King James

All hail The King in today’s High 5:

CRAZY COINCIDENCE: I can’t believe I didn’t know this until Wednesday, but do you realize Tiger Woods and LeBron James were born on the same day? The Associated Press named Tiger the athlete of the decade for the 2000s. Sports Illustrated named LeBron the athlete of the next decade. There are no guarantees in life, but I’m … ummm … guaranteeing LeBron will never place himself in the same kind of quagmire Tiger has. I still can’t believe how much Tiger Woods has screwed up his life. Makes me appreciate King James even more.

YOUR 15 MINUTES ARE UP: The Jeff Dunham Show on Comedy Central. (The plug was pulled after one season.)

TRY AGAIN NEXT DECADE: Time magazine writer Richard Corliss is the latest to release a list of top films of the decade. No. 1 is Wall-E. Go ahead and shake your head. The choice is simply stupid, and that’s no knock on what is regarded as an entertaining film, but best of the decade? Gimme a break. Other highlights of the list include No. 4 Slumdog Millionaire, No. 7 The Hurt Locker and No. 10 Avatar.

WAY TO GO: You know how impartial I am toward anything or anyone connected with the greatest show in television history — American Idol — so I was especially happy when I saw Entertainment Weekly named former Idol champ Kelly Clarkson as its comeback artist of the year for her All I Ever Wanted CD. Kelly may have packed on a few pounds — haven’t we all? — but the girl can still sing.

ONE OF THE WORST?: That same Entertainment Weekly listed its top five worst CDs of 2009 and one of those was The Circle by Bon Jovi. Ouch. That hurt. Be still my beating 1980s heart. Out of all the CDs released last year, you’re telling me Bon Jovi’s effort was one of the worst? The same boys that gave Livin’ On A Prayer? Come on! Did someone forget about Eminem? I’m pretty sure he had a CD out in 2009 and I know  that had to have been worse than anything one of the best hair bands of all-time gave us. Whoever put together the EW list must have been talking to that Corliss guy from Time magazine.

I can guarantee you by the time you read this I will have made a return trip to Steak and Shake … all that and more in today’s High 5:

NEW ADDICTION: My wife (a.k.a The Luckiest Woman on the Face of the Earth) and I stopped at Steak and Shake the other night. I tried the new white chocolate shake — and my palate thought it was in culinary heaven. What a great flavor for a milshake. I wanted to get a second right on the spot, but the Little Woman said, “Not now, sweetheart, love of my life.” (Or something like that.)

SONG THAT SHOULD BE A CLASSIC BUT IS NOT: “Come On Eileen” by Dexy’s Midnight Runners, circa 1983.

SHE’S ENGAGED: In case you missed it (like I did!), just before Christmas former American Idol champ and country music superstar Carrie Underwood got an engagement ring from Ottawa Senators center Mike Fisher. It’s estimated to be five carats and worth a cool $150,000. Which reminds me it’s only 13 days until the start of season nine of the greatest show in television history.

YOUR 15 MINUTES ARE UP: Blonde Britney Spears. (The train wreck is back to being a brunette. Yawnnnnn….)

MOST WATCHED: YouTube’s most watched video of 2009 belonged to the amazing Susan Boyle. What a great story she has been the past few months. Hopefully, she will forsake her Great Britain roots and move to America and become a regular on some show or host one of her own. Everybody loves the woman, and you blame them? (By the way, her I Dreamed A  Dream video had received more than 120  million views at last report.)

Rod Stewart

Michael or “Sully” for most shocking event of 2009? … you can decide in today’s High 5:

SHOCKING: People magazine has an interesting year-end feature about the most shocking events of 2009. No. 1 is the death of Michael Jackson, No. 2 US Airways flight 1549 managing an emergency — and successful — landing in the Hudson River off midtown Manhattan, making a well-deserved her of pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger III, No. 3 the Chris Brown-Rihanna soap opera. A case could be made that Flight 1549 should be No. 1, but it is hard to argue with the impact of Michael Jackson’s passing.

SUGGESTED LISTENING: One of the most interesting duets in recent memory is the Jennifer Hudson-Rod Stewart redndition of Let It Be Me, heard on Rod’s new Soulbook CD. It is absolutely beautiful. At some point, I would think it would probably be released as a single that would do extremely well with the adult contemporary crowd. Hudson is a former American Idol finalist and Rod is … well, the finest male singer in the history of modern music.

PEOPLE I WOULD LIKE TO MEET: Urban Meyer, Suzy Kolber, Erin Andrews, all of the Kardashains (especially Kim and even Khloe), Mel Kiper Jr., Jim Belushi, Marquis Grissom.

JOB I WILL NEVER HAVE: Chef. (Primarily because I can’t cook and I have no desire to learn. But I do love to eat — a lot.)

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO?: Phil Collins.

A couple of fantasy flicks, some great animation, a little vampire-and-werewolf action and a comedy led the way at the box office in 2009 … read about it in today’s High 5:

TOP FIVE FLICKS: The box office results are in, and the top five highest-grossing films of 2009 were: 1. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, 2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, 3. Up, 4. Twilight Saga: New Moon, 5. The Hangover. Others of ntoe included No. 6 Star Trek, No. 7 Avatar and No. 10 The Blind Side. As far as simply personal favorites I have to lean toward New Moon, The Hangover and It’s Complicated. The most surprising movie may have been the The Hangover, which I still find myself laughing about, especially the part about Mike Tyson’s tiger. If you saw the film, I’m sure you know what I mean.

SONG THAT SHOULD BE A CLASSIC BUT IS NOT: “Pretty Ballerina” by Left Banke.

YOUR 15 MINUTES ARE UP: Tyra Banks. (She’s ending her talk show int he spring. Yawnnn…)

MORE AWARDS: USA Today television critic Robert Bianco selected Lost as the top drama of 2009, American Idol as the best reality show and Modern Family as the top comedy. I loved his comment about Idol: “So You  Think You Can Dance has a higher level of talent overall, but Idol is still where stars are made. Whether the right star won is open to question, but there’s no doubt the competition — and the “What will Adam do next?” fascination — kept millions of viewers enthralled.” Well put, Robert. Well put.

NOT A FAN: The Associated Press reports Jon Gosselin’s lawyer says someone slashed, stole and smashed furniture and other items in the reality star’s (the term is used loosely) New York City apartment while he spent Christmas with his children in Pennsylvania. Attorney Mark Jay Heller says Gosselin came home Saturday to find the destruction — and a note “speared” to his bedroom dresser with a butcher knife. Heller wouldn’t disclose who signed the note or what it said. The 32-year-old Gosselin rose to fame on TLC’s Jon & Kate Plus 8 before splitting with wife Kate this year. How much you wanna bet a year from now the name Jon Gosselin will be little more than the answer to some trivia question?

What a great Christmas night we had … read all about it in today’s High 5:

GREAT FILM: The Little Woman and myself capped off a great Christmas when we went to see It’s Complicated late that night. Both Maryl Streep and Alec Baldwin were tremendous. There were several times when everyone in the theater simply laughed out loud. It was one of those husband-and-wife films you didn’t want to see end. If you get a chance, take your significant other and have a great time.

GOOD START: Speaking of flicks, I see where Sherlock Holmes set a single-day record for the Christmas holiday with a $24.9 million box office take. Did you notice who the director of that film? Guy Ritchie. That’s Madonna’s ex-husband. I must admit, the trailers alone for this movie are better than some entire films. It’s definitely on my must-see list.

YOUR 15 MINUTES ARE UP: Urban Meyer. (Sorry to see the Florida football coach, who is a native of Ohio, step down for health and personal reasons. He has always appeared to be a class act. Here’s hoping Meyer, 45, is able to return to coaching at some point down the road.)

SONG THAT SHOULD BE A CLASSIC BUT IS NOT: “Gimme Gimme Good Lovin’” by Crazy Elephant.

BEST OF 2009: Time magazine critic Josh Tyrangiel has listed his top albums of 2009: 1. American Saturday Night from Brad Paisley, 2. Bitte Orca by Dirty Projectors, 3. Crack the Skye by Mastodon, 4. Revolution from Miranda Lambert, 5. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix by Phoenix. I love Brad Paisley, I’ve heard of Miranda Lambert and have no idea who or what the other three are.

There are days when I wonder what some people are thinking. … and this one of them. Check it out in this morning’s edition of the High 5:

HER TOP TV PICKS: St. Louis Post-Dispatch television critic Gail Pennington picked her top TV shows of the year: 1. Mad Men (AMC), 2. Lost (ABC), 3. Glee (Fox), 4. Modern Family (ABC), 5. Top Chef (Bravo). Is the woman nuts? Not even having American Idol listed is simply ridiculous. Is my bias showing? 

MY TOP TV PICKS: Now for the real top five TV shows of 2009: 1. American Idol (Fox), 2. Criminal Minds (CBS), 3. CSI: Miami (CBS), 4. CSI: New York (CBS), 5. NBC Sunday Night Football.

SONG THAT SHOULD BE A CLASSIC BUT IS NOT: “Lido Shuffle” by Boz Scaggs.

“HURT LOCKER” MOMENTUM CONTINUES TO BUILD: And yet another vote for The Hurt Locker as the top movie of 2009. News week film critic David Ansen writes, “Kathryn Bigelow’s nail-bitingly intense Iraq War movie works on multiple levels: it’s at once a smashing action film, an astute study of warrior psychology, a tribute to the courage of the men who risk their lives working on bomb-detonation squads, and a cautionary tale about a man’s addiction to danger. War, for Jeremy Renner’s adrenaline-hooked hero, is the ultimate drug. Bigelow has always been a superb director of action; here she surpasses herself.” I have got to see this film.

YOUR 15 MINUTES ARE UP: Ashlee Simpson-Wentz.

For those Criminal Minds junkies out there, there is “Minds Marathon” today on A&E … and now, this morning’s High 5:

BEST TV SHOW I DISCOVERED THIS YEAR: Upon the urging of a friend, I watched an episode of Criminal Minds … and then another … and another, and now I have to admit — it’s my favorite show. I have moved it slightly ahead of Cold Case and CSI: Miami and CSI: New York. I think the strength of Criminal Minds is its strength-in-numbers  approach, with no one character allowed to dominate. The series follows a team of profilers from the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) at Quantico, Va.  Criminal Minds differs from many criminal system procedural dramas by focusing on the criminal rather than the crime itself. My favorite character on the program is Derek Morgan, portrayed by Shemar Moore, who someday will be a leading man on some show. The only drawback of the show is that none of the Criminal Minds females have the commanding presence of an Emily Procter (Calleigh Duchesne on CSI: Miami) or Kathryn Morris (Lil Rush on Cold Case).

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO?: Ralph Macchio?

STUPID IDEA: Time reports the Dutch government is trying something revolutionary to reduce the number of cars on the road — taxing every motorist who gets behind the wheel based on the distance of their trip and the kind of car they drive. The plan, which was approved by the Dutch cabinet in November and is expected to be implemented in 2012, aims to eventually cut the number of traffic jams in the country in half.  Here’s how it works: every car owner will be required to purchase a GPS machine that is able to send data tracking the distances of trips to a billing agency. Any motorist caught without the device will be fined. People driving a standard family sedan will be charged 3 euro cents per kilometer in 2012, with the tax going up every year until 2018, when it is expected to top out at an average of 6.7 cents per kilometer. So, for instance, a trip from Amsterdam to Eindhoven and back — a distance of about 250 kilometers — will cost the driver of a standard sedan the edquivalent of $10.75 in U.S. money in 2012. Rates will be higher during rush hour and for people who drive gas-guzzlers instead of fuel-efficient models. All the revenue will go toward improving road and rail infrastructure.  This is one of those wacked-out ideas that looks great on paper and is just idiotic in the court of common sense. I can’t believe enough people in The Netherlands sat on their haunches and let a law like this get shoved down their throats.

Maybe I’ll have to go see Avatar after all … all that and more in today’s High 5:

“AVATAR” BACKLASH: The hit film is creating quite a stir with its alleged hidden messages that are anti-war, pro-environment, and perhaps even racist, according to writer Brett Michael Dykes and numerous film critics on both sides of the ocean. Many of the comments target the film’s alleged pro-environment stance and say it attacks how the U.S. has handled the War on Terror, pointing to American “entitlement.” There are also questions about alleged racial stereotypes. So much for all the talk about the special effects.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO?: Madeleine Stowe?

MALL MADNESS: Reports Thursday from across the nation reported brisk business at malls and shopping centers. Hopefully, the last-minute shopping rush will help retailers end in the year much better than the way it started.

JOB I WILL NEVER HAVE: Secret agent. (I watched Casino Royale again the other night and decided I would not be a good candidate to be tortured.)

RECOVERY: I can”t wait for 2010 to get here. The new year has to be better from an economical standpoint than 2009 has been. Let’s not forget we have survived the worst the global meltdown through at us. Now it’s time to be part of the comeback. Just remember, a year ago, we were waiting for the economic bomb to drop — which it did. Now there is almost a sense of optimism in the air. The key word there was almost.

Robert Downey Jr.

While it assuredly won’t be in the same league as New Moon, or even Avatar, the upcoming Sherlock Holmes movie looks like it could be worth a ticket at the local Kerasotes. All that and more in today”s High 5:

HOLMES SWEET HOLMES: One of the sleeper films on the horizon might be the new Sherlock Holmes flick starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. The trailers look amazing and Downey’s dry humor is unmatched when he is on his “A” game. By the way, if anyone has any doubt Tiger Woods will ever again be accepted by his once-adoring public, just consider Downey, who was blackballed by the court of public opinion for a decade’s worth of substance-abuse problems. Downey finally cleaned up his act and is now among America’s favorite stars — again. Downey regained superstar status with his effort in Iron Man in 2008.

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION: To convince my wonderful wife that I (I mean we) need a new flatscreen TV. A big flatscreen TV.

ANOTHER HONOR FOR SWIFT: Taylor Swift has been voted The Associated Press entertainer of the year.  The 20-year-old country sensation was was chosen by newspaper editors and broadcast producers across the country in a survey of AP members. She follows last year’s winner, Tina Fey, and 2007  pick, Stephen Colbert. More power to her. She seems like the girl next door, and her voice, while hardly classic country or pop, has that intangible “it” factor. When one of her songs comes on the radio, I was just want to listen.

JUST WONDERING: If we really need 34 college football bowl games?

YOUR 15 MINUTES ARE UP: Nicolas Cage.

Whatever happened to Bill, Tom, George, Mary and Jane? That thought and more in today’s High 5:

NAME GAME: The www.babycenter.com Web site has released lists of the most popular baby names for the decade and for 2009: For the girls, the most popular names of the decade were: 1. Emma, 2. Emily, 3. Madison, 4. Isabella, 5. Ava; for 2009: 1. Isabella, 2. Sophia, 3. Emma, 4. Olivia, 5. Ava. For the boys, the most popular names of the decade were: 1. Aiden, 2. Jacob, 3. Ethan, 4. Matthew, 5. Nicholas; for 2009: 1. Aiden, 2. Ethan, 3. Jackson, 4. Jayden, 5. Jacob. What? No one cares for “Steve” anymore?

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO?: Moses Malone?

SNOOPY No. 1: Reuters News Service reports “Peanuts” comic strip character Snoopy has been named the top dog in pop culture by the American Kennel Club as part of its 125th anniversary celebration, beating out a college sports mascot. Nearly 76,000 online voters chose their favorites from a list of pop culture dogs drawn from television, film, literature, sports and art, the club said. “Peanuts,” which for close to five decades served as a mirror for the baby boom generation, appeared in 2,600 newspapers in 21 languages. Its daily readership was believed to be the most of any comic strip in history. Second place went to Texas A&M University‘s mascot Reveille, followed by Scooby Doo, the television cartoon character.

PEOPLE I WOULD LIKE TO MEET: Horace Grant, Grant Hill, Brad Daugherty, Manny Acta, Manny Delcarmen, Manny Sanguillen, Handy Manny, June Jones.

TIGER WOODS UPDATE: From Sarah Bell of Newsweek, pondering the future of the world’s greatest golfer: “The one thing we love in America more than anything is to see somebody fall, but we love to see him rise again.”