Oh, dearly beloved Mariska Veres,?how smitten I have become since first laying eyes on you. Part Liza Minelli, part Susanna Hoffs, with thick eyelashes and a bouffant of beautiful, witchy hair, I grew up grooving to the fruits of your labor. Of course, I speak of the Bananarama version of your greatest hit, Venus, but as you'll learn from this week's song pick, I now know that you and your band Shocking Blue were more than one hit wonders.

You were one tough Dutch lady who fronted a quite good looking band through the years of psychedelia, man I bet you had stories of yourself and that amazing red heart sweater…

See some photos here, and more at this fan site.

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Posted on April 27, 2009

Okay, we all know how I felt about reading Twilight and, sadly, I thought the movie adaptation was just as boring – but even I have to praise the inspired casting of Robert Pattison as Edward. While I'm not entirely sure why the rest of the clan looks like they hail from a local JC Penney ad at best (and the ghost of a character actor stuck playing nerds in commercials at worst), nor why his father is the jock from Can't Hardly Wait, I guess all the plain and boring faces drifting across the screen just make Edward and his diamond skin stand out all the more.

In interviews he seems like a pretty likable person too, though who knows what the constant attention of millions of young girls can do to a person. He's been touted as the next Jude Law, but let's hope he doesn't sink into such sleazy behavior.

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Posted on April 27, 2009

Known primarily (if at all) for their hit Venus, a song that certainly colored my early years when it was covered by Bananarama, Shocking Blue was a groovy Dutch band made up of good looking kids that were slightly more popular in Europe.

While Venus is great, I'm more drawn to the less commercially successful track Deamon Lover from the album Scorpio's Dance. A moody song with a witchy heart accompanied by kind of surfy mesmerizing guitar.

Plus, it shares its title with Jim's favorite movie about corporate espionage in the porn video game industry.

See more: Songs 1970s Classic Rock

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Posted on April 27, 2009

Making All the President's Men into a taut, suspenseful, and intelligent political drama was no small feat for director Alan J Pakula (who proved to be an expert in the poli-thriller genre with the equally great Parallax View) considering that everyone knows how the story ends and that most of the two hour plus running time consists of Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman making phone calls, taking notes, running around and trying desperately to extract information from unwilling sources.

I saw this movie when I was a kid and learned what this whole 'Watergate' thing I'd heard so much about actually was. I also grew a fond of corduroy suits thanks to the utterly charming (as usual) Robert Redford, who has the hair of a god. Thanks to other young viewers, it's since become known as “the movie that launched a thousand journalism careers” with its accurate and respectful depiction of all the hard work that goes into revealing the truth.

Of course, since the films release in 1976, the entire world of traditional newspaper journalism has been pushed to the brink of obsolescence by the easy access to information offered by the internet; several major publications have already folded (recently my homestate's Rocky Mountain News). The film is nostalgic, then about the days when newspaper journalism was still considered vitally important and could actually change the world.

The informant known as Deep Throat, played by a sinisterly smokey Hal Holbrook in the film, has since been revealed to have been Mark Felt, the FBI's number two man.

All the President's Men is currently available for instant viewing on Netflix.

See more: Movies 1970s Thrillers True Stories

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Posted on April 27, 2009

With her alluringly soothing voice, I'd probably listen to the beautiful Isabella Rossellini talk about anything. Luckily for me I can hear her talk about a subject as interesting as the reproduction cycles of animals!

In Green Porno, a series of funny and quirky shorts which she created, produced, wrote and directed, the often Sci Fi-like like mating practices of insects and, in this season marine animals, are explained in entertaining and scientific detail.

Each episode features fun, handmade costumes and sets by Brooklynite Andy Byers. A recent clip about whale penises has been featured on The Soup, but you can see them all on the Sundance website.

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Posted on April 20, 2009