A Lot About Nothing

This has got to be one of the funniest commercials I’ve seen in a while. Dairy Queen always has a way of cracking me up with their television ads. The baby in this one is so cute… especially his laugh at the end. I should really stop buy there one day since I haven’t been since I was a kid. Heck, I didn’t even know they sold stuff like hot dogs, burgers and chicken wraps until recently!

If I learned anything last night, it’s that Kanye West really knows how to put on a damn good show. Kanye West’s Glow In The Dark Tour, featuring Rihanna, N.E.R.D. and Lupe Fiasco took place last night at Moslon Amphitheatre in Toronto, and lucky me got some great seats for the show.

I wish I left work a little earlier though, because it ended up taking my friend and I almost 45 minutes to get from Union Station to the Exhibition grounds. The station was packed with concert patrons and Toronto FC fans who were also lining up for the streetcar to see the soccer game that just happened to be at the same time in the same area. We should’ve took the Bathurst station route instead.

The show was slated to start at 7pm and we got there around 7:40. Unfortunately we missed Lupe Fiasco’s performance (which was the main act that I really wanted to see), but luckily Lupe came out at the end of the show to rap a few verses with Kanye. It was cool seeing them together.

We found our seats in time to see a good chunk of N.E.R.D’s performance. The group had brought a couple of fans onstage from the front row, one of which took their sweet time getting off the stage (I mean… we’re not here to see and 18-year-old “try” to dance to hip hop on stage). Pharrell got the crowd going. “Lapdance” is one of my favourite tracks from N.E.R.D. And surprise surprise, they ended up bringing up a multitude of girls/groupies on stage for “She Wants To Move”.

The next performer was songstress Rihanna. I didn’t realize that she had cut her hair even shorter… it looks good on her though. Rihanna came out in a red, military-style jacket and skin-tight pants (first of a couple costume changes). Her performance was good and she had the crowd ella-ella-aye-ing when she sang her hit “Umbrella”. This girl could go a wicked bogle, let me tell you.

And now to the star of the evening (which his performance stated more than once) Kanye West. The last time I saw him live was a couple of years ago at the ACC. This performance blew that one out of the water. Instead of just going from track to track, with some shout outs to the city’s audience, Kanye’s performance played like some type of apocalyptic sci-fi drama. The stage was set up to perfection… it really looked like a planet’s surface (no wonder they took so long to set up). The giant screen where “Jane”, the ship’s computer, spoke from looked like a suped-up version of the original Star Trek’s technology with all those flashing buttons and streaming starlight (now that I think about it, the set up kind of reminds me of the Synergy computer from Jem and the Holograms… lol). With levitating orbs that had planets and and anime-looking ’shooting star’ character projected on them, smoke and pyrotechnics, the whole set-up looked really good.

One of the things I liked about Kanye’s performance was that he was in character the entire time. From beginning to end it was almost as if you were watching a play of “the biggest star in the universe” (Kanye) crash lands on a remote planet and tries to find his way home. Even the order of which tracks he performed related to the theme of the show: obvious ones like “Touch The Sky”, “All Falls Down” and “Spaceship… and then there were tracks “Wake Up Mr. West” (to start the show when he wakes up from the crash landing), Jesus Walks” (when he was feeling lonley and isolated on the planet), and “Stronger” (when he had to find the power within to find his way back to earth).

Kanye had energy from beginning to end. He ended the show on a positive note with some words for the audience on his personal philosophies, some of which are included “Thank You and You’re Welcome“, his new book co-authored by J. Sakiya Sandifer. Luckily they were giving out some copies after the show… it was a pretty interesting and entertaining read filled with “Kanye-isms”.  I have to give props to the live band that was playing below the stage as well… great job with the music.

And yes… things did glow in the dark during the show!

I got a chance to interview Tokio Hotel today. Let me tell you for a pop/rock band they are the most adorable things I’ve ever seen! They almost look like life-sized anime characters with a German twist. I wanted to take the lead vocal singer (Bill Kaulitz) back with me (I think it was the cool eye make-up and crazy hair). We had an interpreter there, so I was asking questions (in English of course) and they were replying back in German, and I tried to look like I was remotely understanding what they were staying (there were English phrases here and there). Makes me kind of want to pick up a German phrase book right now…

Visit Tokio Hotel’s official site to check out the band and their music. Their shows in Canada have been crazy so far. The music’s not bad if I do say so myself. I’m feelin’ “Ready, Set, Go”. When the interview gets posted I’ll make sure to edit this post with the update.

UPDATE: Yeah, yeah I know all you Tokio Hotel fans are eager to see them in the interview, but I promise, the interview WILL be up before the release date in Canada (March 25th)… lol (our editor is swamped with work… but trust me, I remind him every day, don’t worry!)

UPDATE #2: Yay! It’s FINALY up! My apologies again… but honestly it wasn’t my fault. I think the editor just had a lot on his plate and putting the audio together w/ the interpretor’s track was kinda tricky. I look like a slob, so forgive me… this was last minute. At least the guys look good!

Tokio Hotel interview with umusic.ca (if it’s archived visit the ‘footage’ section and click on “Tokio Hotel”).

Breaking news just now about actor Heath Ledger, star of the upcoming blockbuster The Dark Knight.

This is the story from the Associated Press:

NEW YORK — Actor Heath Ledger was found dead Tuesday at a downtown Manhattan residence in what authorities say is a possible drug-related death, the NYPD said. He was 28.

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne told The Associated Press that Mr. Ledger had an appointment for a massage at the Manhattan apartment that is believed to be his home. The housekeeper who went to let Mr. Ledger know the masseuse was there, and found him dead at 3:26 p.m, Mr. Browne said.

The Australian-born actor was nominated for an Oscar for “Brokeback Mountain,” where he met his wife, actress Michelle Williams, in 2005. Mr. Ledger and Ms. Williams had lived in Brooklyn and had a daughter, Matilda, until they split up last year.

Mr. Ledger’s roles include the suicidal son of Billy Bob Thornton in “Monster’s Ball” and had starring roles in “A Knight’s Tale” and “The Patriot.” He was to appear as the Joker this year in “The Dark Night,” a sequel to 2005’s “Batman Begins.”

Sites like The New York Times mention that it may be drug related. A very unfortunate day for Hollywood and his family which includes his 2-year-old daughter Matilda.

I just got back from watching the highly anticipated J.J. Abrams-produced film Cloverfield. If you’re wondering if it’s worth all the hype and your $11, I think you’ll get you money’s worth. You’ll be highly entertained for 90-minutes, which just happens to be a perfect length for this type of film… any longer and you probably would’ve gotten dizzy from all the hand-held camera action.

Directed by Matt Reeves, Cloverfield starts out almost like a low-budget episode of Friends, with likeable characters, some comedic moments and a touch of drama thrown in. That all changes pretty soon once a loud tremor shakes New York City. What at first seems to be an earthquake is followed by a large explosion and the city’s residents, including Rob (Michael Stahl-David) and his going-away-party-goers to run for their lives. Rob and his friends end up on a mission to save a trapped Beth (Odette Yustman) in her highrise miles away, at the same time trying to beat the clock and catch the last helicopter out of the destructing city.

As for the monster, you’ll be anticipating to see what it looks like after hearing all the roars and screaming. And through the eyes of the handheld video camera held by Rob’s best friend Hud (T.J. Miller), I must admit it looks pretty darn freaky (along with it’s little “friends”). Cloverfield was amazingly shot, taking into consideration it’s Blair Witch Project-esq filming. Makes you wonder just how much post-production work actually went into adding all those special FX into a film that looks like it’s shot on a home video camera… very realistic.

If you haven’t already visited the viral marketing site take a look. And here’s the link for the film’s official site. Note to any Trekkers out there, there’s a short but sweet trailer of the upcoming Star Trek film preceding this movie. Can’t wait!

P.S. Stick around until after the credits.