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Wednesday, April 22, 2009

American Idol and other Schtuff

Allright, first off I'm having a lousy coupla days here folks. I'm fighting off a mean stomach flu, I'm broke, and my mortgage just went up 16.5%. Oh, I don't have an ARM, in fact I have a nice, very low fixed mortgage. But the city bumped up my taxes last year and apparently looks to again, and so the adjustment of my escrow will all but bury me.

Congrats, you dunderheads in City Hall. As with all the good neighborhoods in Milwaukee, you will soon tax families out of home ownership and drive them to the 'burbs. Within a few years Ritchie Riches from Pewaukee and Whiteman's Bay (er, I mean Whitefish Bay) will own all the houses here and use them as rentals. After a few more years of ignoring their upkeep the area will go to hell, leading to a fallow period before good people step in to 'renew' the block and we'll start the dance all over again.

But at least the taxes go for something good, like . . . yeah. I don't even have a good punchline.

* * * *

On to happier news, a review of last nights American Idol.

I don't know if it was because they unexpectedly had to find time for a 7th contestant or because of format complaints, but I appreciate hearing from all the judges. All we lost in return were the hokey video introductions before each song.

1. Lil - enough America. Send her home. And please, no more excuses on stage and no low-brow opinions yelled out from the audience.

2. Kris - an excellent peformance and an innovative approach. One notch against him in my book is that he and Adam seem to skirt the spirit, if not the letter of the rules. Make Disco or Country or Metallica night all your own, natch, but shouldn't the end result sound something vaguely like the genre it purports to represent? As good as it was, it wasn't disco. It was Kris sampling the lyrics of a disco song.

3. Danny - very solid vocals. He did well, but I do wonder why he must perform hunched over so often. On stage Danny looks like he's trying to mime the letter 'C'. Mayhaps he and I should get an 'All Danny' discount on scoliosis treatment together.

4. Allison - that outfit was too old for a 16 year old, but her vocals were fine. I thought the arrangement was off and as always it all sounded Joplin-y, but whattayagonna do?

5. Adam - Much better than last week, although I think he was indulgent for a second in the middle of the song. Did anyone else think it appeared to end abruptly? Anyhow, well done, but see my Kris comments regarding the arrangement.

6. Matt - I love the guy and his performance was good, but it was the polar opposite of the Kris/Adam sytle. While faithful to the original, it just didn't work.

7. Anoop - Vocally he was pretty good, but the arrangement was off (for me). I also think he dresses a whole lot like the 5th Doctor (Who) Peter Davidson. That's great on the cricket field, but not so wonderful for an American singing competition.


Ok, two go home tonight. My picks: Lil and (sob) Matt. America's picks: Lil for sure, and either Anoop or Matt, with Allison a dark horse.

I say Lil and Matt go home.

6 comments:

Beth said...

I concur: Lil and Matt are going home.

I'm really sorry to hear about the increased property taxes. That was a huge deal around here a couple of years ago before there were some adjustments. Some people were at risk of losing their homes.

Beth

Joyce said...

I agree with your assessment of AI last night and who is going home as well.
I hate to hear about your tax situation. Don't they realize that it's time to help the homeowner right now? Geeeze!!!
Hugs, Joyce

jeanne said...

Sorry to hear about your taxes, can you fight city hall to have it reviewed? Just doesn't seem right...The amount of forclosures should give the city a hint that upping the taxes just isn't the answer right now...

Did'nt watch American Idol I was with my grandkids at dance, but I will watch it tonight.

Have a great day tomorrow.

Bridgett said...

Okay...not sure if you've watched AI yet, so I'm not commenting regarding that. LOL

However, I will commiserate regarding your mortgage. That's awful and I'm really sorry to hear it's happening to you. :(

Feel better soon, my friend.

XOXO

Estela said...

Well, you had it in the second try. Lil and Anoop are gone. Missed both shows this week. RE: increase taxes... friend of mine is facing the same thing in Ohio...but in her case property values have gone down.. so she's trying to change the amount they are taxing her on... just a thought.

Sarah J said...

got to love Milwaukee. Thank goodness for the great job MPS is doing with their students. don't you love paying more for something you don't even use or have a say in? It's a shame those teachers already make double and triple more that the private sector.