Brian Hall

On a Midnight Clear 2000 years ago, three wise men enter a manger where a babe is wrapped in swaddling clothes. It is an infant called Brian...and the three wise men are in the wrong manger. For the rest of his life, Brian (Graham Chapman) finds himself regarded as something of a Messiah yet he's always in the shadow of this Other Guy from Galilee. Brian is witness to the Sermon of the Mount, but his seat is in such a bad location that he can't hear any of it ('Blessed are the cheesemakers?'). Ultimately he is brought before Pontius Pilate and sentenced to crucifixion, which takes place at that crowded, non-exclusive execution site a few blocks shy of Calvary. Rather than utter the Last Six Words, Brian leads his fellow crucifixees in a spirited rendition of a British music hall cheer-up song 'Always Look On The Bright Side of Life.' The whole Monty Python gang (Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, and Terry Gilliam) are on hand in multiple roles, playing such sacred characters as Stan Called Loretta, Deadly Dirk, Casts the First Stone, and Intensely Dull Youth; also showing up are Goon Show veteran Spike Milligan and a Liverpool musician named George Harrison.

According to founding Beach Boy Mike Love, there has never been a post-1990s Axl Rose vibe going on with his band. Sure, the singer/songwriter admits he and the iconic band have had a bunch of bumps along the way, but it never got to a point where they truly lost that loving feeling. 'When you mix business with ego there can be tense situations, but when you let that go, you realize that a lot of the stuff that got in the way is in the past,' he explained in an interview earlier this month. 'We can let the past screw the present by holding onto old disagreements or you can move past it and do something great.'... And something great is exactly what they're doing. In celebration of their 50th anniversary, the band has regrouped, recorded a new album, and are in the midst of an international tour in support of it. That's Why God Made The Radio marks the band's first new album in years and the first in which surviving original members appear on an album together in decades. West Coasters Love, Brian Wilson, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston and David Marks fittingly recorded their 29th album at Los Angeles' Ocean Way Studios. The album finds the hitmasters in similar territory with catchy choruses and infectious harmonies, and no, even though they're in their seventies -- the Boys from Hawthorne, Calif., still sound as good as they did in the '60's. I caught up with Love after seeing the band sell out the Westchester County Center in White Plains on May 15 (yes you read that right... Westchester!) and asked him about the new album, the tour and getting the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers back together. You guys put on an amazing show the other night -- and a lengthy one at that! How did you come up with the set list for the tour? I'd imagine it's a very long, grueling process. It was. I'm always thinking you ought to be doing some of the songs the people know you for... the most recognizable, bigger hits lik

Alex Marvez on Brian Dawkins' retirement and Hall of Fame status.

Alex Marvez on Brian Dawkins retirement and hall of fame status. (04/23/12)

Bellator continued to bring explosive highlights, as Season 5 continued Oct. 15 at Bellator 54 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In the middleweight semi-finals heavy hitters Alexander Shlemenko and Brian Rogers clashed in one of the best fights of the season, with Shlemenko earning a second-round stoppage. Touted jiu-jitsu specialist Vitor Vianna shocked Bryan Baker with a flurry of punches to start off their fight, and secured his spot in the finals with an early TKO victory. Bellator bantamweight champion Zach Makovsky overwhelmed UFC-veteran Ryan Roberts in their non-title affair, relying on takedowns and slick passes to score a rare north/south choke submission in the first round. In preliminary action, light heavyweight Tim Carpenter earned a TKO win and returned to his winning ways thanks to a vicious uppercut early into the first round. In a fast-paced and short-lived grappling affair, Joey Kirwan locked up a tight guillotine choke and forced Lewis Rumsey to tap. Watch the best moments from Boardwalk Hall right here.

Brian France introduces NASCAR Hall of Fame's 2012 Class. (01/20/12)

Brian France introduces NASCAR Hall of Fame's 2012 Class.

Cee Lo Green caused outraged during the New Year holiday by changing the words to John Lennon's classic song 'Imagine.' Msnbc's Tamron Hall and Popgoestheweek.com's Brian Balthazar report.

Gordon went down to the precinct to spring Brian.

The Hall of Fame shortshop talks to Brian about focus.

NBC's Tom Costello reports from the earthquake epicenter in Mineral, Va., where the roof of the town hall collapsed in the quake.

Entrepreneurial mob boss Harold Shand (Academy Award-nominee Bob Hoskins, Mona Lisa) runs an underworld empire but his dreams are much bigger. He and his sophisticated wife (Oscar-winner Helen Mirren, The Queen) aspire to partner with American mobsters to turn the barren docklands of London into a development for the upcoming Olympics. But their perfect plan begins to unravel when a string of deadly bombings leads Shand to the stunning realization that he is being targeted by the IRA. A bloody race to hold on to his crumbling schemes brings him to an explosive climax in this taut, riveting thriller.