Probably Uncalled For...  

First off, as i said at the beginning of the show, before the catastrophic power outage took out the studio and the buildings on either side last night, our thoughts here at Free Rein Media and Probably Uncalled For are with our co-host ppdingles, who is attending to a family illness, and was unable to be with us for the total s**t sandwich we managed to serve up last night. Here's to hoping he'll be back with us soon.

How weird it was to hear of a rock star death that did not involve an overdose, a crazed fan, pyrotechnics, a Porsche and some Crown Royal, or a shotgun and some overwrought pretensions. Like most people who grew up during the original run of Headbangers' Ball (the cancellation of which was the beginning of the end for MTV), I was and remain a fan of Quiet Riot. While QR, like most 80's hair metal bands, peaked in the 80s before fading off to nostalgia and occasional returns to the limelight, it is unfortunate that they are so often overlooked for their contribution to the growth of heavy metal, and the press this tragedy has received will only go to underline that a little bit further, as people in and out of the music industry have already glutted the Internet and beyond with observations and rumor-mongering.

Hopefully, either Tony Henry will stick to the English language versions of national anthems, or England will figure out next time how to properly insult the visiting team's genitalia. Of course, in the time it took to type up this part of the post, David Beckham pulled a hammie, and is listed as day-to-day.

Speaking of high-profile flops, how quickly is the Spice Girls comeback running out of petrol?...The comeback single, Headlines, is making headlines, but for not even cracking 10k in sales and barely making the top ten charts in the UK, and their ticket prices are falling faster than the worth of a Barry Bonds rookie card. While initial dates sold out in mere seconds, the tour is already starting to breath hard without benefit of having done a single show. Tickets for the January 3 concert are already selling for less than a third of face value on eBay, but don't despair...not to be outdone by our friends across the pond, rumors have started swirling about a Jackson 5 tour, including the extra sister they picked by way of rhinoplasty, which should no doubt rival the Spice Girls for hype not living up to the main event.

While having worked in various facets of the publishing industry over the years, I was not surprised to hear about Aqua Dots still being advertised, despite having been recalled November 7, when it was discovered it could be repurposed as the first date rape kit available at a Toys R Us. I did find myself wondering, however, how many people tried to show up and purchase the damn things anyway, since they were advertised? I mean, who tried to get this on a rain check? S**t, answered my own question on that one, but you also have to wonder about the sense of parents who will get their children a toys that can be easily swallowed, when down the road it becomes apparent that the kid will put any damn thing in their mouth...

Hope next week goes more than a little better than this week, but then again, isn't that the foolish hope by which the majority of us suckers hang on to?