LadyGypsy.net – the blog of Kimberly Dowd of New Jersey

I may have blogged about this before, but I love how the NFL completely shot itself in the foot about using the name of its championship game without paying to. What does the rest of the world do? Just refer to it as the big game. We all know what we’re talking about and it’s a nice thumbing of the nose at the NFL.

Under SOPA or PIPA, my using a pic like this simply as a visual to a post I write could cause my blog to be blocked.

So…the halftime show. Thanks to my amateur sociology degree that comes from watching people on Facebook, I’ve concluded that there are three schools of thought about the halftime show..

1) It should always be an exciting pop music extravaganza, filled with as much excited dancing and as little clothing and as many acts that have released new music in the last 3 years as possible.

2) It should always be a classic rock (meaning acts where the lead singer is older than 60) act, a classic three-song set and the audience classically holding up lighters and some 65 year old guy yelling FREEBIRD in that classic rock way.

3) It should be nothing but marching bands.

Although I’m in the first camp, I think it should be an even 2/3 split — two years of pop and one of rock. I need something to complain about.

So…the halftime show. It’s the only part I watched, plus the last minute of the game itself. This is because of the internet! Instead of dying of boredom through the entire 8 hours of the game, I can check the score merely by typing “giants game” into Google. I keep an eye on Twitter to see when it’s halftime. I tune in just in time for the show, then I go away. I go back into Google, find out the Giants are about to humiliate the Patriots with a minute left, and then watch the end of the game. Later that night. I watch the ads on Hulu. I love the Internet.

So…the halftime show. I really really enjoyed it. I think Madonna pulled together the perfect show. It had some old material, some new material, some artists for the next generation forward to recognize and a lot of crazy theatrics. The theatrics could have been dialed back a few. I know, Madonna, you’re very fit. We can see that and we know what your arms look like under those sleeves. But you don’t have to do very slow assisted cartwheels during the show.

I enjoyed the marching band and cheerleader overtones. It’s a football game, after all, and that’s a nod to the marching band population.

Nicki Minaj (whom I only know of because of the mom who made her 8 year old sing a slutty Minaj song on YouTube for 3 2/3 minutes of fame) looked absolutely THRILLED to be there and I loved seeing that. When I saw LMFAO I was hoping Madonna would attempt the shuffle, and she did. If I didn’t live on the 8th floor, I’d have learned that dance by now.

When Madonna and Cee-Lo began Like A Prayer, I knew the controversy had to be coming. I thought those robes would come off and they’d be wearing LED-embellished fig leaves. I thought they’d haul Cee-Lo up on a cross and Madonna would kiss his feet. But no. Those days are decades ago, and the song just turned out to be a lovely Gospel-tinged song to wrap up the show with. And the only controversy came from the non-Minaj girl who couldn’t stay classy for 2 1/2 minutes and had to flash the middle finger.

I knew people wouldn’t like it but I’m shocked at all of the cuts at how Madonna looked old. I think she looked great. Yes, there’s been some work done and she kept the imperfect parts covered. It seems unfair because she seriously does look better for her age than past “classic” acts have.

I wonder if it’s just a reaction to people digging on the Who and McCartney and the Stones both being and looking old. Part of the “you pick on my fave, I’ll pick on yours” culture.

Tl;dr : I enjoyed the halftime show. Too bad I’m not even close to being the target audience for the Big Game. Also, I loved the M&Ms ad.

If you are Christmas-minded, I have three Spotify playlists that I have been using to get myself through the mind-numbing data entry circle of hell that my formerly delightful creative and interactive job has become:

Secular, for those who Deck the Halls with Silver Bells but don’t much care what happened in that Little Town of Bethlehem.

Religious, for you “o NIIIIGHT DIVIIIIIIIiiiiIIIIIIIiiiiiNnnneeee!!!!” types

And both combined into one playlist!

And after listening to the Glee Holiday album, I’ll reiterate my opinion that these Glee albums are KidszBop for grownups.

Lest you think all we do is sit around and veg, Saturday night WM and I swung down to Atlantic City to see Michael Bublé (note to self, Lowercase e with acute = 0233) perform at Boardwalk Hall. I’ve been a fan of Michael Bublé since I lost all hope that Harry Connick, Jr. would return to his “Blue Light, Red Light” era. Mind you, Harry’s still GREAT eye candy, but I miss him when he was 25. I miss myself at 25, too.

But back to Michael… a few notes:

The nearby casinos were charging $20 for parking. But if you look one block back from the casinos, you’ll find cheaper parking. We found a $10 lot which smelled like losing bets and pee. But it was $10.

We literally were sitting in the last row. But we had an almost straight-on view of the stage and didn’t have to deal with people standing up and dancing in front of us. They were too afraid they’d tip over and fall to their deaths. See? Fear is sometimes a good thing.

The audience spanned generations. Women from their 20s to 60s and beyond were swaying and swooning.

Golly, Michael Bublé’s a cute one.

Besides being a great singer, he was really funny too. He had the audience in stitches quite a few times in between songs.

The opening act was Naturally 7, a vocal play band. Difference between a capella and vocal play is that in vocal play, the singers replicate instruments. Have you ever heard a guy “beatbox” a harmonica? Yeah. They were great and did a fantastic rendition of Phil Collins “In the Air Tonight.” (Singing starts at :30) Seriously!

And while he didn’t sing either of the two songs we were waiting for — no biggie, as they were three albums ago — we left with our toes tapping and barely noticed the gigantic line of shifting, restless men waiting to enter Bare Exposure LIVE NUDE DANCING as we went back to the car.