FRED Entertainment

May

My name is Aaron Poole. Some of you may remember me as the boring one from the FRED podcast Cabin Fever. Other’s may remember me making fun of their band with my Musical Myspace Tour. But most of you don’t care so let’s just get on with this.

In an attempt to send off the month of May the way it deserves I’m going to present you with a list of the things I’ve enjoyed in the past month. I’m hoping that we can share a common love or, if you missed it, I can show you something you might enjoy. Of course, if you hated anything on the list and think I’m a doo-doo head… well that’s what the comment section is for.

1) American Idol / Paul F. Tompkins

Listen, you don’t have to enjoy the show to know that it’s watched by the majority of people. I have a penchant for singing competitions (and judging people from the comfort of my armchair) so Idol ticks a lot of boxes for me. I don’t expect the winners to go on and be legitimate musicians. In fact, I don’t expect to ever hear from these people again once the show is over. But for the 3 months or so that the show is on, I dig it.

I get emotionally invested in geeky beardy kids like Casey Abrams. I get reminded by my girlfriend that I shouldn’t look at Haley Reinhart that way because she’s 8 years younger than me. Yes, I got shocked by Pia getting eliminated so early and yes I got shocked that Jacob is that camp. I’m a sucker for it all.

Haley and Casey talking about how much they like me too.

In addition to the show was the wonderful Paul F. Tompkins recaps done for nymag.com. Or is it techincally vulture.com? I can’t tell anymore. MAKE SENSE INTERNET! Anyhoo… Paul would give a run down on his opinion of each show and cut through all the bull to ask the serious questions. Like, who does Randy really believe was in it to win it? And will Steven like any of the performances?

I laughed, I cried. I mostly read. Now that the show is over I would highly recommend reading his recap of his recaps which offers a nice run down on his thoughts on American Idol in general and the task of writing about it twice a week. But if you want to go back over his run and share in the laughs through hindsight just click this dang link here.

2) Jonathan Hickman on War Rocket Ajax

Jonathan Hickman is one of the best comic writers working today. There, I said it. Too controversial a statement? Let’s say that he’s one of my favourites then. But secretly I’ll know I’m right and that he’s one of the best. Whatever gets you through the day, reader person. His Marvel comics S.H.I.E.L.D., Secret Warriors and Fantastic Four are all great reads and considering I’ve never cared about the FF books before his run, that’s saying something.

“Bring me the head of Johnny Storm”

He recently guested on the podcast War Rocket Ajax which is hosted by big time blogger Chris Sims and Matt Wilson. Hickman talks openly about his work at Marvel and behind the scenes info about what he’s currently working on. It’s a fascinating conversation especially for anyone interested in working in the comic industry as he’s quite frank about what it’s like to create them.

You can listen to the show by clicking this fandabidoozy link. It would be rude of me to say that you can skip to his interview about two thirds of the way into the show so I won’t say anything like that.

3) Jim Henson

May saw the 21st anniversary of Jim Henson’s death. Jim was a man of unending heart and his creations influenced millions of children (and grown ups) around the world. The Muppets and Sesame Street still survive to this day and if you haven’t seen Labyrinth yet then for the love of god GO! DO IT NOW!

Upon hearing of the anniversary I decided to look for some video footage of Jim’s memorial service. I remembered hearing that there were some nice things said and done. Well, I had heard right and I ended up crying like a baby.

Here is a video of Jim’s long time collaborator and friend Frank Oz describing a story highlighting Jim’s crazy sense of humour.

And here are a number of Muppeteers singing a medley of Jim’s favourite songs.

If you’re not wiping away a tear at this point you’re a monster with no soul. FACT.

4) Jesse Lonergan

I discovered Jesse’s blog a couple of months ago and dug it instantly. He is a comic writer/artist who has been noted for his range of dancing Star Wars characters and Superheroes. But I personally enjoy his strips a lot more.

To give you an idea, his About Me page is littered with comics about him and his wry sense of humour is clear.

But specifically in May he began regularly updating his blog with sketches from a moleskin notebook that he draws in everyday. About nothing in particular, they are a neat look into the daily life of a stranger to me.

So to check out more of the above head on over to http://jesselonergan.blogspot.com/

5) Barack O’Bama

Regardless of what you think of the man politically, it can’t be denied that the current President of the United States is a wonderful orator. He recently visited my home town of Dublin and gave a speech to 20,000 Irish men and women on the streets.

It was great fun for everyone involved and the speech itself is a nice comment on the relationship between my tiny island and America over the years. At the very least he got a good giggle from me by stating “I’m Barack Obama, of the Moneygall Obamas. I’ve come home to find the apostrophe we lost somewhere along the way.”

Try to ignore the guy talking at the very start. He’s our current head of state.
Click this linkymabob to watch.

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And that’s it! My favourite things of the last month.

– Aaron Poole is the creator of the “hustle” dance craze. He is also more acurately an editor for FRED and rarely leaves the house. If you like what you read here check out his blog http://aaronfever.blogspot.com