard "Lose Yourself" enough, Eminem sings it for us one more time while he jumps around in a more urban iPod world, full of graffiti and paint blots. This is a meaningless commercial for iPod because all the white kids in the suburbs that like Eminem already have iPods. I hope Apple doesn't think it's going to get any street cred for this.

Newsworthy

Brad Pitt - actor, heartthrob, tangelo lover - is officially adopting Angelina Jolie's kids. Meanwhile, Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn were pulled over for speeding right here in our state. Apparently the car reeked of alcohol but the cop loved "Rumor Has It."

A sarcastic comment

Tom and Katie, Brad and Angelina, Vince and Jen, Jen and Ben, Britney and Kevin. They're all going to be 2gether 4ever!

Quoteworthy

"I think that there's something rather boyish about my face,"

-Scarlett Johansson, who added that she doesn't question her sexuality because there's something girly about her crotch.

Random review

Scattershot was pretty weak last week. The guy writing it seems to be losing interest, or maybe he's just busy. Whatever it is, I hope it comes back stronger than ever next semester. Chances are it will probably still suck.

Download this

Jenny Lewis, lead singer of Rilo Kiley and former star of the awesome flick "The Wizard," is releasing a solo album - a solo album that has leaked onto the Internet. I'm not a huge Rilo Kiley fan, but "Handle With Care," a Dylan cover featuring Conor Oberst, Ben Gibbard and M. Ward, is a must-hear.

Watch this

The Strokes' new album, First Impressions of Earth, is getting some horrible buzz, but the video for the lead single "Juice Box" kicks total ass, with David Cross playing an annoying DJ who introduces them as Stroke with their song "Juicy Juice."

Read this

Speaking of David Cross, check out his hilarious letter to Larry the Cable Guy - who will have trouble responding without blowing his cover as a simple southern guy. http://bobanddavid.com/david.asp?artId=183