Author: News on Shuffle

Things I Learned About St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day: A time when everyone decides it’s cool to be Irish for a day. (Also, a great excuse for everyone to go drinking in the middle of the week). Bet you didn’t know these facts about the history of the day though. I know I certainly didn’t.

1) The day was originally set as a day of remembrance for St. Patrick, who died on this date more than 1500 years ago.
2) St. Patrick’s color was blue, not green. The use of green became popular in 1798, during the Irish Revolution. It represented the clover, which was the symbol of the revolution.
3) Bars in Ireland were actually, by law, forced to be closed on this day. That is until the law was repealed in 1961.
Bonus Round:
St. Patrick wasn’t even Irish?! That’s right. He was actually born in Britain but moved to Ireland as a missionary.
These facts and more are courtesy of Time Magazine (linked above). Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Virgin Mobile Freefest

The Virgin Mobile FreeFest is back, and the line-up so far looks pretty sweet. Bands include Mates of State, Taking Back Sunday, The Hold Steady, The Bravery, and Franz Ferdinand, among others. The event is scheduled for August 30th in Columbia, MD. Admission is free (you heard me) but they ask for a $5 donation to a youth homelessness charity. Good music for cheap AND helping a good cause? Sounds pretty good to me.

News Roundup

A few quick news items that should probably all get their own posts but sadly there just aren’t enough hours in the day.

Peter Graves, the star of the television series Mission Impossible, died last night near his home in LA. He would have been 84 in a week.
ABBA is among the list of new inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Other famous artists include Genesis and The Hollies, among others.
Kings of Leon, recent winners of Record of the Year, will be touring this summer. The tour kicks off in Atlantic City on June 5th and continues through September 23rd, where it will stop in Dallas. Complete list of dates can be found here.
Desperate Housewives will (finally!) be introducing us to Patrick Logan, the character that is supposed to be after Angie and her family, next week. As I have already mentioned, the role will be played by Torchwood star, John Barrowman. Discussion of this story will continue in the coming weeks.
Finally, don’t forget that 24 is on tonight. You don’t want to miss a minute of this exciting season.

The Doctor Is In

Doctor Who has been voted the greatest screen doctor in a recent poll. The runner up was Doctor Brown from Back to the Future.

Doctor Who has been around for generations, but has had a recent surge in popularity with David Tennant’s portrayal of the iconic character in the new series.
Other doctors on the list include Dr. Spock from Star Trek, Dr. Cox from Scrubs, and Dr. Watson from Sherlock Holmes.
Top 10 Doctors:
1. Doctor Who
2. Dr. Brown (Back to the Future)
3. Dr. Kennedy ( Neighbours)
4. Dr. Evil (Austin Powers)
5. Dr. Spock (Star Trek)
6. Dr. Gellar (Friends)
7. Dr. Doolittle
8. Dr. Cox (Scrubs)
9. Dr. Ross (ER)
10. Dr. Watson (Sherlock Holmes)
Who knew going to the doctor could be so much fun?

Summer Glau sets her sights for The Cape

Summer Glau never seems to be able to stay on one show for too long. She has been all over since we first met her on Serenity in Joss Whedon’s series “Firefly”. She has since made appearances as a guest on “Big Bang Theory” and “Dollhouse” (another Joss Whedon series). All of these shows only a geek could love. Coming this fall she will be able to add “The Cape” to that list. The superhero-themed show will be one of the new series on NBC.

The Shepherd’s Tale

Firefly fans get ready, because one of the mysteries left after the show ended will finally be seeing some light. Shepherd Book may have not received a lot of screen time, but there were certainly mysteries surrounding his character that fans were dying to have answered. For one thing he didn’t really seem to fit on the ship with the rest of society’s rejects. For another, he didn’t always act like a holy man ought to. Well our questions will finally be answered in November thanks to Dark Horse comics. Joss Whedon and his brother Zack will be writing the graphic novel which goes into the past of one Shepherd Book. Looks like those nagging questions will finally be answered.

Pearl Jam Announces Tour, Visits MSG

Pearl Jam is set to tour the U.S. in May, including two dates in Madison Square Garden (May 20th & 21st). Other stops include Buffalo, Hartford, and Boston. Band of Horses will open all of the dates except the MSG shows, which The Black Keys will open. Pre-sale starts March 15th and public on-sale starts March 19th & 20th (depending on what city you are in).

Conan O’Brien Set To Tour U.S.

Conan O’Brien may be done with late night TV for awhile (at least until Sept 1, according to the settlement with NBC), but his days (or nights) of making people laugh are far from over.


There will be a tour.

It will take place during the summer.

It will be epic (maybe).

Presenting Conan O’Brien in the “Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour”

The tour will hit most of the major spots, including an appearance at Bonnaroo. The rest of the dates are:

4/12, Eugene, OR (Hult Center for the Performing Arts
)
4/13, Vancouver, BC (Orpheum Theatre
)
4/16, Spokane, WA (INB Performing Arts Center)

4/17, Edmonton, AB (River Cree Resort & Casino
)
4/18, Seattle, WA (Marion Oliver McCaw Hall
)
4/22, San Francisco, CA (Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium
)
4/24, Universal City, CA (Gibson Amphitheater)

4/29, San Diego, CA (San Diego Civic Theatre)

4/30, Phoenix, AZ (Dodge Theatre
)
5/1, Las Vegas, NV (Pearl Concert Theater)

5/4, Reno, NV (Grand Sierra Resort and Casino)

5/5, San Jose, CA (San Jose State Event Center
)
5/6, Sacramneto, CA (Sacramento Memorial Auditorium)

5/9, Boulder, CO (Mackey Auditorium
)
5/10, Denver, CO (Ellie Caulkins Opera House)

5/13, Dallas, TX (McFarlin Auditorium)

5/14, Austin, TX (Austin Music Hall
)
5/15, Tulsa, OK (Brady Theater
)
5/16, Kansas City, MO (The Midland)

5/18, Minneapolis, MN (Orpheum Theater
)
5/19, Chicago, IL (Chicago Theatre)

5/22, Toronto, ON (Massey Hall)

6/1, New York, NY (Radio City Music Hall
)
6/4, Boston, MA (Wang Theater)

6/6, Uncasville, CT (Mohegan Sun Arena)

6/7, Upper Derby, PA (Tower Theatre)

6/8, Washington, DC (Dar Constitution Hall)

6/11, Manchester, TN (Bonnaroo Music Festival
)
6/14, Atlanta, GA (Fox Theatre)

Way to tackle unemployment head-on, sir.

Happy Birthday, John Barrowman

John Barrowman, star of Torchwood (the spin-off of Doctor Who), is celebrating a birthday today. The actor and singer turns 43 today.

Actually, Barrowman has a lot to celebrate at the moment. For one thing, he is currently in the States and on the set of Desperate Housewives, where he will guest on the show for several episodes. The first of these will be March 21st, according to TV.com. Barrowman will be playing the villain in connection with the new family on Wisteria Lane, but has said in several interviews that he will play a major part in all of the ladies’ lives on the show.

Another exciting thing in the life and times of John Barrowman is the new album he has just released. This self-titled work has been said to be his most personal yet, as he goes back to his Broadway roots and has chosen songs that have some significance in his life. (One example is the song his mother used to sing to him as a child, “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” from the musical Carousel).
There is also talk of Barrowman reprising his role of Captain Jack Harkness for the American version of Torchwood that is in the works, but he insists that he knows nothing about this at the present time. Is he just saying that because he’s not allowed to tell? Guess we will just have to wait and see. One thing is certain, it would be a crime to waste his experience with the show and his obvious enthusiasm at potentially getting to take the part back up again.