Trace Adkins provided the hip swaying fun and sexy low notes we’ve come to expect from the tall and talented country crooner when he appeared Friday, Feb. 16 at the Trump Taj Arena in Atlantic City.
While sitting in the elevated center section of the room, a fine spot behind the sound and light techs, our section had an enjoyable distraction, a Trace Adkins fan who was like a crazy country dancing version of a mime. He danced after ladies that walked by, danced away from security guards when he was getting a little too frisky, and showboated into the hearts of the TA fans nearby. In fact when a security guard asked him to move along, a few of us booed.

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Normally I don’t give a plug to an organization that rates movie not on artistic merit, but on how they offend Christian values. I’ve never quite understood how being a Christian means you have to be a right-winger, but somehow in most media outlets, that is how it plays out.
This preamble brings me to Movieguide: A Family Guide to Movies and Entertainment. Recently, Movieguide, in partnership with the Christian Film & Television Commission, announced the Rotten Banana Awards: The 20 Most Unbearable Movies of 2006. Turns out I agree with a few of the choices and I must give them their props for coming up with creative categories.

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The Dixie Chicks played it cool and humble, but they had to feel vindicated by the five Grammy Awards they took home Sunday night including Record of the Year, Song of the Year (for “Not Ready to Make Nice”) and Album of the Year (Taking the Long Way). While country radio had turned their back on the Chicks and the CMA and ACM award shows had been Chick-less as well, the Grammy community gave them a big “way to go Chicks!” with their five for five. The Chicks also won the Best Country Album and Best Country Duo or Group award.
Sporting a new brunette look, Natalie Maines claimed at one point that, “For once I’m speechless!” It was Maines who took a shot at President Bush before a concert in 2003, which led to a Chicks boycott on many country stations. Martie Maguire thanked their core fans for sticking with them and Emily Robison noted that without the controversy, this album would never have been made. Natalie Maines also quipped, “Now I’m ready to make nice.”

Breaking News: Atlantic City received some props from Manhattan over the past 24 hours. First Alec Baldwin’s character on the NBC comedy 30 Rock suggests a late night trip to the Borgata on last night’s episode. Then, in this morning’s New York Sun, columnist Alicia Colon writes (from her room at the Borgata) on “Atlantic City Reborn.” “Spending a day or two in deluxe accommodations away from the hustle and bustle of the city can recharge one’s batteries,” Colon writes. “Try it. You’ll like it.” By the end of the year, Colon and her fellow New Yorkers should be able to take a direct train from NYC to AC.

I can imagine the jokes that will be used by Jay, David and Conan on the late night talk shows, about female astronauts and PMS. The bizarre incident of Captain Lisa Nowak and her diaper-wearing 900-mile drive to “talk” with a perceived romantic rival, Captain Colleen Shipman, over fellow astronaut Cmdr. William A. Oefelein, is definitely out of this world wacky. Lisa brought will her for this little chat, according to the New York Times, “… a compressed air pistol, a steel mallet, a knife, pepper spray, four feet of rubber tubing, latex gloves and garbage bags.”

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