It’s just about Halloween, so for your eerie pleasure, I present my Top 10 Spooky Movies of All Time. I put a lot of thought into this and these are movies solely ranked by how much they made the hairs on my neck stand up straight.

10. Open Water – Two scuba divers left stranded in the ocean only to face a slow death by sharks. I’m already quivering. freaks me out.

9. Låt den Rätte Komma In (Let the Right One In) (2008) – Nevermind the 2010 Americanized remake called “Let Me In.” The original is in Swedish, and is a freaky and sad story about vampires.

8.Rosemary’s Baby - Roman Polanski is creepy enough, but even after it’s 1968 release, this one still holds up. It’s not so much scary things that are happening in this one, but rather how freaky the characters act.

7. Jaws - The sharks again…freaking me out! Watching Robert Shaw slowly slide down the deck of his boat and into the shark’s mouth has damaged me for life.

6. Silence of the Lambs - It puts the lotion in the basket. Also, this movie makes me hungry for fava beans

5. Anything George Romero, but specifically Dawn Of The Dead (1978) – Romero is the king of the living dead. His movies always have a lot of dread and gloom in them. You also get a subtle message about society hidden in each one. Gore + social conscience. Fun!

4. Alien - It may seem like it’s an action movie, but really it’s more of a scare fest. I’m getting indigestion just thinking about it.

3. Misery – Steven King. Ouch, my ankles hurt just thinking about it.

2. Poltergeist – It’s time to sell the house when you slide into your unfinished swimming pool hole and skeletons pop up out of the water. That and having a big skeleton head jump out of your closet. They will certainly bring your property value down.

1. Psycho - Even with all the scary monsters out there, nothing is actually scarier than a real person who is off their rocker.

With all the Occupy Wall Street protests that have spread around the world, including right here in Madison, it got me thinking about protest songs.

I bet most people could come up with a handful of really good protest songs.  Time Magazine did it.

Here’s their list of the Top 10 in no particular order

• Ohio – Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
• What’s Goin’ On – Marvin Gaye
• Give Peace A Chance – The Plastic Ono Band
• Sunday Bloody Sunday – U2
• War – Edwin Starr
• Blowin’ In The Wind – Bob Dylan
• F*** Tha Police – NWA
• Sun City – United Artists Against Apartheid
• Fortunate Son – CCR
• Georgia…Bush – Lil Wayne

Not a bad compilation, but there’s a couple more I’d throw in there.

What about:

Rock The Casbah – The Clash

Fight The Power – Public Enemy

I Won’t Back Down – Tom Petty

God Save The Queen – The Sex Pistols

All fantastic choices, but what about the pinnacle of all protest songs about refusing to accept corporate or other social influence. Thank you Jermaine Stewart.

A notable day in history today in 1989  Gloria Estefan went to No.1 on the US singles chart with “Don’t Wanna Lose You.“

While she may not be known more as a vocalist, she also knows her way around the drum kit.

Female drummers are a select crew.  I would be the first to admit that it’s difficult to come up with a list of female drummers, but there is also something pretty awesome about a girl that can bang on the drum all day.

Here’s out Top Five Female Drummers

5. Meg White (of the White Stripes)

4. Terri Lyne Carrington (a notable Jazz drummer, but you may also have seen her as the house drummer for the Arsenio Hall show (1989-1994)

3. Karen Carpenter (yup, she played)

2.  Cindy Blackman (know for playing with Lenny Kravitz)

1.  Sheila E.

Here’s what’s going on in the world of David Letterman lately.

He’s playing off a threat to his life by the only way he know, by poking fun at it. Threats against him were posted last week on a website frequently utilized by al-Qaeda to communicate messages. Last night, his Top Ten list was titled “Top 10 thoughts went through my mind after hearing about the threat.”

Here is the awesomeness:

10. Someone wants to silence me? Get in line.
9. Nothing says summer fun like a death threat.
8. Why is the staff in such a good mood?
7. Save me, Oprah.
6. Should I wear my Kevlar hairpiece?
5. And here I thought nobody watched the show.
4. How can someone be so angry at a time when Kim Kardashian is so happy?
3. Some people get Emmy nominations; some people get death threats.
2. This seems like (Jay) Leno’s handiwork.
1. Oh my God! They canceled the George Lopez Show

Happy Shark Week everybody. In my humble opinion, the shark wins the award for scariest living creature, which is why I am not ashamed to admit that I love shark movies.

I know, I know, I love all movies. There is a special place in my heart for shark movies though. They can be ultra scary, or ultra cheesy. I don’t care. I love them all.

Still, you have to pick the good from the bad and that’s what I’m doing today. Get ready for the Top 5 Best and Worst Shark movies.

WORST SHARK MOVIES
#5. Jaws: The Revenge (1987, AKA Jaws 4) Mario Van Peebles stars in this 80’s cheeseball mix up. In this case, the naughty shark follows Ellen Brody to a tropical location. Oooh. It’s personal. On the upside. A shark is rammed with the bow of the boat.

#4 Spring Break Shark Attack (2005): You guessed it. Sharks attack co-eds on Spring Break in Florida. you pretty much get what you’d expect.

#3 Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus (2009) It was just sad to see how far Lorenzo Lamas had fallen after watching this. What is worse than the inane plot is that Debbie Gibson is also in it, spurting out goofball one-liners The special effects look like something out of a kids cartoon.

#2 Deep Blue Sea (1999) A bunch of researchers are developing a more intelligent shark. Whoops. Sharks get brains, but they still like to eat people. Super awesome bonus of Samuel L Jackson getting munched for lunch.

#1 Shark Attack 3: Megalodon (2002) You get all the cliche’ shark movie moments. A scientist who believes they’ve found something extraordinary. A public safety expert who wants to close the beach. A business man who needs the tourism money. Mixing stock footage with a loop of an animated shark does nothing but make you want to bang your head against the wall. Looking for plot, acting, tone, mood? You won’t find any here. At least some of the action sequences were laughable.

BEST SHARK MOVIES

#5 Shark Attack 2: (iPhone app) It’s not really a movie as much as it is an iPhone App. You get to be a shark and the more people/fish you eat, the bigger you get. The bigger you are, the harder it is to navigate too. I love this game.

#4 Jaws 2 (1978) It’s basically the same setup as Jaws. This time, Police Chief Brody’s kids are in danger of a shark attack. Brody uses some science and a paddle to lure Jaws to it’s demise. Makes you think twice about boating in a catamaran.

#3 Finding Nemo (2003) A cute movie overall, but it’s an excellent touch to have a shark named Bruce who’s a reformed fish eater. Try to make him go to rehab. He’s saying no, no no.

#2 Jaws (1975) Duh-nuh. Dun-dun-dun-dun-dun. The classic of all shark movies. Some of the best performances ever on screen. Remember the scene where the guys are comparing scars. Richard Dreyfuss wins.

#1 Open Water (2003) It was a difficult decision to put this one ahead of Jaws, but when it comes to sheer shark terror, Open Water wins. In a documentary style, a vacationing couple are left in the ocean by their scuba diving tour because of a missed head count. The unlucky couple get to float in the water, until the sharks notice. It is simply horrifying. This does not end well.

It kinda makes me sad that the importance of cover art on an album is a disappearing art.

Digital downloading has all but eliminated it, but at least we saw some cool designs in the past.

I’m not shocked that Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon was recently ranked the Greatest Album Cover Of All Time. According to a survey on MusicRadar.com, the 10 track album which is said to represent things that make men go crazy, came out as the number one pick.

The prism reflecting light is very iconic.  It’s simple. It’s symbolic.   It looks like something a stoned person would say “Woah! Dude!” to.  Those are the key ingredients to cool album art.

Here’s the rest of Music Radar’s Top 10 Album Covers:

#1 – Pink Floyd – Dark Side Of The Moon

#2 – Nirvana- Nevermind

#3 – The Beatles – Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band

#4 – The Clash – London Calling

#5 – Rage Against The Machine – Rage Against The Machine

#6 – Iron Maiden – Number Of The Beast

#7 – The Beatles – The Beatles (White Album)

#8 – Joy Division – Unknown Pressure

#9 – King Crimson – In The Court Of The Crimson

#10 – Pink Floyd – Animals

Here’s the rest of the list.

Mr. Almost Famous himself, Cameron Crowe joined Twitter (finally!) last week to start teasing his upcoming movie  We Bought a Zoo.

That means we’re gonna have another one of his trademark epic “boombox over the head” scenes, like we get in most of his flicks.

Sweet, to celebrate, lets look at 5 Great Music Moments In Cameron Crowe Movies.

5. Fast Times at Ridgemont High, “We Got The Beat”

What better way to set the stage for some 1980s teenage hedonism than to lure us in with The Go-Gos blasting as our main characters troll the mall? Unfortunately all video of it has disappeared from the interwebs, but check out the trailer below.

4. Almost Famous, “Misty Mountain Hop”

The driving melody gives you the sense you’re headed somewhere important, and Robert Plant’s swaggering vocals lead the way, making this the perfect song for rolling up into a strange, new land — or revealing to your friends that you’ve lost your virginity. Or, you know, both.

3. Singles, “State of Love and Trust”

Singles is a veritable who’s who of the Seattle grunge scene, with the likes of Chris Cornell and Alice in Chains popping up in cameo spots. No band did as much for the flick, however, as Pearl Jam. Eddie Vedder and Stone Gossard appear as members of Citizen Dick, and it’s this track that will forever remind us of nights spent consoling sobbing friends outside of bars. Ah, to be young and single!

2. Almost Famous, “America”

The music takes center stage here, as Zooey Deschanel declares, “This song explains why I’m leaving home to become a stewardess” and forces her mother, William and the audience to really listen to Simon & Garfunkel’s gorgeous ode to adventure. That sense of youthful anticipation is only heightened by those words we all long to hear: “One day, you’ll be cool.”


1- TIE. Say Anything, “In Your Eyes”

All he did was press play and let Peter Gabriel do the talking, but with this iconic scene, Lloyd Dobler became the ideal boyfriend for any girl with decent movie taste. When you’re standing outside someone’s window while they sleep, you’re toeing the fine line between romantic and creepy, but Cameron Crowe’s song choice ensured that we’d all be swooning. Chuck Klosterman probably said it best: “Every straight girl I know would sell her soul to share a milkshake with that motherfucker.”

1 – TIE. Almost Famous, “Tiny Dancer”

Almost Famous is about a lot of things: grasping for an identity, gaining the confidence to leap head-first into a new world, loving something (or someone) so much it hurts. Above all, however, it’s Crowe’s love letter to a certain musical era, and nowhere is this more apparent than during this sing-along. After a fight and an acid trip leave everyone in bad spirits, this Elton John classic comes on the radio. One by one they join in, and the mood shifts from tense to cheery in the blink of an eye. See, kids? Rock ‘n’ roll can save the world!

Thanks to Paste Magazine.com

We all know that Marge Simpson is the greatest TV mother ever.

With Mother’s Day coming up this weekend, we wanted to share some of her best motherly advice.

“I brought you a tuna sandwich. They say it’s brain food. I guess because there’s so much dolphin in it, and you know how smart they are.”

“Go out on a Tuesday? Who am I, Charlie Sheen?”

“You know, the courts may not be working any more, but as long as everyone is videotaping everyone else, justice will be done.”

“Now lets all forget our troubles with a big bowl of strawberry ice cream!”

“You should listen to your heart, and not the voices in your head.”

“Our differences are only skin deep, but our sames go down to the bone.”

“My life is pretty boring. The other day some Jehovah’s Witnesses came to the door and I wouldn’t let them leave. They finally snuck away when I went to make lemonade.”

“Rap music belongs in the rubbish bin! It encourages punching, boastfulness and rudeness towards hos!”

With Mom’s big day coming up, we wanted to provide a cautionary tale of how your gift can go wrong.

Flowers, cards, chocolates and jewelry are great ideas.

Playing the following songs…not so great.

Danzig- Mother “Mother, do you want to bang heads with me?”

Slade – Mamma Weer All Crazee Now “Ma ma mamma, we’re all crazy now!”

Garth Brooks – Pappa Loved Mamma “Mamma’s In the Graveyard”

Pink Floyd – Mother “Mother do you think they’ll try to break my balls?”

Queen – Tie Your Mother Down ” You’re such a dirty louse go get outa my house”

As we keep getting more details about the capture and death of Osama bin Laden, some questions are answered and some new ones are brought up.

I’m still shocked that the guy was able to hide out in a mansion for so long.

You’d think over the span of almost 10 years, there would have been some clues.  We came up with the list of the Top 5  Signs Osama Bin Laden Has Been Hiding In Your Mansion:

5. All your family photos have now have burqas drawn in with Sharpies.

4. Your guest insists he’s one of the Oak Ridge Boys, but can’t sing a single note.

3. Every time your kids build something with Legos, it’s blown it up with an IED.

2. The vanity plate on the Escalade outside reads “MSTRMND.”

1. The To-Do list now includes:  “mop floors,” “wash linens” and “Death to America.”