hey kids, i won't be publishing content either tomorrow (8.28.02) or the next day (8.29.02). i will be in Hot-Lanta USA attending some focus groups for work. hope that the following few days treat you well and that you get laid and that you get paid...obvs. keep it real, aiiight?

!!!there's more...if you dare

you can read the rest by clicking through: Insane Clown Posse to Release the Anticipated Sixth Joker Card ``The Wraith: Shangri-La'' on Nov. 5th.

if there's anyone else headed up to Toronto for the film festival next week, Dave Poland's Toronto preview is a must read. even if you're not headed to the Great White North, it's a nice fall preview.

this little tidbit is hot off the press: ABC Greenlights 'Romy and Michele's HS Reunion' Prequel. you have GOT to be shitting me.

guns n' roses played a gig in london the other night, and of course NME was there to reveal it. the band's set was described as "stunning", and NME reports that Axl and the boys are heading back into the studio to finish up their long-awaited LP "Chinese Democracy."

and while you're over at the LA Times site, check out this week's Ask Robert Hilburn, where he answers readers' questions on topics as diverse as "What ever happened to Bob Seger?", "Do you consider the turntable to be an instrument?", and "What would be your top 10 influencial LPs that have had the most impact on music?".

YEAH BABY! i'm totally internet famous now, i'm listed on Google.com. check out twenty search strings from Google that have led people to my website: donnie darko michael andrews mad world lyrics, eminem's brother nathan's pics, www.whatevs.org, audrey tatou jpegs, boiler room quotes, britney/4wheelers pics, clarky sonnenfeld, donnie darko song ending credits, eminem's little brother nathan's picture, flaming lips yoshimi song lengths, games by rathauser, grizz's girl porn, hilary clinton sexy photo gallery (!!!), hot bod and tail pipes porn, hot teen geocities, indie flix, jimmy fallon wav, kelly osborne wav, matt lauer paulina rubio, milf and julie

--while this should go in the Obvs File, it's still worth noting. at the 5th Annual DVD Awards, Anchor Bay Entertainment received the award for Best Packaging for its "Evil Dead: Book of the Dead'' DVD. props out to a local company that stands head-to-head with Criterion in their appreciation for overlooked gems.
--ESPN.com is reporting that the Detroit Lions have placed Germane Crowell on the physically unable to perform list, which means that he'll likely miss the first five or six weeks of the regular season. but leave it to the geniuses at Fanball.com toput it like this: "It's all about Az-zahir Hakim and Bill Schroeder for the first few weeks, not that it matters in Detroit's sorry offense. This passing game is going to suck." OBVS!

Jeff

last but not least, Haypenny.com is quickly becoming one of my favorite websites. it's kind of like The Onion meets McSweeney's; adding to it's overall tigs quotient is the fact that it is produced here in Detroit (apparently). anyway, they have both daily and weekly updates, and today's daily update is worth the price of admission (editor's note - admission is free). it's titled The Start Of Your Rap Song, and here are a few of the examples...
--Now just throw your hands all over the place. Party like William Hurt in Lost in Space.
--Come on now, party people, jump up, jump up. Now, who wants to dare me to eat all of this ketchup?
--Murder, murder, murder, murder, murder, murder, I get real scary like Peter Scolari, murder, murder, murder.

two of my fave internet columnists, Jeffrey Wells and David Poland, square off and talk about this weekend at the movies on the brand new website called Movie City News. among other things, they talk about seeing Clint Eastwood bare-chested at age 70-something, the lack of big breasts in Blue Crush, and whether or not Adam Sandler made a pact with the devil. very funny and very insightful stuff about movies. worth your time.

chris rock throws like a girl

dude, forgot to tell you. pants and i are at einstein bagels in downtown birm saturday morning, and who's in line in front of us? obvs. robert plant, homes. wearing some sort of pink and/or orange hawaiian shirt, a pair of shorts and some sandals. just gettin bagels with a "whole lotta" cream cheese. total obvs. didn't say anything to his ass, though. obvs.

--the Los Angeles Times' own Robert Hilburn writes a review of saturday's Bruce Springsteen concert at the Los Angeles Forum. apparently springsteen played "dancing in the dark" in one of the encores, which is extremely rare. in the five times that i've seen him live or on the two live CDs that i own ("Live 1975-1985" and last year's HBO concert), he's never performed this song. does anyone know where you can score some live springsteen mp3s?

--this morning's New York Times has a great article about the incredible pace with which America has become enthralled by DVDs. it reveals that Training Day, which had a very successful theatrical run last fall ($76.3 mills), has already surpassed that figure on DVD sales and movie rentals (over $80 mills to date). it's an article that you've probably read before but, as usual, the NYT finds some different and unique angles that make the article worth your time.

--and when it comes to sites that are tops at revealing, NME is the leader of the pack. fobvs. "THE WHITE STRIPES star JACK WHITE joined THE STROKES on stage during their triumphant headline performance at the READING leg of the CARLING WEEKEND, NME.COM can reveal." best.

this may come as a shock to the loyal FOWs of the world, but i'm VERY excited about tomorrow...but not for the reasons that you might be thinking. you might think that it's because tomorrow is the the inaugural whatevs.org ff2k3 fantasy football draft, you might think it's because the local best buy will be teeming with copies of the "Jackie Brown" and "Reservoir Dogs" dvds, and you definitely think it's because the new Coldplay and QOTSA cds are released. well, i gotta admit that i will be one happy camper tomorrow for all of the above reasons, but the shocker reason is that August 27th marks the release of The Dixie Chicks' new cd, "Home". i've been a casual fan of The Chicks for a few years, mainly because i lived with a girl who played their last CD over and over again. and while the song "Goodbye Earl" makes me want to crawl up in the fetal position and tear my ears off, i'm very excited to hear the new album. i think that my interest was piqued by their dynamic performance on last year's "America's Tribute To Heroes" telethon, not to mention an episode of "Trading Spaces" i saw a few months back with Natalie Maines. for those who are non-believers, there was a great article about the group, their new album, and their knockdown drag-out fight with Sony Music in yesterday's Sunday edition of The New York Times (registration required). if you need additional back-up, entertainment weekly gave the album an "A" in last week's double issue. so if you happen to see me at Best Buy tomorrow, i'll have a copy of "Home" in my hands as i walk to the cashwrap. i'll keep you posted on the album's worthiness as the week progresses...maybe it's something that you'll consider adding to your collection.

color me impressed. i'm just sitting around my apartment on a sunday afternoon and i decided to check my email. there was your usual "laser ink jet refills" and PornoSpam, but there was also a tasty little morsel from Mike Kegler. not only is he an ace drummer for Immerse, he is the proprietor and genius behind the wildly informative Glamorama-Online.com. it's a prime site for everything from Sophie Ellis-Bextor worship to Paul Auster discussions, but mike has really struck gold with his recent reviews of the Benicassim Festival in Spain. his coverage of sets by bands such as Radiohead, BRMC, Primal Scream and Belle and Sebastian (and that's just the tip of the iceberg!) easily tops the great NME's write-up. mad props to one of whatevs.org's favorite websites and most stellar FOWs.

all that heavy political stuff was draggin' me down. here's some good ole fashion pop culture, courtesy of Fametracker...

Jake Gyllenhaal vs. Tobey Maguire

everyone knew that when G Dubs took office, we would end up losing some of our civil liberties. the proprietor of whatevs.org is not heavy into politics, but this absolutely makes me retch. apparently, our president is in Portland to make a speech and the speech drew some protestors (we're talking people with signs, not rioters or looting). here is what happened:

--the grizz convinced the Detroit News to devote some valuable inches to his review of the new QOTSA album that streets on Tuesday. he's throwing "record of the year" calls out, but i say that's a little premature at this point. no doubt it is a very solid record and worth hitting Besties at lunch on tuesday for, but "record of the year" calls may not be warranted. as Asia once said, "only time will tell."

--apparently tuesday also marks the release of the new Aimee Mann album. if you're a fan, there's a good interview with her available on MTV.com. personally, i've never really been a big fan of her "all record labels suck and i'm an independant woman who does her own thing" schtick...that flagpole was previously (and more convincingly) planted by Ani DiWorsto. that being said, i loved the way that PTA used her as a musical narrator in Magnolia, esp. when the entire cast sang along to "Wise Up".

--i could go on a mini-rant about how phony and pretentious i think that members of the Cult of Macintosh are, but i'll save that for another time. apparently there is a girl in some iMac commercial that is becoming the biggest internet superstar since Cindy Margolis. she's a teen named Ellen Feiss, and you can read about her and the growing buzz that she's receiving in this article from today's LA Times.

--last but not least, NME reveals some details about the new Sigur Ros album. apparently it will not be titled and there will be no cover artwork. how does one say "best evs" in hopelandic?

for all of you out there who sold your ImClone shares before the bottom fell out, you should consider spending that $100K for Sergei Federov's Porsche, eBay style. no word on whether he nailed Pornikova in the back seat or not.

in other hot news, happy birthday props must go out to Malbersblows. cheers on turning 28!

for some reason, scientists are becoming more and more irritating by the hour. following the sheer insanity of the "space elevator" story, some meteorogical nerds have decided it was worth their time to upgrade the status of 1992's Hurricane Andrew!!! Here is a direct quote from the story: "On Wednesday, scientists ended a decade of debate on the storm's intensity by announcing that what was once thought to a Category 4 storm is now believed to have hit 165 mph — making it only the third Category 5 storm to hit the United States in recorded history." How does one even BEGIN to respond to this madness? Ok, first of all, there wasn't a "decade of debate" on this matter. Everyone already knows that hurricanes are worst evs. Let's be rease, people were way too busy debating dot-coms, presidential blowjobs and hanging chads to worry about Category 5 storm classifcation. second of all, who the F cares anyway? does this new classification make people who lost their homes or loved ones feel any better about the situation? "gosh, you know i was pissed when my house got destroyed by that Category 4 'cane, but now that i hear that bitch was a Category 5, i feel pride bubbling up inside. you know, it's not everyday that you lose all your worldly possessions by a storm that raged as hard as that one!" third, does this really help us prepare for future violent weather? shit no! what are you gonna do when 165mph Hulkamania-esque winds come blowin' down on you? the answer is still "get the F outta dodge", same as it ever was. science. what a bunch of malarkey.

don't nerds have anything better to concentrate on? apparently a group of Engi-Nerds are working on plans to build a "space elevator". yes, i said "space elevator". and yes, by that i mean "an elevator that would take you into space". space.com is reporting that the First International Space Elevator Conference was held on August 12th and 13th, where world class specialists in "materials science, bridge building, aerospace technology, law, business and financing" spent the time discussing how to make this project come to life. seriously, aren't there a lot more important things these people should be working on, such as making a powder that turns a glass of ordinary tap water into a juicy filet mignon?

now THAT'S what i call a forehand smash!

in other news, one of my favourite internet columnists, Jeffrey Wells, has moved on from Reel.com. apparently his column will reprise over at Kevin Smith's fledgling Moviepoopshoot.com in a few weeks. anyway, out of habit (it being Wednesday morning and all), I surfed over to his old URL this morning and stumbled upon a new column called The Reel Deal by Sarah Chauncey. from the first read, it appears to be a little bit more pedestrian that Wells' column, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. we'll see how the column progresses over time, but it seems like Chauncey has some decent insider ties and a pretty thorough knowledge of both film and literature (her bio says she went to Yale with Ed Norton). she takes a few minutes to focus on One Hour Photo and Motherless Brooklyn, a project that is being produced by Ed Norton and based upon one of my favorite books of the last five years. both the column and the novel by Jonathan Lethem are worth checking out.

i feel so very lame right about now. i just spent the last hour watching American Idol. the show was mostly worthless, but there is this girl on the show named Kelly Clarkson that will rock your socks. not only is she totally the cat's pajamas, she has a REMARKABLE voice. fox has done it again, they've hooked me on another show.

that's all the news that's fit to print. sorry about the lack of Blue Crush, Good Girl, Signs and Full Frontal reviews...i've been slackin'. i'll get to those tonight.

does it get any hotter?

please enjoy this sneak preview of a not-yet-released website, courtesy of prominent NYC-based FOW Chet Fetters. this is what The Daily Show would be like if Jon Stewart lived in Astoria and had purchased every single issue of Q since 1989...

it was just a few short days ago when i was talking up some of that Asia Argento buzz right here on whatevs.org. anyhoots, my point is have you SEEN the new rolling stone? best cover since last December's Britney cover, and definitely the first version of the magazine where the new editor they brought in from FHM was able to get his "vision" implemented. but before i go all Media Geek on you, i'll quit and let these pictures speak for themselves. best (and most intimidatingly sexxxy) tatt evs...

pardon me for paraphrasing the house of pain, but whatevs.org is a guaranteed outlet for those looking to generate buzz. first it was the Gore Gore Girls...whatevs.org buzz led to an article in the Village Voice. then it was The Paybacks; after being hyped up on whatevs.org, they landed themselves a feature spotlight in Entertainment Weekly. the latest beneficiary of whatevs.org buzz are Rochester Hills' prodigal sons The Prime Ministers. this weekend's Detroit Free Press featured a glowing review of their latest record. brian mccollum is a bonehead bozo (he dissed Max Weinberg in his Springsteen review last week), but he appears to have righted the ship with this astute write-up.

dear Friends Of Whatevs - i am insanely busy this morning. i haven't had time for web surfing. i just wanted to let you know that i will be updating the site later on this evening...until then, if you've got the time, check out the recent updates to Glamorama-Online.com. despite being somewhere in europe, Mr. Kegler finds the time to hop into internet cafes and blog blog blog away. obvs. until later...

check out the one-sheet for The Rules Of Attraction, based on Bret Easton Ellis' famed novel. it was adapted for the screen and directed by Roger Avary...coming soon to theatres near you??? you can tell just from the poster how sensationally obvs this is going to be. if this isn't enough, check out the latest trailer or Roger Avary's website.

--blue pepsi is better than vanilla coke...
--palm pilots can communicate in morse code...
--blue crush will be responsible for 29 surfing related deaths in the next two weeks...
--fondue is preferable to parfait...
--the voice of our generation is Ethan Hawke...
--Jonathan Lipnicki's voice broke this week...
--barry sanders will play bass guitar on The Flaming Lips' fall tour...
--being eaten by wolves is less painful than being burned at the stake...
--there is no pain in this Dojo...
--post-it notes are more useful than remote controls...
--rudy giuliani is in negotiations to portray The Silver Surfer in an upcoming film...
--egging houses on Devils' Night relieves more stress than Ding-Dong-Ditching...
--dazzling penmanship will get you laid...

Baseball players have just approved an August 30 strike date. Looks like another year without a World Series. baseball blows.

bruce has always been a populist at heart, and he displayed all of those characteristics again tonight as he threw out "Prove It All Night" as the night's third song. this was a big crowd pleaser on the last tour; it was more-often-than-not the second song of each of those sets (after "My Love Will Not Let You Down"). if the crowd wasn't already frenzied after his first two numbers, this certainly accomplished the task. the zeal was only intensified two songs later as the band launched into "Darkness On The Edge Of Town", the first widely-acknowledged masterpiece that Bruce played this eve. (con't)

senor springsteen rocketed through a few more tracks (see the setlist below) before his encore, which lived-up to its well-earned reputation as one of rock 'n' roll's finest. much to the crowd's delight, the first encore consisted of EVERYONE'S favorite bruce songs, "Thunder Road", "Glory Days" and "Born To Run" (w/the houselights up, obvs!). there isn't much to say about this triumvirate that hasn't already been said, other than to re-acknowledge that these songs make bands like Korn and O-Town piss their pants with jealousy. and though it was revealed on Backstreets.com weeks ago, the second encore was still a bit of a surprise, especially the full-on, balls out version of "Born In The USA". i've heard "BOITUSA" a few times live before, but this version had a lot more passion (even aggression) than I'd heard in the past; whereas normally Bruce performs this song solo + acoustic, this time it was the version virtually straight off the "Born In The USA" record. easily a highlight of the evening AND my entire lifetime. (con't)

second encore: my city of ruins / born in the USA / land of hope and dreams

Davis reveals that the upcoming 10th Anniversary Release of Reservoir Dogs on DVD has a "shitty" transfer. which is worst, again adding to my theory that everything that Artisan has touched post-Blair Witch (save Requiem For A Dream) has sids. thank The Almighty Lord Jesus that i already have the version that Live Entertainment put out a few years ago. you can check out screengrabs which compare the two by clicking here, here, and here. the Live version is on the left and the new and "shitty" (as proclaimed by Davis himself) Artisan version is on the rizz.

(editor's correction - i went back and re-read the article because I still couldn't believe that Jim Carrey was planning on portraying Alexander The Great. turns out that Nolan / Carrey are working on a Howard Hughes script, which could be competing with the long-rumoured Scorsese / DiCaprio version. my bad.)

in other concert news, NME reveals a review of the Guns N' Roses tour opener in Hong Kong. axel buzz. and the LA Times has two reviews of the recent Area2 show: one primarily discusses Moby and Bowie, the other focuses on the DJ tent.

i loved The Osbournes just as much as anyone else in america, but hasn't America unanimously agreed that their time has passed? sure, OzzFest is kickin' ass and takin' names, but does anyone really want the fad to continue with Season 2? apparently the Osbournes do, and they are pulling out all the stops to ensure they stay in the limelight as long as poss. in a move not seen since that little ragamuffin with the oh-so-adorable curls and punch-her-in-the-face-personality entered The Seavers' world on "Growing Pains", The Osbournes are adding another family member for their next season on MTV. yes, I'm serious. while i'm sure that the family's intentions are good and pure, you can't help but question their motives in resorting to the oldest and worst evs last-ditch tactic used to keep a television series afloat just a little bit longer. this totally reminds me of that episode of "The Simpsons" when the creators of Itchy and Scratchy decide to bring in Poochy to inject more life into the cartoon.

--as MTV cuts to commercial, i flip to The Today Show and who is on? lauer is interviewing none other than Donnie Darko himself, JAKE GYLLENHAAL! lauer reveals that his name is actually pronounced "jill-en-hall". Gyllies is promoting "The Good Girl", his new movie with Jennifer Aniston that opens in Metro Detroit this weekend. there is a viewing planned for Sunday afternoon if anyone is interested. anyway, Jake looks superbest and is self-effacing and incredibly funny and reveals his discovery of the lifecycle of the Hollywood actor: 1) "who is jake gyllenhaal?" 2) "get me jake gyllenhaal!" 3) "find me a younger jake gyllenhaal" 4) "jake gyllenhaal is ready for a comeback" 5) "who is jake gyllenhaal?"

in lighter news, mtv.com also revealed that Bruce Springsteen will remain on top of the Billboard 200 Albums chart next week, as The Rising sold 238,000 copies to top Nelly's latest by 30,000 records. mtv.com also confirms that (as first revealed by GKV on Monday) Beck will be touring with The Flaming Lips this fall. no dates have been announced yet, but obvs you'll hear about it here first.

more Toronto Film Festival buzz! today's Variety confirms four premieres:

--Brian DePalma's "Femme Fatale", starring Antonio Banderas and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos

--Julie Taymor's "Frida", starring Salma Hayek

--Curtis Hanson's "8 Mile", starring Eminem and Kim Basinger

--Shekhar Kapur's (director of "Elizabeth") world premiere of "The Four Feathers", starring Heath Ledger and Kate Hudson

this morning's Hollywood Confidential column by Jeffrey Wells includes the 13 Fall/Winter movies that he feels have buzz. they include (in no particular order):
Rodger Dodger, Auto Focus, Frida, 8 Mile, Standing In The Shadows Of Motown, Solaris, Adaptation, The Antwone Fisher Story, About Schmidt, Catch Me If You Can, Gangs Of New York, Chicago and Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind. to that list, i would add Moonlight Mile, Stealing Harvard (if it ever makes it to Michigan), The Rules Of Attraction, Punch Drunk Love, The Ring, and LOTR2: The Two Towers to that list as possible Top 10 Grahammy Films. hopefully The Grizz and I will be able to deliver some buzz on some other movies not mentioned after we attend the Toronto International Film Festival on September 6-8. buzz.

"the truth about Roni she's a sweet ol' girl / about the sweetest lil girl in the whole wide world / she'll make the toughest homeboy fall deep in love / see once you've had a Roni you will never give her up / she's the special kinda girl that makes her daddy feel proud / ya know the kinda girl that stands out in a crowd / hug a tender Roni and the Roni feels so right / i think i'm gonna love her for the rest of my life!"
--bobby brown, "roni" (1988)

okay, now i feel a little bit guilty about posting a pic of natalie portman's ass. to compensate, check out this interview with Dave Eggers from a recent edition of The New Yorker. his new book, a work of fiction, is due to hit bookstores in late September. but you can pre-order the book now if you visit his terrific website, McSweeneys.net.

was it just me or weren't this year's VMAs supposed to be hosted by Jimmy Fallon and Natalie Portman? i'm watching MTV's red carpet preview right now and they keep saying that the show is hosted by only jimmy fallon. man, wazupwidat? maybe she got embarassed by this tabloid pic...

apparently the dearth of good British bands is making a financial impact on the United Kingdom, so the Brits are formulating a committee to figure out why their music has gone to shite. most of the blame is laid on the Gallagher Brothers (seriously!) and the fact that no one in the UK can rap to save their lives. the report points out the few bright spots of the British Music Machine as being Craig David, Coldplay, David Gray and Dido. i would throw Gorillaz in there, too. and of these five bands, I think that only Craig David has the ability and talent to surpass his last album's record sales. think about it: while all of the aforementioned artists/bands are talented, their success was pretty much a fluke based upon once-in-a-lifetime circumstances (Coldplay got some great commercial exposure during the Winter Olympics, David Gray got big because he was the tour opener for the DMB at the height of their popularity, Gorrilaz because of the whole novelty cartoon aspect, and Dido thanks solely to Eminem's "Stan"). the Limeys just need to face up to facts, america (specifically the Midwest and Great Plains states) just ain't in the mood for your type of music at this time...

about 13 years later, Chuck has kinda sorta retracted those bold words. apparently he felt it was time to clarify and explain that he really respected Elvis as a musician, but didn't like the way that The Man thought that he was the almighty inventor of R&B/rock music. chuck also found time to compare Eminem to Elvis, which isn't really that bold considering that Eminem's "Without Me" did that about four months ago. i hate to say it, but it's been all downhill for Chuck and PE since "Air Hoodlum" (from their Greatest Misses LP).

and last but not least, birthday props must be thrown to full-scale FOWs MacK and JP. happy happy to both of y'all.

i never surf harry knowles' "ain't it cool news" and i don't know what led me there this afternoon, but there is actually some good buzz there about Warner Brother's upcoming "Batman vs. Superman" movie. it seems like Batman is going to be played by Colin Farrell and Superman by Josh Hartnett, reportedly after Jude Law had a last-minute falling out with the studio. interesting buzz.

in my continuing efforts to bolster your websurfing habits, i suggest that you click through to read "Ask Robert Hilburn" pronto. hilburn is a well-regarded music critic who writes a weekly column for the Los Angeles Times. but this column is unique in that it isn't a 500-word essay on whatever he feels like discussing in a given week, he responds to some of the more interesting questions that readers pose to him on a given week (sorta like Roger Ebert's "Ask The Movie Answer Man"). i've been reading this column for some time now and nary a week has gone by where it didn't provide some good conversation-starters or a few laughs. for example, this week he talks about how and why Morrissey never really caught on with the American public, how a majority of history's great albums (he mentions "The Joshua Tree", "Born To Run" and "Blue" as examples) were composed by artists while they were in their 20s, and how Rage Against The Machine's legacy will fare over time. i believe that new columns are posted on either Thursday or Friday...enjoy!

while you're over at the NYT, take a few minutes to read "A Famous Author Says: 'Swell Book! Loved It!'", which is an interesting and amusing take on the quotes and blurbs from famous authors that show up prominently on just about every major book that gets released these days. or, if that doesn't toot your horn, read up on the growing battle between NetFlix and Blockbuster. It seems that Block-B's has begun testing a "Freedom Pass", which allows you to rent as many DVDs as your heart desires for only $25/month, which is the exact same price point as NetFlix currently uses. this battle can only mean good things for consumers, even though i spend double that amount per week at Besties.

and in late-breaking buzz news, apparently Jack White performed three songs with Becklast night at Ann Arbor's fabulous Michigan Theater. prominent FOW GKV revealed this top secret buzz, and also reports that Beck will soon be announcing more fall 2k2 tour dates with The Flaming Lips in support. when asked for a description of last night's Beck show, GKV had only one thing to say..."TIGS!"

alright everybody. be safe, have a good weekend and i'll see you at Chene Park tonight, if not sooner. remember, there's a post-show Plakas in the cards, perhaps even a late-night screening of LOTR. obvs. and oh yeah, if you didn't find yourself at last night's White Stripes/Strokes show at Clutch Cargo's, here is a link to NME's review of the show. l8s!

ditka vs. god. national coney vs. lipumas. conquistador vs. don julio. brooks brothers vs. j crew. schwartz vs. diet coke. senior girls vs. junior girls. the squirrel vs. curley. malbers vs. cpa. playstation2 vs. significant others. lawnmowing vs. lounging. mortgage payments vs. 220. (coach)

props deserve to go out to the Detroit Free Press for their "attached garage" mini-site that launched yesterday. it features profiles on up and coming, Detroit-based bands that are gaining buzz on a daily basis. the list includes The Gore Gore Girls, The Paybacks and, of course, The White Stripes. check it out.

i also wanted to throw props out to those who attended the fabulous Whitney Garden Party last night, starring The Gore Gore Girls and The Paybacks. major props go out to Coach, 'Los, both Jills, and the one and only GKV. for those keeping score at home, i got a couple of hot pix with me and the scrumptious Miss Melody Licious...unfortunately they won't be posted on the site until this wknd, due to the fact that i arrived home late last night with a belly-full o' margaritas, Agave-stizz. obvs.

that being said, the album is incredibly solid. if you don't already own it, you obviously have problems. what are you waiting for? don't believe the media hype that it's all about 9/11, because it's not. it's a springsteen album and consistent with the themes he's been singing about for the past 30 years. go buy it today.

if you are perusing whatevs.org in search of an Area2 recap that puts MTV.com's to shame, come on back tomorrow. i've been unable to complete it due to that my day continues to get progressively busier with each passing minute. in the meantime, enjoy this photo of the lovely Miss Melody Licious. she'll be at The Whitney Garden Party this evening, where the Gore Gore Girls and The Paybacks will be performing. hopefully i'll see some FOWs in attendance. l8s!

August 7 / East Rutherford, NJ / Continental Airlines Arena
Notes: "It's always great to open in the Garden State" says Bruce, kicking off the tour with a two-and-a-half hour show.
Setlist: The Rising / Lonesome Day / Prove It All Night / The Fuse / Darkness on the Edge of Town / Empty Sky / You're Missing / Waitin' on a Sunny Day / The Promised Land / Worlds Apart / Two Hearts / Badlands / Mary's Place / Countin' on a Miracle / American Skin (41 Shots) / Into the Fire
First Encore: Born to Run / Glory Days / Thunder Road
Second Encore: My City of Ruins / Born in the U.S.A. / Land of Hope and Dreams

an accompaniment to this morning's Veni Vidi Voicemail is adam's review of yesterday's OzzFest. you can pick up a copy for yourself at newsstands everywhere.

*Mariah's new album will be dropping on December 10. As reported months ago on whatevs.org, Mariah signed with DefJam after her deal with Virgin collapsed in the wake of the trainwreck that was Glitter. Look for this album to make a serious run for this year's Top 10.
*The Rising debuts at #1 on this week's Billboard Charts. Springsteen moved 525,000 copies last week, easily his all-time best debut. Obvs.
*Asia Argento is about to blow-up in America. after this weekened, when she'll be all over movie screens this weekend as Vin Diesel's co-star in xXx, she'll finally escape the shadow of her Auteur Supreme father, Dario Argento.
*Songs For The Deaf finally hits the shelves next week. It takes a little longer to grow on you than Rated R did, but the highs that the Queens reach on this album are much higher than they've reached before.
*prominent FOW MacK turned in an excellent review of last weekend's Coldplay concert in Chicago. i've been staunchly in the anti-Coldplay camp for some time now, mostly because of the radio overkill on Yellow and Chris Martin's oversized egomania. but i saw the video for In My Place last night and i think they've won me over again. the new album is out on 8.27.
*look for an Area2 recap later on this afternoon...

Voicemail first heard at 4:17pm on 8.7.02. An outside caller (The Grizz).

yo yo yo yo. i'm going to quickly update the site this morning and give you a few things to chew on, as I will be out at the hallowed grounds of the DTE Energy Center (aka Pine Knob) for the Area2 festival today. mad props to glinka suave for scoring me some ultrafine bday tix. look for some sort of report on the scene by thursday, just in time for the chicago FOWs to know which performances are tigs and which are tediously worst. but before i let ya go, here are a few things i discovered for yr reading pleasure...

*courtesy of allstar news, here is a summary of the first two shows on the N. American leg of the Oasis tour. apparently liam stormed off stage four songs into his performance the other night in ft. lauderdale...talk about a tired band. i've got some FOWs who will kill me for saying this, but Oasis jumped the shark way back when they tried to put on a concert at The Palace back in the What's The Story, Morning Glory era. every subsequent concert, cd-single, and LP they have delivered since then does nothing other than further tarnishing their once-illustrious career.
*while the world patiently awaits the Glamorama review of Radiohead's Benicassim performance, here is some NME scoop on their setlist and new album.
*today will go down in history as legendary for many reasons. not only is it the birthday of legends such as andy warhol (dead), lucille ball (dead), and robert mitchum (dead), but it is also the birthday of Geri "Sexy Spice" Halliwell (ALIVE!) and yours trizz (SO ALIVE, LOVE + ROCKETS STYLE). on top of these bacchanalian birthday bestevs, check out today's DVD Journal for a list of the mega-hott DVDs that are released on August 6, 2002. i'm talking LOTR, Simpsons Season 2, Hot Shots, Hot Shots Part Deux, Clash Of The Titans and so many more! all hands on the bad one!
*and if any FOWs out there happen to be extremely rich and powerful, here's what you can get a brotha on his birthday...a spears sandwich! bzzzzt...OUT!

it's another Manic Monday for Marky Mark. i've got tons of thoughts and things to discuss, but i don't have any time to get to writing. but in the interest of keeping all of the FOWs out there from suffering from Pop Culture Starvation, this morning's Salon.com has an awesome article that celebrates the emergence of Nike's Air Jordans. this article links straight to the printer-friendly version, so you don't have to worry about Salon's pop-up flash ads. enjoy!

college football's pre-season coaches' poll was just released. u-m is ranked #10, which is a little too high if you ask me. the spartys are featured at #18.

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just in case you're like me and you've been wondering what Q*bert is up to lately.

the line-up for next Tuesday's Area2 concert has been revealed. finally, the question "does Moby have the balls to usurp David Bowie and close the concert?" has been answered. and the answer is a resounding "obvs", as moby is detroit's official headline act. if you're going to Area2, be sure to get in touch with me. best.

last night, at 9:34pm EST, whatevs.org racked up its 3,000th visit. i know, i know, this doesn't sound like very much. but if you take a look at the chart above, you'll see that whatevs.org has been kicking ass and taking names over the last month and some change, with over half of the site's all-time traffic coming through during july. so i just wanted to take this very brief opportunity to thank all of the loyal FOWs out there, and please let me know if there is anything else you would like to see make it to the site. i'm currently working on a mini-glossary to help explain "what the hell i'm talking about" (i get this email from various FOWs almost daily)...hopefully that will make it up by this wknd. i'm also planning on some bigger and better things down the road, but i won't let those proverbial cats out of their proverbial bags until the right time. obvs. so, once again, thank you for your patronage and continued visits. i have promised piping hot content for your sexy bod, and i'm glad to see that you're diggin' on it.

thursday thursday...


tgit. obvs. the only hot news that i've discovered this morning is Blur is set to release their follow-up to 13 in January.

but before i let you go, i would like to take a second to tell you that last night was one of the more underrated nights in the history of television. there was no buzz for the evening going in and, not surprisingly, no water cooler discussion the morning after. but last night's Cornocopia of Televised Delight requires a recap. if you were flipping around digital cable last night, you were likely to stumble upon Buffalo '66 on IFC, American Psycho on HBO2, Crank Yankers on Comedy Central, One Crazy Summer on VH-1, At Close Range on channel 157 (it's called like "True Life Movies" or something like that)...even American Idol on FOX. a truly marvelous night for channel surfing.

and yes, i just said American Idol. i have avoided this show, Bubonic-style, all summer long, but i thought that i would tune in last night to see what the fuss was all about. thankfully, my assumption from the get-go was correct. the show has sids. it was on from 9:30-10pm last night; by my count, that is 30 minutes. and the show had SIX COMMERCIAL BREAKS!!! that's not even counting the commercial they show after the closing credits! six commercial breaks in 30 minutes is ludicrous. and what filled those breaks was sheer fluff...why is this show the hottest thing since Gerardo? admittedly, there wasn't a "talent" portion last night so i didn't get to see if any of the Idol wanna-be's had any (talent, that is). maybe i'll tune in again.