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October 29, 2009
Alex Lifeson And Rick Mercer’s ‘Man Date’
Popular Canadian comedian Rick Mercer recently took Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson on one of his infamous “man dates” for his CBC television program, The Rick Mercer Report.
The highlight of Mercer and Lifeson’s date was a visit to an indoor skydiving facility which actually looked like a lot of fun, but may be a bit tricky to master if Mercer and Lifeson’s experience was any indication.
In typical Rush form, Lifeson seems a bit reluctant to toot his own horn when Mercer asks him what it feels like to be one of the best guitarists in the world. “Oh, don’t ask me,” Lifeson responds.
Towards the end of the segment, they visit the bar that Lifeson co-owns. Called The Orbit Room, a Toronto watering hole that offers patrons live music nightly. Lifeson and his partner Tim Notter have been running the place for about fifteen years.
Despite the respect he has earned for decades of performing with Rush, Lifeson still does not get high marks for his attempts to play along with one of Rush’s songs on what appears to be the popular music video game, “Rock Band.” Lifeson appears to be making a genuine attempt to play well, and is clearly in synch with the guitar parts but still falls somewhere short of a satisfactory performance, according to the feedback from the game.
Rush fans will likely remember a similar experience that the entire group had while making an appearance on Comedy Central’s Colbert Report during the summer of 2008.
Obviously, there’s no compelling reason for Alex Lifeson to spend time learning how to play “Rock Band,” but he and Mercer seem to enjoy their time together. I do wish, however, that he would have indulged himself a bit and actually smashed the guitar at the end of the game. It might have made for some good TV and the game could easily be replaced, considering that he happens to be a member of one of the best-selling rock groups of all time.
Check out the segment at the CBC site.
October 15, 2009
Lifeson Soars, Bertinelli Dishes, Buble Tops KISS and Whitford Races
Rush axe man Lifeson soars on ‘man date’
Not looking much like the menacing owl portrayed on the cover of Fly By Night, Alex Lifeson recently joined Canadian comic Rick Mercer as they filmed a “man date” segment for Mercer’s CBC TV show The Rick Mercer Report.
The pair stopped by Niagara Freefall Indoor Skydiving to float around a bit, which, judging from the photograph, Mercer enjoyed thoroughly. More at The Niagara Falls Review.
Valerie Bertinelli pens new book
The woman who was the object of many a teenage fantasy during her days as a TV actress on One Day At A Time (guilty as charged!) is back with a new book.
This time, instead of Losing It, Bertinelli is Finding It, and sharing her inspirational story about how she “discovered how to live the best life possible at the age of 49.”
Coming as a shock to some of us who watched her every move on One Day At A Time, Bertinelli describes her struggles with her self-image and how she felt inferior to co-star MacKenzie Phillips. Perhaps by now she has come to the realization that it was her that most of us admiring young men had our eyes glued to during each episode. I know I sure did! Check out the full scoop at ABC News.
Buble and Oprah a KISS killer?
In a recent interview with Macleans magazine, KISS frontman and business mogul, Gene Simmons jokingly (at least I hope he was joking) referred to himself as “king of the world.” Unfortunately for KISS, Simmons was not able to proclaim his group as king of the charts at the same time.
Having never had an album make it all the way to #1 on the Billboard chart, the group seemed poised to finally reach the promised land with the release of their new album Sonic Boom.
Those hopes were dashed by none other than Michael Buble, the Canadian crooner who was recently featured on Oprah after the release of his new album Crazy Love. Oprah’s star power was cited as a contributing factor that helped send Buble to the top of the chart with Sonic Boom coming in second. Read more from Gawker.
Aerosmith guitarist takes to the track
If you happen to be an Aerosmith fan who also enjoys things like racing, you will definitely want to check out the footage of Brad Whitford as he zips around a racetrack in a Volkswagen speed machine.
Check it out at Aerosmith’s official website.
