Nelly Furtado

Welcome to the 525th consecutive day of life in the High 5:

DONATE THE DOUGH?: I just want it known ahead of time that my generation gap will be showing with this comment. I have never heard a Nelly Furtado song, at least knowingly — but I now admire her greatly. It seems a few years ago she received $1 million from Libyan nutball Muammar el-Qaddafi for a private concert for members of his family, but is now giving that money to charity in light of what is currently going on in Libya. Now if the rest of the blue-chip elite who performed similar shows would follow suit it would look a lot better on their resume sheets. Members of the music industry are calling on Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Usher and 50 Cent to also donate to charity the money they had made by performing private gigs for family members of the Libyan dictator. So far none of them — except Furtado — have commented. Furtado said that she played a show for the Qaddafi family four years ago– and now she’s going to give the money to (a yet-unnamed) charity. “In 2007, I received $1 million from the Qaddafi clan to perform a 45-minute show for guests at a hotel in Italy,” she Tweeted. “I am going to donate the $.” OK, Beyonce, Mariah, Usher and 50 Cent … let’s join her and give back the blood money.

FOUND ON FACEBOOK: “My children really need to go back to school! My teeth and jaw hurt from clenching them so much.”

Catherine Bach: The original Daisy Duke.

OVERRATED: Oreos.

UNDERRATED: Girl Scout cookies.

BIRTHDAY BANTER: I’m sure there are some who felt Jessica Simpson was the original Daisy Duke …

–  Pro wrestler Booker T is 46. (Anyone know of his whereabouts?)
– Actress Catherine Bach is 57. (She’s the real Daisy Duke.)
– Singer Roger Daltrey is 67. (The front man for The Who is still rockin’.)
– Actor Robert Conrad is 76. (He was James. T. West on The Wild, Wild West.)

Welcome to another week of life in the High 5:

PASSING OF A LEGEND: Hall of Fame outfielder Duke Snider died Sunday at age 84, and his death represented more than the passing of a baseball legend. Snider was the “The Duke” in songwriter Terry Cashman’s famed tribute to the national pastime, “Talkin’ Baseball,” which contains the famed refrain: “Willie, Mickey and The Duke (Say Hey, Say Hey.” With the passing of Snider, that leaves just “Willie” from among those famous three. Mickey Mantle died at the age of 63 in 1995. Willie (Mays) is 79 and the final figure to that marvelous song still with us. Cashman’s “Willie, Mickey and The Duke” reference was a tribute to New York’s three centerfielders during baseball’s “Golden Age” — Willie with the Giants, Mickey with the Yanks and Duke with the Dodgers. I remember the first time I heard “Talkin’ Baseball” following The Mick’s death. I felt a little empty. I’m expecting to feel the same way again …

FOUND ON FACEBOOK: “This is the year of Jeff Gordon …  just sayin.”

Gavin MacLeod as "Murray Slaughter".

OVERRATED: Any pizza without at least one kind of meat on it.

UNDERRATED: Those relatively new $5 box lunches at Hardee’s. You get two double cheeseburgers, fries, apple pie and a soft drink. Not bad, not bad at all.

BIRTHDAY BANTER: Who didn’t love “Murray” on The Mary Tyler Show? ….

– Actor Gavin MacLeod is 81. (He was the captain on The Love Boat and “Murray” on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.)
– Comedian Gilbert Gottfried is 56. (Not sure who I hate to see come on the screen more, this guy or Carrot Top.)
– Singer Cindy Wilson of the B-52′s is 54. (“Love Shack,” bay-bee.) 
– Singer Joe South is 71. (I once bought his “Greatest Hits” album.)

Welcome to the 523rd consecutive day of the High 5:

WHAT THE WORLD IS TALKING ABOUT: Well, there’s Charlie Sheen and … well, some more Charlie Sheen … and I guess a few people care about the Oscars, too.

1. Charlie Sheen: The meltdown of one of Hollywood’s biggest stars continues to leave jaws dropped everywhere. Maybe the strangest part of all of this for me remains the $790,000 he spent on cars for his favorite porn stars.
2. The Oscars: I hope True Grit wins for best picture at the Academy Awards Sunday night. I haven’t seen it — well, I haven’t seen any of the nominated films — but I sure love those Jeff Bridges commercials where we get a glimpse of his Rooster Cogburn character.
3.  Spartacus: Gods of the Arena: This remains the most brutal show to ever be a weekly series (on STARZ). It’s impossible to describe the amount — and kinds — of bloodshed during this 60-minute program.
4. Glee: Is the honeymoon over? The show is no longer in the top 20 in the Nielsen ratings.
5. Joan Rivers: Old Plastic Face ripped into Jennifer Aniston for no apparent reason

Kim Kardashian: There's only one.

the other day: “I would like to take Jennifer Aniston, and put her hair over her (bleeping) face!” Rivers recently told UsWeekly. “I’m so bored with her and her stupid movies. They’re all the same, I don’t know how they get financed.” (Umm … , Joan, you’re not exactly a ball of fire these days either, babe.)
6. Gas prices: I wonder what excuse we’ll hear when the price per gallon reaches $4 again, because it sure looks like we’re headed there.
7. Old Navy: The clothing line has launched an ad campaign featuring a Kim Kardashian lookalike. Who do they think they are kidding? There is only one Kim Kardashian.
8. Simon Cowell: The former American Idol judge promises that Americans have “never seen a show like (X Factor) before” and viewers should expect the unexpected. “A lot is going to happen that will surprise you,” he says of the new talent program that debuts this fall on Fox. Could it be that Cowell is rolling out the hype machine a little early after what has to be a surprise to him concerning the rebound of Idol after he left the No. 1-rated show? The world, as we know it, did not end when Simon left the show — as some predicted it would.
9. Hall Pass: Looks like this might be the surprise No. 1 movie in the land when the cash registers stop ringing after the weekend.
10. Taylor Swift: The singer is being linked to Glee’s Chord Overstreet. Yawnnnn ….

FOUND ON FACEBOOK: “Aw pooky, things got better.”

OVERRATED: Academy Awards show. Outside of best movie, best actor and best actress, does any other part of the show really matter?

UNDERRATED: Emmy Awards. We all watch much more TV than in-theater movies during the course of the year. I care more about who gets the top TV awards.

BIRTHDAY BANTER: Who can you name more songs by, Josh Groban or Lynyrd Skynyrd? …

– Actor Adam Baldwin is 49. (Another one of those blasted Baldwin brothers?)
– Singer Johnny Van Zant of Lynyrd Skynyrd is 51. (Is it just me, or does everyone have to look up how to spell “Lynyrd Skynyrd”?)
– Singer Josh Groban 30. (Sorry, but I actually like his singing.)
– Actress Elizabeth Taylor is 79. (Liz has been in poor health of late. Those who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s understand what an entertainment icon she truly is/was. If nothing else, the woman has been married eight times. That in itself qualifies for legendary status.)

Charlie Sheen

Whooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa there, big fella. Get a load of the latest on Charlie Sheen in the latest edition of the High 5:

WELCOME TO NUTS ‘R US: Just when you think Charlie Sheen has climbed the highest point of Mount Nutball, he goes above and beyond. I’m sure you know by know CBS has halted production on Two and a Half Men, Sheen’s top-10 comedy, because of statements the wayward comedian made in recent days, plus his ongoing substance abuse woes. The last straw, as far as CBS execs were concerned, came on a radio interview Sheen was doing from the Bahamas. Here are some of the highlights as reported by USA Today:
• Name calling: Sheen took aim at series co-creator Chuck Lorre, calling him “a contaminated little maggot”.
• Of his abilities: “I got magic and poetry in my fingertips. … I’m an F-18 bro and I will destroy you in the air.”
• More name calling, his own “rehab”: “I embarrassed (Lorre) in front of his children and the world by healing at a pace that this un-evolved mind cannot process. … I’ve spent, I think, close to the last decade, I don’t know, effortlessly and magically converting your tin cans into pure gold. And the gratitude I get is this charlatan chose not to do his job, which is to write.”
• Women: “If I bring up these (bleep), these … losers, there’s no reason to then bring them back into the fold because I have real fame, they have nothing. They have zero. They have that night. And I will forget about them as the last image of them exits my beautiful home. And they will get out there and they will sell me and they will lose. … Bring me a frickin’ challenge. It just ain’t there.”
• About Alcoholics Anonymous: “I can’t use the word sober because that’s a term from those people, and I have cleansed myself. I have closed my eyes and in a nanosecond I cured myself from this ridiculous model of disease … It’s just the work of sissies. The only thing I’m addicted to right now is winning. You know? This bootleg cult arrogantly referred to as Alcoholics Anonymous now supports a 5 percent success rate. My success rate is 100 percent. Do the math! … One of their stupid mottos is ‘Don’t be special, be one of us.’ Newsflash: I am special and I will never be one of you.”
• Concerning his public image: ” … look what I’m dealing with, man — I’m dealing with fools and trolls. … I don’t have time for these clowns. ”

FOUND ON FACEBOOK: “I love to singa, bout the moona and the juna and the springa!”

OVERRATED: Chili.

UNDERRATED: Clam chowder.

BIRTHDAY BANTER: Favorite Johnny Cash song? Mine is probably “Ring of Fire”.

– Singer Fats Domino is 83. (He’s the one who found his thrill on Blueberry Hill.)
– Singer Eyrkah Badu is 40. (Hope she’s keeping her clothes on these days.)
– In memoriam: Singer Johnny Cash would be 79. (He’s been gone for eight years, but the music remains as powerful as the first time we heard it.)
– Former St. Louis Rams running back Marshall Faulk is 38. (Welcome to the Hall of Fame.)

Ric Flair: The Nature Boy

Welcome to the 521st consecutive today of the High 5:

WHAT THE WORLD IS TALKING ABOUT: Some crazy, crazy stuff here today …

1. Jennifer Lopez: J-Lo’s emotional breakdown over having to cut a contestant this week on American Idol is drawing mongo Internet traffic.
2. Hugh Hefner: The Hef has set a date. The 84-year-old and fiancee Crystal Harris are set to wed on June 18. I’m not expecting an invitation.
3. Osama bin Laden: Libyan leader — at least for the moment — Moammar Gadhafi says al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden is behind the uprising in Libya and al-Qaeda followers give young Libyans hallucinogenic pills in their coffee to get them to revolt. Maybe those two dirtballs could simply blow each other up and make the world a better place with the old addition by subtraction theme.
4. Rosie O’Donnell: She is reportedly “at war” with her boss, Oprah Winfrey. O’Donnell has reportedly “come to blows” with Oprah over the tone of her new show on the OWN. I would pay to see that.
5. Charlie Sheen: Access Hollywood confirmed that Sheen has purchased four different automobiles for a combined $790,000 in the past four weeks — and according to a source none of the new rides have been for himself. Wow. Umm …, what else can you say about this nutball?

Charlie Sheen

6. Miley Cyrus: She received Global Youth Action Leadership Award. What? Are they kidding?
7. Charlie Sheen, part 2: He says he cured himself of drug addiction “with his mind”.
8. Eminem: He’s now the “most liked” Facebook with almost 29 million “likes,” moving him past Lady Gaga.
9. Lady Gaga: She has the No. 1 song on the Billboard charts, “Born This Way”. The world, as we know it, is about to end.
10. Charo: The famed Spanish singer (OK, “famed” might be stretching it) is talking a lot of trash about Lady Gaga. You go, girl.

FOUND ON FACEBOOK: “Yes. I am pouting.”

OVERRATED: Captain America.

UNDERRATED: Batman.

BIRTHDAY BANTER: You know I have a soft spots for heroes of the squared circle. That’s why The Nature Boy tops today’s list.

– Former pro wrestler Ric “The Nature Boy” Flair is 62. (Arguably the greatest champion the sport has ever known. Hulk Hogan could not hold The Nature Boy’s tights.)
– In memoriam: Former Beatle George Harrison would have been 68. (George was my No. 2 “favorite Beatle” growing up. John Lennon was always No. 1. I loved any song that featured John singing lead.)
– Actress Tea Leoni is 45. (She has one of the greatest voices ever.)
– Comedian Carrot Top is 44. (Am I the only person in the world who thinks this guy is annoying?)

One of my first-ever favorite songs was “Last Train to Clarksville” … that’s why today’s High 5 makes me smile:

HEY, HEY WE’RE THE MONKEES: Numerous published reports are confirming the Monkees — Davy Jones, Peter Tork and Mickey Dolenz, minus guitarist and songwriter Michael Nesmith — are reuniting for their 45th anniversary and will play 10 concerts in Great Britain this spring. The group originally rose to fame through the group’s TV show that debuted in 1966 on NBC. Best known for hits like “I’m a Believer, “Last Train to Clarksville” and “Daydream Believer,” the Monkees were a favorite of Beatle John Lennon who likened them to the Marx Brothers. The show won two Emmy awards and  Monkees records outsold the Rolling Stones and Beatles combined in 1967. Sources are not ruling out seeing Nesmith at some point in the month-long tour, scheduled for May. It has been 40 years since Nesmith ­fell out with the band but the group did all perform together 14 years ago at Wembley Arena. A close friend to Nesmith was quoted as saying, “Mike loves the idea of joining his old friends on stage one more time. He hasn’t signed a contract because he wants it to be a complete surprise.” (Too bad there is not a U.S. leg to the tour — yet. This would be huge in the states.)

FOUND ON FACEBOOK: “My lips are swollen! OMG I look just awful!”

Abe Vigoda

OVERRATED: Being a Middle East tyrant. Apparently, your days are all numbered, fellas.

UNDERRATED: Freedom. It never gets old.

BIRTHDAY BANTER: Both Abe Vigoda and Betty White enjoying a resurgence in popularity. Is this a great country or what?

– Actor Abe Vigoda is 89. (Best known as “Fish” on Barney Miller.)
– Singer George Thorogood of the Destroyers is 60. (“B-b-b-b-b-b-b-bad to the Bone,” one of the all-time great anthems.)
– Former NBA coach and TV analyst Mike Fratello is 63. (Called by Marv Albert the “czar of the telestrator”.)
– Singer-producer Rupert Holmes is 63. (I think we all remember “Escape: The Pina Colada Song”.)

Welcome to the 519th consecutive day of the High 5:

WHAT THE WORLD IS TALKING ABOUT: John Travolta is bald(ing)? Check it out at the left and read more about it below. Wow. Double wow.

1. Jennifer Aniston: She has a new hair-do. Holy crap. Stop the presses.
2. Justin Bieber: He’s got a new haircut, too? It has to be a sign of the Apocalypse.
3. Muammar al-Gaddafi: The latest in a line of Middle East nutballs to feel some serious pressure.
4. Lost volumes: Books from President Thomas Jefferson’s personal library that had long been thought missing have turned up — in the rare book division of the library at the Washington University in St. Louis. Someone’s going to have a hefty late fee to pay for this one.
5. The Oscars: OK, raise your hand if you think they could do away with all but about 10 minutes of the Academy Awards show? I thought so.
6. Rahm Emanuel: The new mayor of Chicago has had an interesting past three or four years.
7. Michelle Obama: Rush Limbaugh hurls more overweight jokes her way. This is getting nasty.
8. Poor Richard’s Almanac: Claims March is going to bring 30 more inches of snow. How can anyone predict that kind of stuff? I guess I just don’t get it.
9. John Travolta: John Travolta, a sex symbol and star of such film classics as Saturday Night Fever and Face Off has finally found a Hollywood challenge he can’t overcome: father time. The star has been photographed on vacation in Hawaii without a hairpiece, and it is obvious that his scalp is rapidly thinning. The photo confirms rumors that Travolta has had some carpeting installed for high-profile public appearances.
10. Scarlett Johansson: She’s reportedly dating Sean Penn. Is she nuts?

FOUND ON FACEBOOK: “Shucks, I could have told them that. Just listen to me breathe.”

OVERRATED: Ross Geller on Friends.

Peter Fonda, left, and the late Dennis Hopper

UNDERRATED: Ross Detweiler on the Washington Nationals.

BIRTHDAY BANTER: Hawaii Five-O remains the best new show on network television. Not the best show period; that, of course, is American Idol.

– Actor Peter Fonda is 72. (The original Easy Rider.)
– Home Improvement mom Patricia Richardson is 61. (I always loved her voice.)
– Actor Scott Caan is 36. (He’s the “Danno” part of “Book ‘em Danno” on the new Hawaii Five-O.)
– Author, voice actor and radio host Tom Bodett is 57. (He’ll leave the light on for ya.)

"I Am Number Four" was a weekend flop at the box office.

The Little Woman and myself were not able to see Unknown over the weekend, a matter that needs to be rectified in the coming days … welcome to the latest edition of the High 5:

BROAD APPEAL: Liam Neeson has done it again, soaring to the top of the box office charts over the weekend with Unknown. Though 58 years old, Neeson has now established himself as a bona fide action star and is attracting fans from all age brackets. According to Warner Bros., 89 percent of the film’s audience was at least 25 years old, and an astounding 54 percent were over 50. Throw in the fact that many older moviegoers wait a few weeks before heading to the theater … and Unknown could display “some impressive long-distance stamina,” according to Entertainment Weekly. Neeson’s latest effort is a perfect follow-up to Taken, a film about him losing his daughter. In Unknown, he has his identity stolen. The biggest disappointment from the weekend was the debut of I Am Number Four, which placed second to Unknown, but by industry calculations was a colossal flop after extremely heavy promotion. Producers were hoping it would develop into a “male version” of of the Twilight series. No such luck.

FOUND ON FACEBOOK: “A lot of the times it don’t pay to be the nice guy.”

OVERRATED: The alleged peace and serenity of weekends. Whoever said that (obviously) did not have grandkids.

Julius "Dr. J" Erving, right, guards another legend from the old ABA, Marvin Barnes.

UNDERRATED: Monday mornings, when life is back to normal after the alleged peace and serenity of the weekend. Give me my keyboard, diet caffeine free Mountain Dew and a doughnut. Ahhh …

Drew Barrymore

BIRTHDAY BANTER: It was a shame Dr. J was not able to play in the NBA in his prime. Those years were reserved for the old ABA, where classic footage is extremely limited.

– Former NBA star Julius “Dr. J” Erving is 61. (Other than the legendary Darnell Hillman, Dr. J probably had the best Afro in pro basketball history.)
– In memoriam: First president George Washington would have been 279. (I still find it hard to believe he had false teeth made out of wood. Splinters, anyone?)
– Actress Drew Barrymore is 36. ((She’s always entertaining when she’s on David Letterman’s late-night talk show.)
– Singer James Blunt is 34. (He’s the “(You’re) Beautiful” guy.)

Well, since Sunday’s “mysteries of the universe” proved so popular, we’ll give you a second dose in the latest edition of the High 5:

GOOD QUESTIONS: Some more words of wisdom from my e-mailing friend …

– Have you ever wondered why the time of day with the slowest traffic is called rush hour?
– Have you ever wondered why they sterilize the needle for lethal injections? (As a matter of fact, this is actually a very good question!)
– Have you ever wondered why if flying is so safe, who they call the airport the terminal?
– Have you ever wondered why Noah didn’t swat those two mosquitoes?
– Have you ever wondered why they call what doctors do a “practice”?
– Have you ever wondered why “abbreviated” is such a long word?
– Have you ever wondered why you have never seen the headline “Psychic Wins Lottery”?  (This one might be my favorite. Guess I don’t need to check my horoscope anymore.)

FOUND ON FACEBOOK: “If  (the Daytona 500) didnt get you excited for race season … you’re not truly a race fan.”

OVERRATED: NBA All-Star Game. Yawnnnnnn.

UNDERRATED: Trevor Bayne’s victory Sunday in the Daytona 500 cannot be underestimated. We may have seen the emergence of the next big NASCAR star, we saw a legendary team — the Wood Brothers — return to victory lane and we saw a Daytona 500 that was genuinely exciting from start to finish. Bayne turned 20 years old late last week and was was racing in just his secodn Sprint Cup series race. What were the odds? And he seems like a genuinely great kid. Did you notice how many “sirs” were included in his radio transmissions with the Wood Brothers race crew? That’s one great kid.

BIRTHDAY BANTER: How many Baldwins are out there?

– Actress Jennifer Love Hewitt is 32. (I wonder what she’s doing since the demise of the The Ghost Whisperer?)
– Actor William Baldwin is 48. (OK, so which one of the Baldwins is this guy? The only one worth watching is Alec.)
– Singer Mary Chapin Carpenter is 53. (One of my favorites from the late 1980s and early 1990s.)
– Actor Alan Rickman is 65. (He was the Sheriff of Nottingham in Kevin Costner’s Prince of Thieves. Rickman’s sheriff remains my favorite supporting actor performance in the past 30 years.)

Hope you enjoy watchinbg the Daytona 500 Sunday … until then, enjoy the latest edition of the High 5:

MAKES YOU SCRATCH YOUR HEAD: Got a few of the great questions in life from a friend a few days ago. I thought I would share some:

– Only in America do people order double cheesburgers, large fries — and a Diet Coke.
– Only in America do banks leave the vault doors open and then chain the pens to the counters. (Those chained pens have always irritated the heck out of me.)
– Only in America do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveay — and put our useless junk in the garage.
– Only in America do we buy hot dogs in packages of 10 — and buns in packages of eight.
– Only in America do they have drive-up ATM machines — with Braille lettering.

FOUND ON FACEBOOK: “Today I am a NASCAR fan and then will go back into hibernation for another 364 days. I am rooting for whomever drives the Budweiser car, and whomever can win me the most money.”

OVERRATED: Super Bowl commericals.

UNDERRATED: Daytona 500 commercials.

BIRTHDAY BANTER: There’s a musical theme going here today,  except for Sidney.

– Backstreet Boys singer Brian Littrell is 36. (He now also enjoys a career in contemporary Christian music.)
– In memoriam: Former Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain would have been 44. (His estate still rakes in millions of dollars each year from fans buying Cobain memorabilia and music.)
– Caribbean singer Rihanna is 23. (Wonder if Chris Brown sent her a card?)
– Actor Sidney Poitier is 84. (The first time I say Poitier in a film was The Blackboard Jungle.)