Tube Bar Red's blog: "Messages From the Tube Bar"

Just heard that Charlotte Lesher, Joey Ramone's mom, passed away today. She was probably the coolest rock star mom ever. When the Ramones started, they practiced in the basement of her art studio in Queens. After they became big, she was always one of their most vocal and visible supporters. There's a great appearance of her and Joey on Phil Donahue's show in the mid 80s, where she talks about how proud she is to be the mother of a Ramone. After Joey died in 2001, she became a tireless fundraiser for lymphoma research, organizing a hugely successful benefit concert every single year since, and always appearing on stage to talk about Joey. RIP, Mama Ramone.

Hmmm, interesting batch this year. How strange is the Best Supporting Actor category? I bet Eddie Murphy takes it, which is a shame 'cause I love Alan Arkin, I always like Djimon Hounsou and Marky Mark (boy, I never thought I'd hear myself say that!), and nothing but nothing would be a better comeback story than Jackie Earle Haley. Boy, "Bad News Bears" and "Breaking Away" sure were a l-o-o-o-n-g time ago. Peter O'Toole is clearly a sympathy nom. Much as I've loved him in other things, especially "My Favorite Year," this one doesn't look like it oughtta be an Osacr winner. Still, if they could give it to Paul Newman for "The Color of Money" instead of "The Verdict," anything's possible. Is there more of a lock than Cate Blanchett for Best Supporting Actress? The other four look like throwaways comparatively. I'd also be quite surprised if "Little Miss Sunshine" doesn't win Adapted Screenplay. I'd really like to see "The Departed" take Picture, Director, and Adapted Screenplay. That was far and away the best film I saw last year, and Scorsese's best since at least "Goodfellas." I was surprised at how close it was to "Infernal Affairs," the Hong Kong film on which it's based (in some sequences, virtually shot for shot), but I can't imagine that enough Academy members have seen that to care, and anyway, it is genuinely great. I'm not the type to yell at the screen, but I had to restrain myself more than once. Complete list of nominations

OK, so if the Buzzcocks on the AARP commercial weren't weird enough, now in the new Entertainment Weekly, Jewel selects the five "gems" she's listening to: Loretta Lynn, OK. Joni Mitchell, no problem. Nina Simone. Jewel calls her "the first punk rocker." Uh ... yeah.... David Gray. Not entirely uninteresting, but not especially edgy, so not a shocking choice, I guess. And "Unsatisfied" by the Replacements. Now there are a lot of songs that are near and dear to me, but none cut as close to the bone as this. Three minutes and fifty-nine seconds (yes, I know the running time by heart) of primal anger, sadness, rage, emptiness, loneliness, and, most of all, disappointment. I will never forget the first time I heard it, sitting in my friend's bedroom, twenty some-odd years ago. The 'mats (that's what the fans call 'em) became my favorite band then and there and remain that to this day. They were the quintessential beautiful losers, sabotaging every opportunity, shooting themselves in the foot so persistently that their logo should have had a shoe with a target painted on it. "God, what a mess/On the ladder of success/Where you take one step/And miss the whole first rung" (from the essential "Bastards of Young") The 'mats had more great songs than anyone this side of the Rolling Stones, and "Unsatisfied" is their epic, their "Gimme Shelter." Where "Gimme Shelter" charts the landscape of a culture that is about to explode in cataclysmic violence, "Unsatisfied" turns the lens inward, and is no less harrowing. So kudos to Jewel for, surprisingly, having the taste to appreciate and promote something so relatively obscure. (And if it helps the 'mats sell a couple of records, that's wonderful. The recent best-of, "Don't You Know Who I Think I Was," is a fine place to start, BTW.) But please, God, please just don't let her cover it. ("Yeah, it's great the way it is, but you know what would make it even better? Yodeling.")

OK, so first a Buzzcocks song is used in a freaking AARP commercial and now the Biography Channel is airing a special on Sid Vicious! I was going to make some funny hypothetical comparison taking this to some absurd extreme but honestly I can't think of anything that's funnier or less likely. I'm thrilled for the Buzzcocks; it's about time they got a payday of any kind for decades of great work. And as for the Sid thing, I'm sure Johnny Lydon is on the phone to his agent right now ("What about a gardening show? Or cooking, I can cook!").

Just to watch him suffer Target practice An unkind comment about your sister's very real thyroid condition Self-defense Mistaken belief that "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" is applicable to the entire state of Nevada Too far away to stab Failed to clearly and loudly say "Spoiler alert" Road Runner standing in front of him moved when Acme Shotgun jammed

Hey, let's send more troops to Vietnam while we're at it. Maybe we can still win that one, too!

So long, Lilly

They say this was a "mistake." Uh-huh.