…Adam and his punk rockin’ man-liner get-up…

…Or Kris and his, uh, normal-looking dudeness

I want to hear all of your wise musings on this season of Idol. Who’s going to win it? Has this season been worth watching? Do you think Idol will return for another season sans Simon? What did you make of Kara, the new judge? Did someone get robbed? On the show, I mean. Have at it in the comments section below with all your Idol thoughts!

Shipp out.

A recent study shows that 48% of adults (a.k.a. your parents) currently have a Facebook or Myspace page. We all know that Facebook originally began as a social networking site strictly for high school and college students, but has slowly expanded to welcome users of all ages. This has obviously paid off (for them) as they’ve grown in popularity, but how has it affected you? Knowing that your parents, aunts, uncles, neighbors, and other adults in your life can view your page at any time, have you changed the things you’re willing to post? 

Essentially, your parents now have access to what you’re doing all the time, who you’re hanging out with it, and what you really did at that party last weekend (as proven by all those tagged photos). Assuming that your folks know how to use the internet and can figure out Facebook’s frustrating new redesign, they can check up on you constantly. Does that bother you? Does it alter the things you would normally say or do on FB or Myspace? Or do you think it’s a good thing that your parents, your friends’ parents, and/or your overbearing relatives can see what you’re up to? 

If a new social networking site launched that only allowed users who were in junior high, high school or college, would you prefer that? Do you think that teens should have a site to call their own without the protective eyes of their parents constantly watching? Tell us what you think below!

Allow me to introduce you to the six finalists of the Hey Josh PIMP MY BAG contest brought to you by the attractive folks at TEAMWORK BAGS. Each finalist submitted a picture of their current pathetic attempt at a bag and an explanation as to why they deserve a pimped out Teamwork Bag.

Here’s how it works: You, the great readers of Hey Josh, get to vote for your favorite finalist. The Top 3 Vote-getters receive the glory of a new bag. Voting lasts until next Monday. Vote now. Bribe your friends. Bribe America.

Behold the finalists:

1. MICHAEL

In Michael’s words: “This is me visiting NASA. Because I don’t have a bag, so hence the sweet grocery bag that I carried everything around in. I know a Teamwork bag would help over the top! Woot woot!”

2. BRAD

In Brad’s words: “I currently carry an old t-shirt in which I stapled some shoelaces to and rubber-banded the neck and sleeves to keep my pencils from falling out…”

3. BRADEN

In Braden’s words: ”First of all they are the coolest bag I’ve ever seen, they blow my mind!!! Second, they would fit my books much nicer than any other bag I would ever have. The bag would not be a bag without me owning it.”

4. JAMIE

In Jamie’s words: “If gifted, Jamie Christine Wilbraham will be a wholly successful, immensely grateful guardian of the newborn TEAMWORK bag. She will cherish the artful, recycled bundle with all the love she has, and always keep it close to her bod. She will give it a good home always, starting with a trip to Kentucky to live on a farm for the summer.”

5. AUBREY

In Aubrey’s words: ”Every day when I go to school my backpack usually weighs at least half of my weight plus I have to carry my oboe, saxophone, gym bag, plus it is about to fall to pieces because of the huge hole on the bottom and I am always sore from carrying it around.”

6. JAZZY

In Jazzy’s words: ”I would give the bag to my little sister. Reasons:  1. Her bag gets so full that the zippers no longer zip closed. (It’s like opening the bag forwards and backwards!) 2. The teamwork bag would probably also help take the pressure from all the books off her back…that way she doesn’t complain of back pain anymore.”

Good luck everyone!

// josh

By Jessica Ruhl
The Nebraska Film Critic

Alright here is what i thought of Watchmen…

First off, I didn’t get into the movie at all. In the beginning, it didn’t capture me as an audience member whatsoever. I went into the theatre not knowing anything about this comic novel, and although I love comics, this was definitely was not one of the  greatest movies.

Secondly, there was WAY too much nudity and too much sex in it! I understand that it was a “R” rated movie but honestly it was too much for me. I have been to one or more “R” rated movies and that was borderline nasty. I also know that Dr.Manhattan was supposed to be “revealing”  but they could’ve shown just the waist up for most of it and then once in a while showed a full body shot.

I took two of my friends with me and all of us agreed that the movie was also waay too long. I thought the “Lord of the Rings” movies were long. I have been proven wrong. The actors in the movies were good actors but I don’t know if they were connecting with the audience at all. When my friends and I were in the theatre, no one laughed at anything. There were things that I guess were supposed to be funny but in this case, I didn’t catch any of the humor. I was worried about how I was going to keep my food down because of how much of the “nasty nasty” was going on. I was told who the watchmen were and what they represented but I wasn’t told what the story was about. I still don’t know.  Another thing that bothered me was the goriness of the movie. I can handle gore but this wasn’t the same. It was pointless gore to me. On a good note, I liked the graphics and special effects of the movie. I also liked the movie’s score. That was good too.

Overall I would have rated this movie 1/2 a star.

Now it’s your turn to sound off: What did YOU think of Watchmen? Worth seeing? Or a total waste of cash?

Yes, they actually said “Hogwash.”

In any case, with the advent of navigational software and cell-phone technology, it’s possible to hold the entire world in your hand. And check this out:

Google Earth’s latest update textures the world’s cities with photo-realistic 3D buildings. It’s really cool—you can fly between the skyscrapers of New York City or Chicago like Superman (too bad Metropolis is only in the comic-books). It’s a free download, and if you don’t have Google Earth already, you should get it. It’s an amazing tool, and excellent for frittering time away and learning stuff at the same time.

American Idol is back with a brand new season and lots of new surprises! The two-hour season premiere aired last night with the first set of auditions. As always, Idol didn’t disappoint. There was a lot of talent, a lot of tears, and more than a few train wrecks. Here’s what’s in store for this season of Idol…

New Judge: No, you weren’t seeing double last night. There was another wacky brunette seated between Simon and Randy. The new gal (and permanent 4th judge) is songwriter, Kara DioGuardi. You may not recognize her face but you’ve certainly heard her songs. She wrote Gwen Stefani’s Rich Girl, Christina Aguilera’s Ain’t No Other Man, and Ashlee Simpson’s Pieces of Me, so she is officially to blame for those addictive songs that you can never get out of your head.

New Cities: This year, Idol’s heading to Puerto Rico, Louisville and Phoenix. Do crazy people live in Puerto Rico, Louisville and Phoenix? If last night’s auditions were any indication, the answer is a resounding YES. Which brings me to my next point…

New Crazies: Auditioning in your bikini? Calling yourself a rock star in a box? Singing at a pitch that only dogs and assorted woodland creatures can hear? It would seem that this season of Idol has no shortage of talent-challenged, superstar-wannabes clamoring for some TV time. It feels so wrong to make fun of them, but oh so right.

New Mentors: Rumor has it that the “powers that be” at Idol are planning to book younger, hipper mentors to work with the contestants this season. Thank God! I mean, Barry Manilow and Rod Stewart? Seriously!? Maybe if this was American Idol, circa 1978. The Idol execs won’t release any names until later in the season but let’s keep our fingers crossed for some singers younger than 60!

Now it’s your turn to dish on Idol. What do you think of the new judge? What mentors would you like to see this season? What was your favorite moment of last night’s show? What are you looking forward to most this season? We want to hear ALL of your thoughts!! Go at it.

You are so over the Jonas Brothers.  Only having the even numbers of the Harry Potter series keeps you awake at night with its incompletion.  You’re wondering why you didn’t get Taylor Swift’s new album for Christmas.  Swaptree.com offers hope.

With your ‘rents’ permission (I know, I know…), check out swaptree.com and set up an account.  Here’s how it works:  You put together a list of all the books, DVDs, video games, and CDs that you have, but no longer want.  Then you put together a list of what you really, really want in those categories.  It’s like a year-round Christmas list.  Swaptree will let you know who wants what you have and has what you want.

Then, next time you’re dragged along for errands, ask your professional driver to stop by the post office to drop off your trades in the mail.  Each item shipped media rate will cost you roughly $2.23, so grab those pennies from the bottom of your locker.  Your new but lightly used items will be arriving at your doorstep in no time. Let the ol’ time-y trading begin!

I know real cassette tapes are, like, ancient artifacts, but vintage is so “now”, yes? Notice how the handles resemble the unraveling tape. For a relatively cheap 15 bucks, you can impress your friends with your retro-cool factor on full display.

Sick of that lame-o book bag your mom picked up WalMart? Upgrade yourself by swapping that thing out for this. It’s plenty roomy and durable enough to handle all your books, homework, laptop, notes to your friends about the cutie you’ve been eyeing in the hallway…you get the drift.

Available for $15 by clicking here right about….NOW!

The LG GD910 is one of the first 3G watch phones, with the ability to support wireless data connectivity. It even has a secondary video camera for video calls. Oh, and that’s not all folks! User input can be accomplished through this fresh lil joint’s touch screen. Sweet!

If that’s not enough awesomeness in one lil package, this watch phone can also handle speech recognition for input via your own voice. Now that’s really telling somebody what time it is! (Come on, you know you wanna laugh at my corny jokes!)

Ready to make a mad dash to scoop one up? Hold your horses and pump the brakes, people. Those of us in the States will have to wait a little while. LG has plans to launch the watch phone first in Europe, then in the US.

As clothing trends go, I’ve seen worse than the current fad of wearing two mismatched socks. Heck… I do that half the time simply out of laziness, and Sal Mineo famously did it in Rebel Without A Cause, the best teen movie ever, as a symbol of his inner conflict. But here’s the deal… can’t you do this without actually going out and buying mismatched socks? I mean… stay with me here… these things are sold in packs of three, as if to prove to you that the “odd socks” thing is intentional, and not just a screw up on a tough Monday at the sock factory. We get that. But really, can’t you just grab two pairs of socks randomly from your drawer and (here’s the magic part) simply swap the socks? Presto-chango, al-a-kazaam. No money spent, cool trend followed. Tell me I didn’t just blow your mind a little bit.