- The heartwarming saga of the battle for the estate of the Godfather of Soul James Brown rages on and it is getting heated in a hurry. Ever since Brown bought the farm nearly a year and a half ago, people who claim to either be children of or have children by him have been coming fast and furious, trying to stake their claim to a piece of his estate. Never mind that these people had no real, personal connection with Brown. Just having a possible biological connection seems to be enough for these people to feel like they’ve earned money from the late singer. In his will, Brown admits to having fathered six children by four different women, but revised estimates put the number at 14 kids by eight women. However, not included among those confirmed ladies Brown knocked up is the humorously named Tomi Rae Hynie, who is claiming that her 6-year-old son is Brown’s. She says he accepted the child as his own and that since the singer’s death, the child has gotten social security benefits from him. Hynie now must present a South Carolina judge with a DNA testing proving that Brown fathered her son before she can be legally entered into the battle royale that the fight for his estate has become. And what better way to honor the memory and legacy of a departed loved one than to turn their will and the distribution of their estate into the biggest freaking circus this side of Barnum & Bailey…..
- Last night’s episode of Greek was both fun and funny, with the blend of humor and drama that makes the show so fun to watch on a week-to-week basis. It was a night of old dogs learning new tricks, so to speak. Everyone’s favorite geek Rusty was doing his best to jump back into the dating game, crushing on a girl named Emma from his literature class. When he was hesitant about asking her out, his über-religious, conservative roomie Dale did it for him. The date didn’t work out quite the way Rusty hoped, with Emma panicking and bringing her roommate Tina along. That led to Rusty bringing Dale as his wing man, which in turn led to Tina and Dale ganging up on Rusty about the Greek system on campus. That debate ruined Rusty’s date with Emma but sparked Tina’s interest in U-SAG, Dale’s lame attempt at a counterculture to oppose the Greeks on the Cyprus-Rhodes campus. From that respect, the evening was a success for Dale, who found a fiery counterpart to help promote his anti-Greek agenda. Rusty and Emma made plans for a date of their own, but when Rusty became overly clingy, showering Emma with gifts including mix CDs, coffee and a new dry erase board for her dorm room door, she freaked out and that proved to be the end of things between them. Dale has problems of his own with Tina, who tried to take over U-SAG as per her overzealous nature. Overzealous wouldn’t be the word for Rusty’s big sis Casey in her approach to mending the rift between her Zeta Beat Zeta sorority and their former social partner fraternity, the Omega Chi’s. Her reluctance is based almost on her strained relationship with ex-boyfriend Evan, Omega Chi’s president. But when her sisters see a chance to resume friendly relations with Omega Chi, they push Casey to take it. She reluctantly capitulates, but not until her best friend Ashleigh goes around her and sets up a mixer with the Omega Chi’s. The night doesn’t end well, though, as Casey and Evan at the same party leads to a major blowup. The night proves to be a bit of a catharsis for Casey, who wakes up the next morning and decides that she’s done being upset about Evan and trying to mend their past disagreements. She’s ready to move on and marches over to the Omega Chi house to inform Evan, who was just on his way to see her and tell her that he wants her back. Those feelings will have to go on the back burner though, because right now she doesn’t want him as anything other than a friend. Taking on an equally unfamiliar role is Rebecca Logan, who ends up in the role of nurse for her ill boyfriend, the ever-funny Cappie, another of Casey’s former boyfriends who is sick with a fever and pink eye. When Casey guilts Rebecca into taking care of Cappie, Rebecca is forced into dealing with an ill Cappie despite being grossed out by sick people. That doesn’t last long, because after realizing how needy Cappie is when sick (demands for chicken noodle soup, heating up his heat pack, etc.), Rebecca uses her family’s wealth to bring in a nanny to take care of Cappie for her. The strategy works, with Cappie making a remarkable recovery and in the process reassuring Rebecca that she doesn’t need to try to be like Casey to win his affections. A good episode from start to finish, continuing a great second season for one of the most fun shows on TV right now…..
- Coming off a monstrously long opening round in last year’s NFL Draft, everyone was in agreement that things needed to change. A first round spanning six and a half hours was excruciating, especially because teams weren’t using their allotted 15 minutes to make a pick by deciding on which player to choose, but rather by figuring out the player they wanted right away and then dicking around the other 14 minutes, 45 seconds trying to get other teams to trade for their pick. The league decided after last year’s debacle that 15 minutes was too long between picks. This year, that time was cut to 10 minutes in the first round. Right off the bat, that was a guaranteed two and a half hours trimmed from the first round. Also, the decision was made to push the start time of the draft back from its usual noon time slot to 3 p.m. The third round of the draft was moved to Sunday, meaning that with a shortened first round and no third round, Day One would be considerably shortened. Just how much shorter was a pleasant surprise, with the second round coming to a close just after 9 p.m. Saturday night. Even ESPN’s broadcast team marveled at the brevity of the draft’s first day despite the fact that it left them with a hole in their evening schedule. From my seat, it was a welcome change and one that needs to stick. I love to draft (maybe a little too much), but not ten-plus hours on its first day. Props on a job well done there, NFL. Another issue from the draft was the selection of defensive back Caleb Campbell in the sixth round by the Detroit Lions. The pick became an issue because Campbell is from Army and as a future West Point graduate, has a commitment to serve in the military following his graduation from the academy. However, a rule recently enacted by the military allows graduates of the service academies to forego their active duty if they are selected in the draft and stick in the pros for two seasons or more. Campbell will still have to serve in the Army, but can do so by acting as a recruiter during his off days from the Lions (provided he makes the team, visiting schools and speaking to students, as well as being a member of the Army reserves. Most people seem supportive of this arrangement, but a few hardcore a-holes (mostly current or ex-military) are ripping it because they think Campbell is shirking his duties to his country. To those people, I point out the comments made by the more intelligent, sensical military or ex-military men and women I’ve heard talk about this topic. Everyone serves in a different way and not everyone goes straight into combat once they graduate from West Point or the Naval Academy. It’s up to the Army to decide when, where and how its personnel serve. If they decide that Campbell playing in the NFL and acting as a high-profile recruiter is the best thing, then who the f*ck are you to argue? I don’t care if you or one of your friends or family members has served or is currently serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, it doesn’t give you a right to say how the Army should handle situations like Campbell’s. Isn’t the military all about following orders and not questioning them? Why don’t you jerks shut your mouths and follow the protocol for the organization you seem to intent on speaking on behalf of, k?
- Say what you will about SoCal surfers, but they’re either too dumb or too brave to allow a shark attack in their area to deter them from getting back into the water. On Friday, a triathlete was killed in an attack just off he coast near San Diego, but the very next day the waters in that same area had more than a few surfers, all of them choosing to ignore posted signs warning them that a great white shark could be lurking in the immediate vicinity. While the overall size of the crowds was down, dozens of surfers went back out and said that regardless of the attack, being afraid wasn’t an option. Right, because the fact that a triathlete was ripped up and killed by a shark should in no way influence whether or not you want to get into the water. In no way, shape or form should you decide to go and surf elsewhere just because their might be a lethal, aggressive shark swimming around. You go out there and show that shark who’s boss, surfers. Because heaven knows that you possibly getting eaten would prove a point. Of course, you’d be dead and wouldn’t be around to see your point proven, but oh well….
- Last night’s of One Tree Hill managed to follow up the previous week’s solid effort and give the show back-to-back good episodes for pretty much the first time so far this season. With everyone in town to celebrate young Jamie Scott’s fifth birthday, things were bound to be drama-filled and they definitely were. Lucas was anxious about seeing Lindsey again, which tends to happen when a girl runs out on your wedding and then says that even though you still love each other, it’s not enough to get married. Lucas spent hours being a total girl and trying to pick out just the right outfit to wear to the party to impress Lindsey, but in the end, she remained uninterested in reconciliation. Despite a long talk at the party and asking to stop by Lucas’ house afterward, all she wanted was to get the last of her things and head back the New York. Speaking of wanting to get away…I spent a good chunk of the episode wanting to get away from scenes in which Brooke’s new baby, Angie, whom she is housing and caring for while the little girl is in the United States awaiting heart surgery, cried her head off nonstop. I get that babies are noisy, messy and fussy, but the point about her crying driving both Brooke and housemate Peyton crazy was made early on and after that, the incessant crying just became über-annoying. Still, Brooke struggled to find ways to calm Angie and get her work done on new design sketches for an upcoming meeting with Macy’s, which is fast becoming the most whored out entity in the history of television with shameless mentions in each episode that are about as subtle as one of Elton John’s concert outfits. With help from Lucas, who allows her to stop by late at night after the party and work on her designs while he watches the baby, Brooke finally manages to get her work done. Work is also being done on Peyton’s office, where her record label is growing with the addition of a small recording studio that will allow her to have her artists record right there and save on studio costs. With all of the construction going on, Peyton gets a break from the madness while Skillz shows up and demands that she tag along to help him get Jamie’s birthday present, a Wii. It’s also a chance for the two of them to share their guilt and regrets about their recent mistakes; Peyton’s trouble with telling Lucas how she feels in the wake of his failed wedding and Skillz’s guilt over not keeping a closer eye on Jamie when he was kidnapped by his psycho ex-nanny at that same wedding. The party provides a chance for Skillz to set things right about that incident, with Nathan and Haley reassuring him that they’re not angry with him and that they do trust him with their son. Peyton doesn’t get much of a chance to have her own talk with Lucas because he’s wrapped up with Lindsey. Nathan and Haley also spent the episode fending off advances by Nathan’s father Dan, who wanted to stop by the party to wish his grandson a happy birthday. When Nathan shoots him down, then informs Jamie that in spite of the boy’s wishes, his grandpa won't be at the party, Dan won't give up. He stops by and drops off a gift for Jamie despite an icy reception from his ex-wife Deb, who is now Jamie’s nanny (and has a creepy clown fetish, as it turns out when she hooks up with the birthday clown). The gift is the first jersey Nathan ever wore when he started playing basketball. Dan later tells Nathan he found it when cleaning out his house and wanted to pass it along. Dan also revealed that he wants Nathan to have the family’s beach house because…..(big dramatic pause)….his HCM heart condition is worsening and Dan only has six months to live. So there’s your big dramatic impetus for the rest of the season, the terminally ill man trying to make amends with his family. On the lighter side of things, Mouth and girlfriend Millie are adjusting to her living with him and his three roommates in their apartment. The guys do their best to clean up their act with a girl in the house, but Millie figures out they’re changing because of her and doesn’t like it. She shows she can hang with the boys by starting one of their trademark water gun fights and bringing home beer and pizza, the staples of their diet. Not a bad episode for the most part, because it seems like the writers and show execs have figured out that all of the characters don’t have to be going through the exact same thing every episode. That’s all for the OTH talk until next week, though….
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