George Lopez: My New King of Late-Night Talk

Jay Leno is as comfortable and boring as an old shoe. Conan O'Brian has lost his edginess. I gave up on David Letterman when he went from just the suit jacket to wearing the entire suit! So, I've been at a total loss for good stuff to watch on TV after 9 pm.

Praise the TV muses when they saw fit to give George Lopez his very own late-night talk show! The promos, for once, did not disappoint. "Lopez Tonight" is a party and we're ALL invited! He just celebrated one month of programming and I hope to see him celebrate 25 years as Oprah recently did. Lopez is just that good...and very funny!

Recently, Lopez had to contain a near riot of young women (and their mothers) who went ballistic when teen idol Taylor Lautner, of "Twilight" and "New Moon" fame, stopped by for a "visit". Lopez could barely question the undeniably dreamy Lautner due to the screaming throng. It was a palpable love fest and as contagious as H1N1. Lopez and Lautner expertly rolled with it and made for some hysterical convo.

My personal screen favorite, Lawrence Fishburn, came on the show to discuss his new life as a TV icon on "CSI". To my reckoning "Fish" is the only dramatic character who has traversed 3--count them 1,2,3--concurrently running shows at a time. In addition, he has stellar screen and stage careers. The friendship between Fish and Lopez is obvious, as they nearly fall over in hysterics discussing Fishburn's early work on such banal shows as "Pee-wee's Playhouse". We are eager for more and feel shortchanged when the interview ends. Oh, yeah. I'll be watching tomorrow night!

"Lopez Tonight" is like an air freshener in an otherwise stale room full of old, smelly shoes. Lopez is quick, off the cuff, and cuts to the point of making me wince with his rapier-like wit. He can do low-brow, but it's not distasteful. If you haven't watched, my advice is for you to "Sheck it out, Ese!"

The New Frontier: Mass Animation

"Planet Earth" documented several years of videography and photojournalism revealing secrets never before seen of our planet. Amazing! In the last few decades, we've seen the Internet, Skype, and Facebook that have brought us a whole lot closer to one another. Now, there's a new medium for artists and dreamers. Welcome, Mass Animation!

A staggering 58,000 participants spanning 101 countries took part in this mind-blowing experiment. I can't collaborate on a press release with more than 2 people, let alone develop a robustly featured, digital, musical piece of futuristic art. "Live Music," the first mass animation project, will open as a 5-minute short before moviegoers watch the new animated full-length feature, "Planet 51". I had not planned to see "Planet 51," a movie about a human astronaut who lands on an alien planet and all of the zany fun that ensues as deal with the shock of discovering one another. To be honest, I would go see the movie just to see "Live Music" on the big screen!

The animated short "Live Music" opens wide the possibilities for artistic collaboration: no more laborious, time consuming travel to and from locations. Artists can work together, from concept to completion, at very great distances during the times that are most creative for them, say 2:00 am Eastern GMT for me (and that's not an exaggeration).

I applaud the completion of the first short film in what I hope to be a long list of such pieces! Check out Mass Animation at www.facebook.com/massanimation.

Why Is “Nerd Love” Successful?

I’ve seen jocks in love (“Love & Basketball), hot celebs in love—onscreen and off—a la (“Mr. and Mrs. Smith). To be fair, I have watched love stories that swept different ethnicities, eras and languages: “Indochine,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “How Stella Got Her Groove Back” and “Like Water for Chocolate.” I’ve been subjected to wannabe dorks in love with really hot girls (“Along Came Polly” or “Anger Management”). I scratched my head when, once again, Adam Sandler got yet another hot babe in “Click”. I guess money talks.

But, this season, I am totally smitten by true nerd love in “The Big Bang Theory”. Leonard’s Romeo to Penny’s Juliet is sincere, romantic and absolutely authentic. Leonard is so sweet, yet hapless that I, a bona fide lover of all things hunky and macho, would fall for him. I didn’t see it coming: Penny giving in and handing him her heart. I did not think Leonard would find the guts to keep pursuing her. And once they finally did hook up, I thought surely it wouldn’t last. But, last it has and I know it will be a total train wreck when they split up, but I’ll keep watching until that day comes. Something like a Greek tragedy or the Sam and Diane days of “Cheers”.

Nerd love is the real deal because nowadays, most of us are nerds. I watch documentaries on Stephen Hawking and Black Holes. Star Trek and Star Wars?! Totally! String theory v. Chaos theory? I dabble. Don’t ask me if I could generate the next “Theory of Everything” because I couldn’t—and who would want me to anyway?! Yet, we all have an inner nerd whether we spend way too much time on Facebook, get into Halo, or have an incessant fascination with technology in general. Chuck Lorre, the show’s creator, makes us get up and cheer for these book smart, but socially inept heroes. All I can say is, Go, nerds, go! Go forth and multiply!

P.S. If you haven’t been reading the “Vanity Cards” at the end of each episode, then go to Chuck Lorre’s website. They’re hilarious!

Mockumentary - ABCs "Modern Family"

An independently wealthy geezer married to a hot Latina. Gay new parents fearful of becoming social pariahs. Forty-something suburban parents with a "wanna-be-OG" complex. How can ABC go wrong with this mixture?!

The answer is: they can't! The ensemble cast (starring Ed O'Neill of "Married, with Children" fame) is terrific! Even the child actors have some serious comedic chops. From the quintessential self-focused teenage daughter to the smarter-than-he-appears son of the geezer's second wife, the kids are by no means overshadowed by the veteran adult actors. It all works and they all work well together.

Oh, and the guest stars who stop by for a visit add to the asylum-like feel of this eclectic sitcom. Shelley Long as the neurotic, slightly violent ex-wife is superb! I can't wait to see who'll pop in next!

Daily InfoJunk

“Embedded” w/ Mos Def

Scene opens w/ mos def welcoming us as we follow him around japan. We, the voyeurs, are invited to watch him do his “thang”! how cool is that?!

“konichiwa b----es!” he says. I am nearly laughin’ my dinner up! He’s so freakin’ cool! (funny how some people would never understand why that’s so funny).

Mos Def on Japanese Fashion

Mos def comes out from back stage, someone hands him a mic and he just starts rappin’. I didn’t even hear the dj start spinnin’ the beat and he’s already begun the show! As he walks to the stage, the crowd starts goin’ wild. He’s got on this funky turquoise leather jacket, studded like someone went crazy & a mardi gras mask. A case of having too much money? Perhaps, but it’s hot!

Cut to mos def walking around the Hara Juku District of Tokyo. It’s known as the Milan of the East. The storefronts are posh. He steps into a couture store and nearly loses his mind. That fashions are FAT and he’s a fashionista. Ok, so this is where he bought that studded turquoise number! I get it. My fave line of his: “if I could lick this jacket, I would!”

Why do I so get this piece? Because I am a product of the neo-punk-funk-rock generation that is plugged in and totally connected. I get the connection between music, work, art and lifestyle—we don’t write our credos like the “Romantics”, “Aesthetics”, “Beatniks” or “Socialists” of generations ago. We play it, rap it, text/twitter/blog it AND wear it. I yeah…I get it!

“We gotta keep up America,” Mos Def says. “I mean, c’mon you know like seriously we getting’ outpaced out this b----. Like, we’re just getting lapped by Japan over and over. We don’t even make good jeans anymore! It’s like ridiculous!”

Mos Def on Japanese Aesthetics

He lauds the Japanese concern? For aesthetics. America does not have a sense of aesthetics anywhere near that of the Japanese, he muses. He digs cultures who honor beauty. I understand his sentiments. I, too, feel uniquely drawn to the Asian sensibility toward perfection—feng shui, balance, exactness and tradition. Honor, Dignity and sacrifice…those are universal, yet visceral modus operandi.

The Japanese can shift from reserve to explosive. When asked why they like Mos Def, the audience comments: “His rhymes are tight”, “he is intellectual, but powerful”. Do they see themselves in those remarks? Hmmm.

Mos Def seems humbled, taken aback by his fame. He says to the camera he could not understand the universal appeal of a Black man from New York who raps about his cultural and social experiences. The fact that the Japanese are moved by his music confounds him. Once again, I see the universal truths that people share when an artist addresses such themes as struggle, love, justice and anger. We all can get down to that!

That’s just a little bit of something I watched. More confessions from an infojunkie to come.

For more on Mos Def, check out “Embedded” on Current TV.