Watching New Celebs

We’re moving, dear reader! The newcelebwatch family is packing its worldly possessions (the ones that haven’t been sold) and heading north to beautiful Seattle, WA. It’s my hope that we’ll have Intarrrwebb immediately upon arrival, but that can’t be guaranteed. So if posting is sparse or non-existent for just a short while, that’s why. I haven’t quit, I’m just Intarrwebbless.

The Black Eyed Peas have been around for a whole, so http://fergie.blackeyedpeas.com/’s been around for a while, but recently she’s struck out on her own. I was willing to chalk the whole thing up to annoying pop drivel, but then The Husband came home and told me that “Fergalicious” was actually a remake of a much older song. Off to youtube I went and sure enough, J.J. Fad did “Supersonic” back before it was legal for Fergie to drive a car. Now that I know this, I’m even more annoyed. Dear Fergie: STFU. No love, me.

Fergie, J.J. Fad, hip-hop, female artists, Black Eyed Peas, music

Jennifer Hudson, who won an Oscar for her role in Dreamgirls, has started filming Winged Creatures with Forest Whitaker, Dakota Fanning, and Kate Beckinsale. From the description, it sounds like a feature-length Law & Order episode (note: this is a Good Thing).

Hat tip: Cleolinda

Jennifer Hudson, Forest Whitaker, Dakota Fanning, Kate Beckinsale, Winged Creatures, now filming

Sorry for not posting yesterday, dear reader, I went out of town unexpectedly.

Today is Tuesday. I want to establish “Tuesday News Day,” but man is it ever hard to find news about celebs other than Angelina, Britney, etc. Bridget Moynahan is pregnant, but she’s not new. Jessica Simpson donated a minivan to an orphanage, but she’s not new AND she’s annoying. So I need to find some sort of balance, get the dish about people who are new enough to qualify for blogging here, but noteworthy enough to be in the news. Seems like a challenge to me! Send your celebrity news to jen[at]gonzopants[dot]com.

Does anyone remember that? Ah, the 90s.

It would be really, really nice if The Toddler let me have more than two minutes at a time at the computer before he melts down, but until that phase passes, I guess we’re just going to have to deal with nighttime postings. That or I’ll get up at 6:00 a.m. Yeah. Right. Nighttime postings it is, then.

So I’ve been realizing that I’m focusing a lot on recording artists when it comes to content here, and I need input on that. I’m kind of detached from TV and film because of time constraints and not wanting The Toddler exposed to too much visual media at such a young age, but I need to know from y’all if you’re feeling the imbalance the way I am. I want to write more about visual artists, too, like painters and performance artists and stuff. I want to write about emerging authors and playwrights, but I’m not sure if that’s glamorous enough or whatever.

So really, tell me what you think.

Fans of The Late Show with David Letterman may remember Bud Melman, a bespectacled regular on the show until his last appearance in 2002. Bud (real name: Calvin DeForest) passed on yesterday, leaving no surviving family and a request that a funeral be avoided. The news articles don’t say when he was born, but wireimage has photos of his birthday party on August 23, 1990. If that was his actual birthday & not just the day on which they were celebrating, he & I shared a birthday. He wasn’t a new celebrity by any means, but we honor him anyway.

Go in peace, Bud, go in peace.

bud melman, the late show with david letterman

10 songs, chosen at random*, by artists we’ve featured here on the blog.

Gym Class Heroes - New Friend Request
Bloc Party - The Prayer
Jesse Dangerously - Heart of a Girl
Julian Velard - A Dream
KT Tunstall - Other Side of the World
Lily Allen - Smile
Natasha Bedingfield - These Words
The Hold Steady - Chips Ahoy
Schuyler Fisk - Paperweight
The Kooks - Crazy (Gnarls Barkley cover)

*and by “random,” I mean “the first song they have on youtube or (in the case of a lack of good youtube footage) what played on their myspace page when I opened it.

The Kooks, Natasha Bedingfield, The Hold Steady, Gnarls Barkleu, Schuyler Fisk, KT Tunstall, Gym Class Heroes, Bloc Party, Jesse Dangerously, Julian Velard, Lily Allen, Canadian artists, Canadian music, music, British Artists, British music, hip hop, indie music

today has been a rough day. no real content today because it’s bedtime. tomorrow, however, will begin an exciting new feature: Wednesday play lists. kind of in the vein of friday random tens that some blogs do, but these will be by artists we’ve talked about here.

did you buy any new albums today? it was Tuesday, after all.

Sarah, who gave me Schuyler Fisk last week, also gave me William Fitzsimmons. I’m listening to music on his myspace now (seriously, am I the only person in the world who doesn’t have a damned myspace?). He reminds me a little of Shawn Mullins (PNW represent!), who was HUGE in 1998/99 with the single “Lullaby.” The piano on “Please Don’t Go” is simple yet haunting. His voice sounds a little like my mom’s partner Fred (not that any of you have heard Fred sing), and Sarah was right, I DO like it. Thanks, Sarah!

william fitzsimmons, indie music, live music, youtube videos, music

Sarah commented the other day, recommending Schuyler Fisk. If you saw The Last Kiss, you’ve heard her. She’s amazing. Like everyone else, she has a Myspace, but she also has a proper blog. Simple melodies, strumming guitar, clear voice free of any melisma and pretense.

music, the last kiss, schuyler fisk, female artists, musicians

earliest post ever, I think. Because we just got back from Portland (home of the Shins, lest ye forget) on our way back from Seattle (home of grunge, please let us forget). Hence no post yesterday, fair reader.

Today, however, I bring you Julian Velard. If you like The Fray (and really, who doesn’t? even those who say they don’t probably do), you’ll like Julian. Hell, even if you really don’t like The Fray, you’ll like Julian. He’s Canadian and with the exception of Alanis Morrisette and Kenny G, I like what Canada’s given us musically.

canada, canadian music, music, julian velard, the fray

No post yesterday because I’m a space cadet. Not that anyone noticed, of course.

So today’s Tuesday and that means new release day. I was over at Billboard and found this review of Naomi Striemer, a Canadian singer whose single “Cars” is getting heavy radio play (though I haven’t heard it on the radio). Carlos Santana is featured on the track and if he does for Naomi what he did for Vanessa Carlton and Rob Thomas, she’s in for a wild ride. Oh, and like everyone else, she has a myspace page.

naomi striemer, canada, canadian artists, indie music, ballads, music

Crystal sent me an e-mail a little while back tuning me in to Lily Allen. Lily’s British and soulful and is backed by sweet tinkling piano melodies. Put her on rotation with Norah Jones and Joss Stone and she’ll fit right in. Thanks, Crystal!

Lily Allen, British artists, music, indie music, youtube videos, Smile

The astute among you will have noticed there was no post yesterday. That’s because the university shut off our Internet because they got notice that someone on our connection was using an illegal file sharing program to download Battlestar Galactica. Thing is, we get BSG from Netflix. Only thing they can figure is someone hacked into the wireless connection. So I’m plugged in for now and we can’t use the wireless again until I submit some paperwork, which will be done when The Toddler wakes from his afternoon nap So today’s celebs, in honor of NBC/Universal’s neverending pursuit of poor college kids, are my two favorite characters from BSG: Grace Park, who plays Sharon/Cylon 8 (callsign: Boomer/Athena) and Katee Sackhoff, who plays Kara Thrace (callsign: Starbuck).

Didn’t I tell you before that I was a nerd?

Battlestar Galactica, Grace Park, SciFi channel, Katee Sackhoff, Boomer, Starbuck, Cylon, BSG

Summer Glau will be a Terminator in a show based on the movies of the same name. Can I just say how much I love Firefly and how much I love Serenity even though I had horrible, awful, terrible, no-good, very-bad nightmares because of the damned Reavers? So even though I’m not a Terminator fan, I might have to check it out. If it’s on network TV, of course, because this broke grad student can’t afford cable. Anyone wanna pick up that bill?

Hat tip: Cinematical via Cleolinda

Summer Glau, Firefly, Serenity, movies, television, Terminator