My lady and I visited Palm Springs for the first time this past weekend and much to our delight, we passed by these huge dinosaurs that were most famously featured in Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. So on our return trip, we decided to pull over and to live out one of my childhood dreams of actually visiting the T-Rex just like Pee-Wee and Simone did. For this blog entry, I actually did some cracker jack investigating (thanks wikipedia) and learned that the dinosaurs were created by Claude Bell, a sculptor and portrait artist who ran the Wheel Inn Cafe off the 10 in Cabazon, CA. In order to attract some customers to his place, he constructed Dinny, a giant brontosaurs out of spare material from a construction site. After 11 years, Dinny was finally finished in 1975. Then Claude felt the need to give ol’ Dinny a friend, so in 1981, he started constructing Mr. Rex, a sweet Tyrannosaurus Rex. Unfortunately for Claude, he died in 1989 so Mr. Rex was never completely finished but he looks pretty good to me. That’s me basking in all the glory that is Mr. Rex. Trust me, it was a special moment.

Anyway the interesting thing about this whole thing is that some crazy religious nut-bags have now taken over the Inn and control the dinos. And they are not subtle about their message as you can see in the picture below. It’s sad to think that if Pee-Wee and his friend Simone wanted to watch the sun set again in T-Rex, that they would have to pay $5 and have to get a fantasy history lesson about how man used to ride triceratops around as a means of transportation. Why taint a national treasure like this with religious propaganda? It’s just kind of sad. But that still didn’t stop me from taking pictures…I didn’t have to give money to do that.

And for the young folks who have never seen the movie, below is a clip. Go to the 6:15 mark.

RN

Air France Sincerely Yours

I know what you’re thinking: “Hey man, another French group on The Spotlight? I thought you didn’t even like France - what’s up with that?”. Sleep easy my friends. I still don’t like French people very much (the country itself is actually pretty nice), but they’ve been putting out some decent music lately, so I felt the need to extend the olive branch. However, no proverbial branch is needed this week because Air France is actually from Sweden, and everyone likes the Swedes (can’t get enough of that IKEA). So, Air France. They’re definitely synth-based, but in more of a pseudo-techno way. Why pseudo? Because they don’t have the heavy techno beats and piercing digital effects that drugged-up teenagers love to listen to in burned out warehouses. They’re a lighter version - house music for your parents, in a way. So invite mom and dad over, but no need for glow sticks. It’s a digital jam the way Lawrence Welk would have made it. Non-threatening.

-John

A fantastic commercial from a furniture store in High Point, NC. Thanks to Nick F. for sending this clip along to me.

Quick tangent - This got me thinking about weird commercials and there used to be a long running commercial for Harrelson Ford Mazda that ran in Charlotte for like 15 years. It had a bunch of people at a bar drinking beer and it featured such local celebrities as Bill Elliott (NASCAR driver), Jim “Catfish” Hunter (baseball player), and Drew Pearson (football player). The crowd gathered behind the guys basically argued over what Harrelson Ford Mazda did better…their low financing or their low prices. Then one of the celebrities said, “Harrelson Ford Mazda, they don’t just beat the competition, they Crush ‘em!” And Bill Elliott crushed a beer can that he was holding. Then “Catfish” Hunter said in a thick southern accent, “That’s awesome Bill!” Let’s just say that it was the best commercial ever and I’m sad that it’s nowhere to be found online. I mean, for god sakes, Bill Elliott crushed a beer can on a TV ad and someone said what we were all thinking…”awesome” indeed Bill Elliott.

RN

I think of a movie. You try to guess it in the comments section. If nobody guesses it correctly, then I’ll update the post with a clue. As always, the picture above is a hint.

Good luck.

UPDATE: Peter G. You have guessed the movie! Congratulations! The movie was Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, the movie about Chuck Barris, the producer of the Newlywed Game which was hosted by Bob Eubanks. Thanks to everyone for playing.

RN

Here is an idea for American Idol. Next year, can they just allow people over the age of 65 to compete on the show? I’d probably watch that instead of watching some high school musical nerds attempt to sing. And these oldies could sing songs from Count Bassie and Ella Fitzgerald’s collection. Wouldn’t that be more enjoyable?

- Good review of Heath Ledger’s last film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. I had to spell check that one twice. I like the director Terry Gilliam a lot…his films usually fail to capture the average joe movie goer but I think this particular film will do quite well, seeing that it’s Ledger’s final performance. Also, if you haven’t seen Gilliam’s The Fisher King or Time Bandits, I highly recommend them. They are filled with a lot of fantastical elements.

- I know we have video on demand here but I really like this idea that an Italian broadcaster came up with. It’s basically pay-per-view but not just for the big boxing or wrestling match but for actual shows. I bet you’d think twice about watching I Love Money 2 if you had to pay for it.

- A little youtube clip of Disney animation and how they seem to use the same animation over and over. Thanks to Evan for that clip.

- True Blood’s second season will premiere on June 14th at 9pm. I’m excited to see Sookie and the gang again.

RN

Johnny Knoxville is producing this crazy documentary about a “mountain” family in West Virginia. I’m not really sure what to think from just the trailer. It looks like this family has some serious issues but it’s also being marketed in the Jackass kind of style. Are they doing that just to get young kids in or do they glorify this family as being cool? I guess we won’t know until we see it. Anyway, this movie received a lot of buzz at Tribeca this year so it could be a big hit when it comes out.

RN

- This woman didn’t like her high school years. So, for her ten year reunion, she decided to send a stripper to pretend to be her and see what kind of reaction she would get. Stop the presses! Someone didn’t have a good high school experience?! Look, I wasn’t a fan of high school, but is there a real need to send someone pretending to be you to your reunion? Is that how you get back at people? This is just a sad cry for attention. You know what normal people do who despised their high school years when they get their ten year reunion invitation? They show up in a limo, hire someone to be their date, pretend to be wildly successful, get completely trashed, and walk out of there knowing that they have to do the same thing in another ten years. (watch the youtube video here.)

- Looks as if My Name Is Earl has finally run it’s course. This was one of the funniest pilots that I had ever seen. But, it’s the same show every episode…it just got too repetitive. Anyway, Jason Lee is excellent and I’m sure he’ll get back to making some movies.

- Not all twittering is good. You can check out the bad side of twittering here. (Thanks to Melissa L. for the link)

- Inglorious Basterds premiered at the Cannes (pronounced Cannes) Film Festival. The reviews? Um, not so good. And that stinks. Hopefully, these critics are stupid.

RN

Those Darlins OH WOW DANG

Coming to you straight from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, these three ladies (Nikki, Jessi & Kelley - all three with the last name of Darlin) are blending rock, country, pop and a little punk to form a rambunctious sound that is sure to get your head bobbing. Making a big splash at this year’s SXSW in Austin was hopefully just the exposure they needed to attract a wider fanbase. PCC2C is here to do its part as well. Open your ears (and maybe your hearts?) to some fun-loving southern women.

-John

If you have ever been to Los Angeles, you’ve probably at some point driven by the Guitar Center. It’s a huge chain. Anyway, the store on Sunset Blvd is pretty iconic as it has large pictures of some of the world’s greatest musicians like Slash, Robert Smith, Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and now, Billy Bob Thornton. Yup, the great guitar stylings of Billy Bob Thornton has finally been appreciated by Guitar Center. I really don’t get it at all. Is Jared Leto next up on that wall? What about William Shatner? He’s put out an album. I’ve never put too much thought into the Guitar Center but I’m not sure I’m going to go buy a guitar from a store that advertises Billy Bob Thornton as being a guitar god.

RN

I think of a movie. You try to guess it in the comments section. If nobody guesses correctly, I’ll update the post with a hint. As always, the above picture is a clue.

Good luck.

UPDATE: Ok, this has been a bad week for me. Was it really that easy? J.P. Batey, you are the big winner here. You guessed the movie! The movie of course was Walk the Line. Man, I gotta go back to the drawing board and come up with some harder ones. Anyway, congrats Batey. You are a winner!

RN