Hello,

I got some hot news on Blake Lewis. Never mind he's lame.

Whitney Houston is the #1 searched for person according to yahoo.com. I wish her CD was worthy of all those searches. Unfortunately I don't think it is. "I Look To You" is an okay CD, but nowhere near her best. She sang 4 songs on GMA's Summer Concert Series this morning. Her voice still sounds great. She looks fantastic for any age, especially 45. She really has good genes to overcome all the bad choices she's made in her life. GMA also has a poll for people's favorite Whitney Houston song. Predictably "I Will Always Love You" wins in a landslide. In my opinion I don't think that song is one of her Top Ten best songs. I voted for "Saving All My Love For You". If I could have voted for two songs, I would have voted for "The Greatest Love of All". An interesting random tidbit: Alicia Keys wrote "Million Dollar Bill" for Whitney.



The new Rolling Stone cover is Stephen Colbert. Stephen Colbert? It's Rolling Stone's TV preview issue, supposedly finding the 50 best reasons to watch TV.

A couple of days ago I finished reading the excellent "In The Time of Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez. It's a historical novel about the Mirabel sisters who were mercilessly killed by dictator Trujillo. The Mirabel sisters were very courageous in their attempt to overthrow Trujillo. The ending of the book is very poignant. I then started reading Mario Vargas Llosa's "The Feast of The Goat". It details the assassination of Trujillo after 31 years of misery, debauchery and torture of his own people. He even treated his Haiti neighbors worse, slaughtering thousands. It was an assassination a long time in coming.

I watched Season 3, Episode 3 of "Mad Men" last night and was a bit disappointed. This season seems to be off kilter, although it was funny to see Peggy Olsen get high. I'd like the show to focus on Roger Sterling and his marriage a lot less. His wife, Jane, has become insufferable. That's not a very interesting storyline and why did Roger perform in black face? Matthew, please focus more on Don and Betty Draper the heart and soul of the series. Is Don going to be there when Betty delivers? What was with Betty flirting with that older gentleman anyway? Congrats to Don for going two episodes without sleeping with someone other than his wife.

Speaking of disappointment I watched "The Notebook" with my beautiful wife last night. Despite it being chick flick I had heard good things about it. It was okay, Rachel McAdams lights up the screen. But the story was so incredibly predictable, that's always a bad sign. I'm not one of those that like to try and predict the ending of a movie, in fact I'm disappointed when it is so obvious. Actually I like to be surprised. (That's part of the reason that "The Sixth Sense" is so satisfying.) I told my wife after watching "The Notebook" I now need to see a movie where a lot of people are killed. That will bring my masculinity quotient back to where it belongs.

One final note, I wrote dismissively of Pink Floyd's CD "The Wall". I wrote that it's a good CD, but not worthy of it's classic status. I haven't changed my mind. However thanks to my friends at Rhapsody I have listened to the live version of that CD. The title: "Is There Anyone Out There? The Wall Live 1980-1981". I actually like the live version a lot better. They make some interesting changes to the original. It's well known that music played live is better than a CD. Check it out, or if you have the cash buy it.

One final, final note, this is shaping up to be an amazing final month of the MLB season. There are four teams that have a decent chance of winning the NL Wildcard. They are Atlanta, Colorado, San Fransisco and Florida. I'm cheering for Atlanta as they are a team I have followed for a few years. (Thanks to my brother and sister-in-law living in Atlanta I was able to go see the Braves play six games in three years. Not only was that a great experience but the Braves are 6-0 when I'm at their games. Just saying.) As bad as Atlanta played earlier in the season, it's a miracle they still have a shot to make the playoffs. Welcoming back stud pitcher Tim Hudson certainly doesn't hurt. He missed the last 13 months after undergoing surgery. If Boston and LA continue playing well they will both easily make the playoffs. I love this time of year as college football starts tomorrow. Go Utes!

As usual a shoutout to my friends at condron.us

That's it for now, themusicaddict