Category: Blog

Rants, reviews, news, observations, events, etc.

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Please help Mike Masse’s son Noah

Mike Masse and Noah

We interviewed our favorite YouTube musician and cover song artist, Mike Masse, in episode 163 of The Paunch Stevenson Show. He was a great guest and we enjoyed discussing music, movies, and video games with him.

Yesterday, Mike posted his version of The Beatles song “Let It Be” on YouTube with this message:

“Dear Friends and Supporters,
On July 5th, 2012, my 11-month-old son Noah was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Please consider making a donation of support as well as helping spread this link. The proceeds from your donation will go towards getting Noah the best care possible, as well as helping keep our family afloat while we focus on little Noah’s treatment and comfort. Anyone who donates will receive a downloadable MP3 version of this rendition. Here is the link:
http://covercows.com/let-it-be-a-fundraiser/
A special thanks to Jesse, and everyone else at Cover Cows, for suggesting I record a charity song for Noah, as well as offering to waive any of their proceeds from the donations received. And thanks to Jeff Hall for letting me borrow his video camera (identical to mine), so I could shoot the performance from two angles at once.
And thanks to all of you so much for your friendship, generosity, and support.
Love,
-Mike
P.S. If you prefer, you can also buy this song from iTunes (with Apple taking 30% of the purchase price, as is their policy). Here’s the iTunes link:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/let-it-be-single/id546401724”

So if you can, please help Mike out. We’re sure he and his family appreciate even the smallest donation. Thanks!

Greg and Rob

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Charlie Sheen

Charlie Sheen The Paunch Stevenson Show Lame Idiot of The Year Award

Charlie Sheen is the winner of The Paunch Stevenson Show Lame Idiot of 2011 Award.

Last October, Charlie Sheen was busted for trashing a swank hotel room at New York’s Plaza Hotel, admitting to using drugs and having a hooker over. In the face of controversy, Sheen admitted himself to his third attempt at “home rehab.” With CBS growing anxious, they decided to halt production on his hit show Two and a Half Men, which infuriated Sheen. He took to the airwaves and the internet, blasted the studio, the network, and the show’s creator Chuck Lorre, and refusing to come back to work without a 50% raise. Eventually Sheen was fired, losing his $1.8 million dollar an episode salary.

Shortly after being fired, child services removed his toddler children from his house, where Sheen lived with former porn stars. His ex-wife Brooke Mueller, gets into worse trouble than Charlie. Sheen became an internet sensation, but tweeting nonsensical things like “Duh, winning”, “Tiger Blood”, and “Warlock.” He would repeat these things in prime time interviews, including a bizarre night on Pierce Morgan’s show, in which Charlie was clearly wasted. Sheen attempted multiple comebacks by hosting web cam shows, where he spewed more craziness, and a video on Funny or Die.com where he cooked food mixed with cigarettes.

Lastly, Charlie attempted a comedy/improv tour, but he was booed off the stage in Chicago and Detroit, and quit shortly thereafter. He also claimed to be starring in a new movie, Major League 3, even though that film was already produced over 10 years ago with Scott Bakula. Somehow, Sheen, like Keith Richards, has managed not to kill himself, so we expect he’ll eventually return to film and TV. Where’s Hot Shots part Twee?

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Review of Jeff Bridges’ New Album

So the great Jeff “It’s Me Barney” Bridges just released his second musical album Jeff Bridges, first since 2000’s Be Here Soon. This new album is sort of a continuation of Jeff’s work in the film Crazy Heart (2009), about a down and out country singer. He worked with highly successful producer T-Bone Burnett on the album. This album is definitely country, but it’s old school country, which is why the country music press hated it! I personally hate newer country, essentially everything made from Billy Ray Cyrus onwards. Anyway, Rolling Stone Magazine gave it 3 out of 5, which I’d probably agree with. Several of the songs were just way too slow and bogged down, although a few were very good, and one is now stuck in my damn head! Here’s a quick rundown of the tracks in the CD I got, with 2 Barnes & Noble bonus tracks:

  • What a Little Bit of Love Can Do -> The signature track, very catchy, Bridges voice actually works quite well with this song.
  • Falling Short -> This is a strange one, seems to go nowhere.
  • Everything But Love -> Folksy, very pleasant.
  • Tumbling Vine -> Like track 2, written by Jeff Bridges, in the tone of “The Dude,” and highly psychedelic.
  • Nothing Yet -> Another slow one, put me to sleep.
  • Blue Car -> A nice poppy folk song with a easy beat (though slow).
  • Maybe I Missed the Point -> Easily my favorite track, and now stuck in my head. Wish he did the whole album like this.
  • Slow Boat -> Spoken word? Why?
  • Either Way -> Dullish love song.
  • The Quest -> Old school country song.
  • I Will Wait -> First B&N exclusive bonus, modest.
  • Shotgun Bride -> Second B&N exclusive bonus, kind of falls off the cliff.
  • Drag Me To The Party -> Amazon MP3 exclusive, more odd spoken words.

Oh, and surprise, I got to meet Jeff Bridges at the Fifth Avenue Barnes & Noble in New York! Here’s his signed CD cover and my picture just before getting it signed. We’ll talk about the encounter in Episode 177.

Jeff Bridges Signed CD
Jeff Bridges Signed CD
Greg meets Jeff Bridges
Greg meets Jeff Bridges
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Edie Falco Agrees with Us

Edie Falco

(from Yahoo! TV – Edie Falco Bashes Reality TV Stars: ‘Who The Hell Is Kim Kardashian?’)

In episode 167 and 170 of The Paunch Stevenson Show, Greg and I shared our disgust for stupid talentless dummies getting famous and making millions of dollars for nothing. Is it because we’re jealous and bitter about our own lack of fame? Nope! Edie Falco, a famous actress, feels the same way!

When asked if she watches reality television, Falco said, “Who are these people and why are they famous and why are they advertising things and being asked their opinions about things? I just don’t understand what these people did to be in a position of having everyone ask their opinions about stuff.”

“Who the hell is Kim Kardashian? If there’s something about her personality or something that she’s accomplished or her philosophy on something – but beyond that I don’t understand what’s happening. It’s actually frightening.”

Edie Falco, you summed up our feelings perfectly. How about being a guest on our show? You’d fit right in!

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Paunch on The Overnightscape Underground

We’re in syndication!

That’s right, the Paunch Stevenson Show is now part of The Overnightscape Underground! Frank Nora invited us to join his network of podcasts several months ago and we’re very excited that our episodes are being reposted there. Frank, thank you for including us. PQ Ribber, thank you for doing us the huge favor of posting our episodes on onsug.com.

What does this mean? When we post a new episode here on paunchstevenson.com, it’ll also be posted on The Overnightscape Underground. That’s more exposure for us, which should result in more listeners, comments, and interaction.

That’s also more exposure for The Overnightscape Underground here on our site. Go and listen to some of the other podcasts being posted (and reposted) there. They make commutes, workdays, and chores more pleasant.