HAPPY HANNUKAH - OFFICE, OC, GNR, MORE

Happy Hannukah!

As we prepare to celebrate on of the great underdog stories of all time (and no, I'm not talking about the new Rocky ...), I am starting to feel the wear and tear of work telling me to just brace myself and hold tight until I get some time off in another week. But, the next eight crazy nights should be just that -- movie screenings, various events, and yes, GUNS N' ROSES on Sunday should provide for an exciting eight days of Hannukah. And yeah, OJ Simpson, thank God ... STILL not a Jew (tm Adam Sandler).

I'm especially dragging today though, as yesterday was a fun but exhausting day of NBC holiday parties. In the afternoon we had a shwanky luncheon at some fancy restaurant in Beverly Hills (blanking on the name), which included a rather intense gift-swap that saw people stealing gifts left and right as per the rules of the game. Initially I snagged a great gift - a gift certificate to Barnes and Noble, which would have been great as there's a few things I'd love to pick up there. But some guy swiped it from me! So then I had to pick a different gift ... it turned out that one of the head honchos of our group had ended up with a deluxe 80's retrospect CD collection, which clearly he didn't much care for. So I decided to be a good sport and swipe his gift, announcing myself as an enthusiastic 80's music afficianado. This prompted some laughter and the mostly older crowd wondering if I was even born in the 80's. So I ended up with this huge freakin' shiny pink collector's box of 80's songs that has a few classics (867-5309, etc ...) but also a lot of clunkers. I immediately wished I had swiped another gift certificate instead, but I guess it was good that I was a team player and also good / slightly embarrasing that I made myself known to those who didn't already know me as "That 80's Guy" (n. Mike Awesome). Um ... yeah - anyone want some CD's?

And for the record, I'd just like to say how awesome MY gift contribution was - a 2 disc deluxe edition ("Dread Pirate Edition" to be precise) of The Princess Bride, a movie that pretty much everyone loves. I guess since we all work in entertainment DVD's aren't quite so exciting, but who wouldn't want that Princess Bride set? On the other hand, do you REALLY want that cheesy-looking set of Margarita glasses you ended up with ...?

So yeah, the holiday luncheon overall was not as awkward as I'd feared. I was extremely lucky in that I ended up on a side of the table with some of the more laid back, interesting people from my office who were happy to talk about movies for a few hours rather than any number of more awkward / stressful subjects. But the one low-light of the day was the car-trip to and from this restaurant. I was lucky enough to be in a carppol with my other office-mates, but I ended up in the backseat of a large SUV in stop-and-go traffic on Coldwater Canyon's bumpy and hilly winding roads. And man, due to terrible traffic it was an hour drive each way, and I was just clutching my stomach because I was not feeling too well.

So then, we had another party for all the distribution groups at NBCU held at Howl at the Moon at Citywalk, which was fun since I got to see some of my old page pals and also meet a few of the people I've been dealing with over email, for the first time in person. As is often the case with me, things were slightly awkward for a while until the piano players burst into a spirited rendition of Sweet Child of Mine, which, as always, turned things up a notch. Nothing like some GNR to get one to loosen up. Guns n Roses = nature's drug.

Anyways, I made it home just in time to catch The OC, and then watched The Office which I had made a point to record. So ...

TV STUFF:

- THE OFFICE last night was an hour long, so naturally it had it's share of funny moments. Michael drawing a number 1 on that one girl's arm had me cracking up, as did Kevin's rendition of "You Oughtta Know," and a number of other comedic gems. Overall though, I thought this was one of the weaker eps of the last few months. Not to say it was bad by most standards, just not quite up to the A-level of quality I've been coming to expect of late. Perhaps it was in part due to the influence of Harold Ramis, who directed this ep? Ramis is one of the comic greats, to be sure ... but his sensibilities are distinctly old-school and tend to be a bit on the saccharine / formulaic side. And I guess this ep just had a little too much of that formulaic feel to it, with many of the characters fallign back on schtick rather than original situations and jokes. We had more of Dwight vs. Andy, more sleazy Michael, more Angela as one-dimensional ice-queen. With that, this episode just lacked some of the depth I'd gotten used to, and characters like Dwight and Angela almost came off as cartoonish villains rather than as likable, multi-faceted characters. The stuff with Michael and Carol was just a little hard to swallow ... as their relationship was becoming harder to buy as Carol was always portrayed as normal yet never really had any normalizing effect on Michael - by all accounts she should have dumped him a long time ago. And then Michael just brings too underage girls to his company party? That's pretty awkward, even for him ... Finally, the Jim-Pam stuff works best for me when it's subtle and understated. Last night, it was pretty obvious and heavy-handed. So yeah, some good jokes to be had, some very funny moments (loved Oscar walking in then immediately leaving ...), just not quite as good as I want the show to be based on how good it's been.

My Grade: B

- Oh yeah, last night's 30 ROCK was another quality ep. Some of Alec Baldwin's lines were simply classic, and the "Abu Gharib" line in particular was just amazing ... I can't believe they even let him say that. Tracy Morgan continues to crack me up as well with his completely random jokes and comments. Where this show falters is in its lead plotlines, as so far Tina Fey is just not particularly compelling as the lead. She needs to be surrounded by one or two more non-crazy people to ground the show a little bit, as right now the random humor is really working on a purely comedic level, but the characters and sitcom-ish elements are kind of falling flat. But man, "Abu Gharib" was classic.

My Grade: B+

- Last night's OC ... um, wow. That was ... strange. I was excited to see the show would be trying something a little different with its "It's a Wonderful Life" style episode. That, and the Chrismaka eps are always kinda classic. But man, what a random, pointless, and all over the place episode that was. I mean, instead of putting some legitimate thought into how these characters' lives would be if not for Ryan, they just randomly decide to have an alternate reality where Sandy is married to a cheating Julie, Kirsten to Jimmy, and Che is a preppy OC frat boy. Um, what? And for some reason Ryan and Taylor had to reunite Seth and Summer and Kirsten and Sandy? Okay, yeah, that makes sense ... This episode was slightly entertaining and had a few clever / funny lines, but mostly just had me wondering how much longer it would go on, and how Peter Gallagher could keep such a seriously straight face through such an absurd plot.

My Grade: C

OTHER STUFF:

And finally ... GUNS N ROSES this Sunday!!! Sweet Child! Jungle! Paradise City! November Rain! My Michelle! Mr. Brownstone! Rocket Queen! Live and Let Die! Knockin' On Heaven's Door! Used to Love Her! You Could Be Mine! Shotgun Blues! Civil War! Patience! Estranged! Don't Cry! Night Train!

MY TOP 10 FAV GnR Songs:

1.) Sweet Child O' Mine - There's just something about that opening lick that prompts you to cry out "Oh %&$#!" and start swaying like Axl Rose. It's a testament to the awesomeness of this song that it's both a great pump-up song and yet a somewhat somber, more laid-back tune relative to other Gnr stuff.

2.) Welcome to the Jungle - Yeah! Do you know where you are? You're in the Jungle Baby! You're gonna dieeeeeeee!" ' Nuff said.

3.) Rocket Queen - I don't quite know what Rocket Queen even means, but it sure sounds pretty cool coming from the rabid wail of Axl Rose. I might be a little young but honey I ain't naive ... This song just defines badass.

4.) November Rain - Part of why I love this song so much is undoubtedly the classic video, but also, it's one of the few songs where I have every guitar note ingrained in my head, to the point where I could sing along to the ENTIRE song, guitar solos and all. One of the all time great power ballads.

5.) Paradise City - Take me down to the Paradise City where the Grass is Green and the Girls are Pretty? Is there any better and more simply-stated rock n' roll credo? It's up there with Rock n Roll All Night as one of the all time great rock mission statements.

6.) My Michelle - I love the lyrics to this song, and the hard-driving guitar intro. "And most of all this story's TRUE, in case ya haven't heard."

7.) Mr. Brownstone - "We've been dancing - with - Mr. Brownstone." I used to take this song literally and wonder who Mr. Brownstone was ... but great lyrics, a great beat, just classic.

8.) You Could Be Mine - I didn't love this song until I heard it live in Boston, at which point I was converted, and realized that the song friggin' rules.

9.) Knockin' On Heaven's Door - I know, this isn't a GnR original, but I love their cover of it. Only Axl Rose could make the "hey, HEY ye ye yeah" between verses sound so freakin' cool.

10.) The Garden - I always liked this underrated cut off of Use Your Illusion, a thumping, dark song filled with weird biblical imagery and Axl Rose belting out "Everybody goooooes ... to the Garden!"

Holy craaaap this is going to rule. From the days when I used to flip to MTV in hopes that I'd get to witness the amazing November Rain video, to listening to Appetite For Destruction over and over again while ebign careful to turn down the volume when Rocket Queen came on, to seeing Axl Rose and his new band play in Boston three years ago, to the countless times that a night out has been kcikstarted when those pulse-pounding opening riffs of Sweet Child of Mine begin to play over the speakers ... I love GnR, new lineup or not! Hold tight for the full report come Monday.

GUNS

N

ROSES

- Okay ... I'm out for the weekend.

HAPPY HANNUKAH - MAY EVERYONE OUT THERE HAVE EIGHT GREAT NIGHTS~!