in which we discuss the king of whisper yelling and another goddess of rock

I watched the premier of 24 last night, which was kind of a mistake. I hadn't watched the last two seasons because I know that it's perfectly geared to gnaw on my obsessive brain. But my Lost buddy asked if I was going to watch 24 this season, and since it's kinda fun not to watch TV alone, I said sure. Predictably, after three major players died in the first 12 minutes of the two-hour first part of the four-hour tw0-night premier (the most obnoxious season debut in television history), I knew that I'd basically just signed away 24 more hours of my life.

Really, though, the show's fucking good. And Jack Bauer is clearly the man. Everything's so intense. There was a scene in which Bauer, living undercover, the world believing he's dead, has breakfast with a family he's kinda glommed onto in his new life as a civilian, and even that was set to pulse-pounding music. Never has drinking OJ from the carton been so suspenseful.

But really, what sets Jack Bauer apart from the rest of his heroic ilk is the yelling. Kiefer Sutherland has the perfect yelling voice. "PUT IT DOWN!" "I NEED TO SPEAK TO THE PRESIDENT!" "I SAID NO FUCKING GUAC!!!" But his yelling really excels when he's whispering. It may be Kiefer Sutherland's greatest contribution to the craft of acting--whisper-yelling. There was this scene between Bauer and this other dude where all they did was whisper-yell, and it was off the chains. I tried to duplicate it at work today, but it was no use. Kiefer has a gift. Luckily, he uses his powers for good. Not evil.

Later this week, I'm supposed to interview Cristina Scabbia of Lacuna Coil. I don't know why I said I'd do it. I don't know much about the band, but I do remember checking out a CD of theirs once and I wasn't crazy about it. I've been researching them for the past couple of days, because I'd like the interview to turn out well, and like I said, I know little about them. That's Cristina right there if you haven't figured. And yeah, I noticed. Where do they grow these women? I mean really. I spent most of the day researching her and the band--sometimes my job's pretty cool--but I kept getting distracted, obviously. Eyeing photo galleries isn't really much for research. What I did find out? Well here it goes:

1. Revolver magazine named her one of the hottest women in metal. No offense, of course, but Revolver probably neglected to mention she's like one of four women in metal, fans included.
2. My initial reaction to their music was probably because it wasn't what I was expecting. I was looking for something more ultra goth vampire metal, but got something very hard rock with a gothic edge (and clothing). Really, their more like a more goth/less Creed rock version of Evanescence (a guilty pleasure), but Lacuna Coil's been at it much longer. It's still not my thing, really, but I'd kinda like to see them live, because I'm sure they'd probably put on a really theatric show, and I think a lot of bands think they're above actual showmanship.
   
3. Cristina used to be a session musician for pop and R&B records, but left all that cash behind to join a rock band, which is admirable.
   
4. She's also all about PETA.
   
5. She's totally Italian, accent and all, but I knew that already.
   

I still don't know what on Earth I'm going to chat with her about, but I guess I'll figure something out. If I was a true gangster, I'd whisper-yell all my questions, though.