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The Great Purge of 2010. I went through tons of boxes and tossed old papers, pictures, posters, programs, etc. I filled up 4 giant garbage bags full of stuff. Apparently it was all important to me at one time. Not now. (Sorry Sea Monkeys!)
Next project: Organize and sell the comic book collection. You heard it right.
The new Apple iPad tablet is out. Plenty of jokes already about the horrible name. What? iTab or iBook didn't test well? Anyway, is it me or is it just a giant iPod Touch?
Yet, I still wants it. Steve Jobs: Best crack dealer ever.
1999. The Matrix takes the film world by storm. Meanwhile, somewhere at a small theater in Virginia, the cast of West Side Story sees the film and then...BECOMES THE FILM!
Some of the cast of WSS (L to R: Samia, Jesse, Jen, Me, Michelle, Nate, Deb) when I did it at Mill Mountain Theater back in '99. We saw the film many times and then did a "dress up" night out. Yeah, we were dorky actors. But damn if we didn't look good doing it!
Reviews: Joe the Barbarian #1, Merc #1, Terminus Tales Presents...Platypus vs. Monkey #1
Big week in TV as the boys discuss Conan's last show and the new Syfy series Caprica. Jimmy falls in love with Betty White on the SAG awards while Joe pretends to follow the NFL playoff talk. News includes: Avatar breaks all records, Primeval returns, PS3 hacked, Kevin Smith's new Batman project, Twilight comic, new rings from DC and more! And, Nathan Fillion's hilarious phone message last week caused quite a stir on Whedonesque and Twitter so the boys discuss the reaction both good and bad. Top 3 and plugs galore. Leave your iTunes comments! 5 stars and nothing but love!
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Thanks for listening!
For those that know me, I used to be an actor/dancer/singer. As a child in Jacksonville, Florida, I always did all 3. I performed in several musicals and shows over the years but never took any classes. (Clearly, natural talent. Mwhahaha.) A choreographer of a few shows kept asking me to come join her dance studio since they were short on males. Au gratis. (That means "free", ya rubes.)
In my senior year of highschool, I started taking class. It was fun and cool (seriously) and I had a blast. Plus, there were only about 4 other guys. One was the dance teacher's son, 2 were gay (well 1 didn't know it) and one other. Needless to say, the chick to guy factor was awesome!
I took a variety of styles from jazz, tap, ballet, etc. I was always a natural mover and picked up break dancing and street style free form pretty easily before I started taking dance.
One time, a guest choreographer came in and taught the older group a jazzy/street blend dance to a remix of Janet Jackson's "The Pleasure Principle".
We used some of the moves from the video and mixed it up since it was a group. Pretty bad ass choreography and it became one of our favorites to perform. Think we won some competitions with it as well. We were told to put together our own dance outfits all in black. I went with what I thought was the bad ass look you see in the pictures above. Hey! I was bad ass!
At the time (1988?), I was dating a girl named Catherine (That's her in the pic with me above and left). She was the prima ballerina at another dance studio in town. She and a few friends from my studio were entering a contest called "Miss Dance of Florida". It was being held in Jacksonville that year. One of the major dance associations in the U.S. ran this nationwide contest in each state. Winner would move on to Miss Dance of America or something. I was informed there was also a Mr. Dance of Florida at the same time. I had no desire to join in so I didn't.
However, word comes from around the dance community that only 2 local guys had entered. For the entire state! One from my dance studio and one from Catherine's. The guy from my studio was kind of a jerk, so I was rooting for the other guy, Curtis.
Many nights out with Catherine, the girls of her studio and the girls of mine caused one of the dumbest ideas to ever be conceived. One of the girls suggested that I sign up for the competition. I immediately nixed it. Catherine was the favorite to win in the whole state and they thought it would be cute if we were Mr. & Miss Dance of Florida. Some beers later and more pretty girls suggesting ideas, and I thought about it. And committed.
I went in with the attitude that there was no way I would win against jerky from my studio who was doing a ballet routine and Curtis who was doing a tap number. I decided on going to my roots. The street! I took the Pleasure Principle group number we performed and re-choreographed it to a solo bit. Got a little help from some of the girls. It definitely had more street and break dancing in it.
Competition day arrives and I'm ready. Again, no expectations to win but when the contest started, I did kind of think what a coup it would be to take them out. And people started liking my chances since my routine was quite different from your normal stiff and proper dance competition.
I did really well but had a snafu with my music. But that didn't stop me! Curtis had quite a good tap number but jerky's ballet was really flat. The girls backstage kept saying they just knew I was going to win.
The results come and sure enough, my boo wins the crown of Miss Dance of Florida. Now it's down to the only 3 guys in the competition. I have a 1 in 3 chance of winning! Pretty good odds. However, I really didn't think I would and kind of didn't care. I only wanted to for my girl and friends as it would have been kind of cool (in the dance community) to walk around as a couple who won. The results start and they say, "And 2nd runner up for Mr. Dance of Florida...."
They always do the dramatic pause. Which, at that point, I started stepping forward because I knew it would be me. And if it wasn't, it would be funny.
"....Jimmy Aquino!"
Yep. In a competition of 3 guys I got 2nd runner-up. Ha! Folks in the audience booed as I was apparently the crowd fave. Jerky got 1st runner-up and was visibly pissed off/upset and we were all happy when Curtis won. Well, Jerky wasn't. (I did put it on the resume for years though. 2nd runner-up in Mr. Dance of Florida. People always assumed there were many of us competing.)
Afterwards, one of my friends pulls me aside and tells me why I lost. A friend of hers was a judge and showed her my result card with notes. It said something like, "Great & exciting routine but not enough technique. Too street." Fuck yeah! I'm too street, bitches! That was actually a better trophy than actually winning. To be fair,they were right. I threw in a ton of break dance moves even after my dance teacher told me to add more jazz technique moves. My bad. But fuck it.
I'm too street to worry about it.
Comic News Insider: Episode 240 is now available for free download! Click on the link or get it through iTunes! Sponsored by Dynamic Forces.
Reviews: Army of Two #1, Omnitarium #1, Weekly World News #1
Finally! The Best of 2009 show is here! Sorry it took so long, but we know you'll love it. We still do our regular show as well, so it's a lengthy one. The boys discuss the Golden Globes, Human Target TV show, and Jimmy saw a sneak peak of the upcoming Pushing Daisies comic!News includes Heroes 4 Haiti, Marvel vs. DC, Captain America Film, new DC weekly series based on DCU online game, new Spider-Man franchise director picked, U.S version of Torchwood and more! Calls galore come in on the hotline giving us listener best picks. Nathan Fillion himself calls to give his favorite movie though we're not sure it's of 2009. The boys go over their many categories and have a wide range of picks in comic books, TV and film! Top 3 and plugs galore. Leave your iTunes comments! 5 stars and nothing but love!
Also, get a hold of us!
212 501 6246
www.myspace.com/comicnewsinsider
www.comicspace.com/comicnewsinsider
Thanks for listening!
Christina Hendricks of Madmen. Congratulations! Just look at those Golden...
Oh wait. This just in. The Golden Globes is an awards ceremony where the Hollywood Foreign Press gives out Golden Globes (award trophies) in various categories from the world of film and television.
My bad.
What are Jammie Dodgers? If you are in the UK, then you know. If not, allow me to wax British for my American friends and others interested. It's a type of cookie, pardon me, biscuit as they say across the pond. As it says on the package, "Shortcake biscuits sandwiched with raspberry flavoured jam." Not a typo, they put the letter "u" in words that we don't over here.
A friend sent me some in the mail since I never had them. And they are deeeelicious! (That's one up there.)
I found an interesting note on the package saying, "Once opened try not to eat them all at once." Ha! Something you'll never see on packaging in the good ol' U.S. of A. (Duh. Because we're a bunch of fatties.)
Next time you're in the UK, give 'em a try. But please...don't eat them all at once.
Ella Thomas and I. Circa '09. (You may recognize her from various modelling ads and parts on Entourage, CSI Miami and the film The Surrogates.
I saw Bitch Slap. It kicked fucking ass. It's a cross between Faster,Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, The Usual Suspects, Kill Bill, and Foxy Brown. Total spoof/homage to the exploitation type films of the '60's & '70's. Cheesy dialogue, scenery chewing and over the top violence/gore are all par for the course. And it all works! Most reviews are hating on it because they don't fucking get it! It's supposed to be funny. It's supposed to be overacted. It's supposed to not be taken seriously in any way. Sheesh. Sure, there's a ton of cleavage and slow-mo and girls beating the crap out of each other. Which always makes for a great movie in my book. HEYO! Even the credits were funny. Seriously, stay for them and read them. I want to go back just to read them all.
Every female in the flick was packed and stacked. Don't believe me?
Erin Cummings as "Hel".
America Olivo as "Camero".
Julia Voth as "Trixie".
Zoe Bell (whom you know I love! Interviewed her back in July at Comic-Con) in a way too short lived cameo in the role of "Rawhide". She also choreographed the fights. And boy did those fights kick ass!
And yes..even Lucy Lawless and her Xena co-star, Renee O'Connor, made a cameo!
Get to the theater or get your bitch ass slapped!