Posted in 30 Rock, Beverly Hills 90210, Chuck, Corner Gas, Fringe, How I Met Your Mother, Life on Mars, Mercer Report, New Adventures of Old Christine, Project Runway, Pushing Daisies, Robot Chicken, Robson Arms, Rush, The Big Bang Theory, The Mentalist, The Office, The Simpsons, Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job!, TV 2008 on March 7, 2010| 2 Comments »
I’m continuing to move all of the old TV Posts from my TV Tab to individual posts. So here’s some thoughts from the 2008 TV season. There were some updates midway through on this one, but I’ll add some updated thoughts as necessary.
With the Fall 2008 Lineup mostly underway, I’m listing the shows that we are giving a chance this year. There are some new ones, but mostly its a continuation of last year: (more…)
Posted in Dan Martin, Decline of Western Civilization: Part Two: The Metal Years, Drinking, Drugs, Free Speech, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Ozzy Osbourne, Sex, The Dead Milkmen, Virginity (Loss of) on March 6, 2010| Leave a Comment »
SOUNDTRACK: The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years [movie] (1988).
I feel like this movie aired a lot when I was a kid. I wish I could remember what I thought about it back then, because watching it the other night I couldn’t believe how dumb everyone looked. Whether it was Steven Tyler acting profound talking about masturbating or Joe Perry and his sourpuss. Or Paul Stanley lying in bed with 4 women strewn around during his interview. Or bless his heart, Chris Holmes’ drunken antics in the pool in front of his mother. I’m half certain that it was staged, as nobody is that dumb.
Or any of the nameless masses primping for the movie (I’d love to know where the guy with half black/half white hair is now). Or when any of the people who were sure they were going to become rock stars gave up and got jobs.
The only people who come out looking clever are Lemmy, seeming calm and wise on a mountaintop (?); Poison, for the love of God, who admit to their failings yet seem rather reasonable (and make the best unintentional joke about blowing all your cash on a Le Mans), Dave Mustaine who seems the most intelligent person in the movie, and Ozzy Osbourne.
Ozzy gets the best cut of anyone. In his bathrobe, he makes a delicious breakfast of eggs, very undercooked bacon (he should have started the bacon first) and spilt orange juice. At this time in his career, I believe he was being managed by Sharon (who everyone knows from the reality show), but at the time, she was unknown. And I have to wonder how much of the genius of that scene was her idea. Not only does it make anyone who called him a Satanist look silly, he gets the biggest and best intentional laughs.
Watching this movie as a married 40 year old, with my wife sitting next to me, I was frankly embarrassed for the way these bozos were carrying on. And I think I was more embarrassed for them than for me. Ah, Odin and your buttless chaps.
Of course, I’ve been a metalhead forever so I’ve always been amused by nonsensical antics. And I’ve always rebelled against people like the woman from whatever anti-metal group was in the movie. What’s great about her scene is that Penelope Spheeris doesn’t mock her. She doesn’t do any weird edits or goofy sound effects or anything. She just lets the lady speak her version of the truth and allows the audience (granted the audience is metal fans, but any reasonable adult could tell) to realize just how weird and silly she is. The idea that the Secret Devil Worship Sign (as the Dead Milkmen call it) is really three 6’s (even her demonstration pushing reality) and that it is three fingers down to deny the holy trinity (when in fact it’s actually two fingers down and one thumb across) is just inspired lunacy. Especially when you hear Ronnie James Dio, who ostensibly brought the sign into metal in the first place reveal that it was a something his grandmother did to ward off the evil eye. Ah, the days of 80’s censorship, which I got ever so het up about.
But it was just those people that encouraged bands to come up with more and more outrageous names and deeds. So, when Sarah asks me what is wrong with a band for naming themselves (* see below the fold for my newfound favorite band name), I told her it was in response to people like that. When people go looking for evil in the mundane, well, why not just be evil right in their faces and see what they do.
Sure, it’s childish, but it’s also fun!
I only wish they would show The Decline of Western Civilization Part One once in a while.
[READ: February 28, 2010] All Known Metal Bands (D-E)
About eight months ago, I posted that I had started reading this book. Obviously I am not reading it very often as I am only up to the E’s. But I picked it up again the other day and found my two new favorite band names: (more…)
Posted in Adventure, Big Books, Blue Öyster Cult, bolanobolano.com, Books about writers, Boxing, David Lynch, Drinking, Foreign Books, Infinite Zombies, James Joyce, Natasha Wimmer, Roberto Bolaño, Threats, Translation, Travel, Twin Peaks, Violence on March 1, 2010| Leave a Comment »
SOUNDTRACK: BLUE ÖYSTER CULT-Tyranny and Mvtation (1973).
The album cover is similar to the first disc (a simple black and white), but this one adds a touch of red. Similarly, the music adds a touch of something that makes this disc leap beyond the foundation of their first.
The songs are heavier, the lyrics are weirder and yet the whole proceeding is catchier and groovier at the same time.
The first half of the disc is called The Black (going with the first song “The Red & The Black”). It contains 4 great tracks. The highlight is the improbably named “7 Screaming Diz-Busters” a 7 minute song that starts off with great heavy guitars, segues into a spooky/wild moog organ fueled freakout and ends with a denouement that is mellow and creepy.
But the other three songs rock hard too. “The Red & the Black” is a super fast boogie which repeats some of the lyrics from the first disc: “Canadian mounted baby. Police force at work. Red and black. Its their color scheme.” The tempo slows somewhat with “OD’d on Life Itself,” but it quickly comes back with “Hot Rails to Hell.”
Side two, The Red, opens with “Baby Ice Dog” with lyrics by Patti Smith (!). The side is less heavy, with Allan Lanier’s piano coming to the front on this track (although there’s a delightfully cheesy wolf howl at the end). “Wings Wetted Down” foreshadows more familiar BOC with great choruses and harmonies, coupled with cool riffs. And the final song “Mistress of the Salmon Salt (Quicklime Girl)” is yet another wonderfully oddly titled (and lyrically peculiar) song.
Even though the first disc is quite good, BOC totally hit their stride on this disc, showcasing their weirdness and their virtuosity in equal strength. The recently remastered edition contains 4 live tracks that show just how much the band rocked in a live setting too.
[READ: Week of February 22, 2010] 2666 [pg 291-349]
During last week’s reading, I had replied to a post on Infinite Zombies in which I stated that I am a very credulous reader. If I believe that the author is doing something worthwhile, I’m totally willing to suspend my disbelief about whatever the writer tells me. Sometimes, when I’m done, or if I’m asked to be critical, I’ll look for flaws, but generally I like to go with the flow. So, I’d been reading along uncritically primarily because I don’t exactly know what Bolaño is up to, (even 300 pages in) so I’m just going to enjoy the ride. More on this in a moment.
This week’s reading continues Fate’s saga down in Santa Teresa. His story request about reporting on the murders in Santa Teresa has been turned down. And he thinks back to all of his other stories that have been rejected by the newspaper. Like the Mohammedan Brotherhood. Fate met them at a Pro-Palestine demonstration. They were marching under a banner of Osama bin Laden (shortly after 9/11/01). They were so over the top that Fate felt the need to interview them. (more…)
Posted in Blue Öyster Cult, Books about writers, Boredom, Corporate skewering, Craig Ferguson, Culture Shock, Drinking, Drugs, Funny (ha ha), Late Late Show, LGBTQ, Marriage Trouble, Memoirs, Political Humor, Politicians, Red Dwarf, Religion, Steppenwolf, Travel, Unreliable narrator, Virginity (Loss of) on February 28, 2010| 1 Comment »
SOUNDTRACK: BLUE ÖYSTER CULT–Blue Öyster Cult (1972).
Craig Ferguson mentions that the only concert he saw as a teen in America was Blue Öyster Cult. My guess is that it would have been around the Agents of Fortune or Spectres tour (ie, around “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”) so that must have been a killer show.
In honor of his book, I’m going to look at the lesser known early work of BOC. Their first disc is a fascinating amalgamation of hard rock, blues, boogie and psychedelia. All of that is coupled with the utterly perplexing lyrics that they came up with. In addition to the huh? factor of titles like “She’s a Beautiful as a Foot” and “Before the Kiss, a Redcap” we also get fascinating title like “Transamaniacon MC” (later on John Shirley would write a book called Transmaniacon as a tribute to this song).
The album isn’t heavy by today’s standards, but at the time, this was some pretty heavy stuff. The rocking chorus of “Transmaniacon,” the blistering speed of “Stairway to the Stars,” and yes, the undeniably heavy riff of “Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll” let you know that this is no simple rock album.
And yet, they work so well with the fundamentals: Steppenwolf is clearly an inspiration. This is classic rock that doesn’t quite fit the classic rock mode (which, frankly, makes it far more interesting). There’s a lot to like here, and there’s more to come.
[READ: February 26, 2010] American on Purpose
I keep saying I don’t read memoirs but then I keep reading them. Yes, I’m a liar.
Well, in this case, I felt it was justified because a) Craig Ferguson is hilarious and I assumed his book would be too and b) he has already written a novel that I really liked (as well as 3 screenplays which I have not seen). So I figured it would be a well-written, funny book. And, since it turned out I had two days off because of the “snow” I finished the book in a couple of days.
Right, so Craig Ferguson is the host of The Late Late Show, a show that Sarah and I fell in love with last year and then kind of forgot about it. And then we caught it again recently and have been enjoying some TiVo’d bits every now and then. Ferguson has a wonderfully warped sense of humor and his show veers into the bizarre more often than not. But he is always enjoyable, and his celebrity interviews are worth watching for how funny and un-promotional they are.
But what about this book? This book basically details his life growing up in Scotland, moving to the States and becoming a “huge star.”
But the crux of the book is about his descent into alcoholism, how it destroyed his first marriage and several other long term relationships, as well as potentially his career. (more…)
Posted in 30 Rock, Books about writers, Charles Burns, David Byrne, Dip-in Books, Dromedary Records, Footstone, George Saunders, Nick Hornby, Record Labels, Terry Gilliam, The Believer on February 18, 2010| 1 Comment »
SOUNDTRACK: DROMEDARY RECORDS
My friend Al started Dromedary Records many many years ago (for the whole, in depth, history read here). He released a number of cool indie rock CDs and then decided to put a halt to the proceedings.
Recently, he decided to resurrect the label, with mostly downloads as opposed to physical product (for the post about that, read this). He’s currently offering a free EP download from the great Jersey band Footstone. But more importantly, he’s gathered a number of cool indie bands who contributed a track for his new compilation called Make the Load Lighter: Indie Rock for Haiti. Proceeds from the compilation go to Haitian relief.
Al has always loved music. Dromedary was his way of getting great music out to people without all the bullshit that major labels were foisting on artists (this was all before internet music, of course). And, Al has always been a really good and decent human being (even after owning a record label for a dozen years). I’m delighted that he’s able to do a nice thing for people and still get music out to those who want it.
So, buy the download, support a good cause, and enjoy some great tunes.
[READ: February 2009] 52 Weeks Heads and Quotes
This is a day planner (sort of) and as such it doesn’t really qualify as a book I’ve read. However, The Believer published this planner which included excerpts from the magazine, so it kind of counts. Each week there’s a quote from an artist (usually a writer, but also actors and musicians) as well as a Charles Burns drawing of him or her (or even it in a couple of cases).
And since it is not tied to any year (you write in the month as you go) it has the delightful quote on the back: “You can start this planner anytime–it does not expire.” (more…)
Posted in 30 Rock, Bob the Builder, Chuck, Corner Gas, How I Met Your Mother, Little Bear, Maisy, New Adventures of Old Christine, Project Runway, Robot Chicken, The Big Bang Theory, The Office, Thomas the Tank Engine, Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job!, TV 2009 on February 14, 2010| Leave a Comment »
I’m moving all of the old TV Posts from my TV Tab to individual posts. Why? I’m not sure. But here’s the one from last season. I’m going to put any thoughts from today at the end of each post, as necessary.
[ORIGINAL POST BEGINS]
Okay, the TV season is half over, shows got canceled by the networks and also got canceled by us. So, we have pruned ourselves down to just a few shows, mostly sitcoms. The really bad news is that our Canadian satellite is no longer active. Bell Expressvue has kicked us out so we no longer have our access to TV up north. Sigh. Wither Corner Gas? (more…)
Posted in Arcade Fire, Austin City Limits, Boredom, Canadian Music, David Lynch, Demons, Drinking, Funny (strange), Goths, Graphic Novel, LGBTQ, Oddities, Ongoing, Oni Press, Ross Campbell, Set at School, Sex, South, The X Files, Twin Peaks, Universities on February 12, 2010| Leave a Comment »
SOUNDTRACK: ARCADE FIRE Austin City Limits (2007).
Recorded in support of Neon Bible, this concert blew me away. I enjoyed Neon Bible quite a lot, but seeing the band in this concert setting was really amazing. The band was so exciting live.
From Win Butler’s intense performance (both on stage and in the audience) to his wife, Régine Chassagne’s multi-instrumental extravaganza (even if she does look like Susie Essman when she’s about to go off on a foul-mouthed tirade). To the exhausting and exhaustive rest of the band. They never stop. Even when they’re not playing anything, the are happy to join in on a random drum or cymbal.
Plus, how many bands do you get to see play the hurdygurdy?
There’s just so much going on onstage with this band (and of course they throw in little video screens as well!). And when Win grabs his mike stand and moves literally into the audience to finish one of the last songs, it was really invigorating (and would have been very exciting to have been in the front row there).
Even though it was televised, I felt like I was there. Oh, and it wasn’t just the theatrics, the band sounded amazing too. If I ever get the chance I hope to see them live, myself.
[READ: February 11, 2010] Wet Moon 2
I finally received Wet Moon 2 & 3 in the mail the other day. I was quite excited to get to them. And Volume 2 did not disappoint.
It is very apparent from Volume 2 that Campbell is in it for the long haul. Which is one way of saying that not very much “happens” in this book. Several plot threads from book 1 are teased out a bit, but nothing conclusive happens anywhere.
But that’s not to say that nothing happens at all. We learn the identity of the long-haired person whom Cleo runs away from in book one (an ex). We learn a little back story (and about a curious upside-down contraption from the person with no hair (who is named Fern). We learn that Wet Moon is full of more and more bizarre characters, and that there’s an FBI agent around town. We also learn that another Cleo Eats It sign has been found, although we don’t know anything more about who did it.
Posted in 30 Rock, Chuck, Community, How I Met Your Mother, Modern Family, New Adventures of Old Christine, The Big Bang Theory, The New York Times, TiVo, TV 2010, Word usage on February 11, 2010| 1 Comment »
I can’t say that I pay a lot of attention to trends on TV. But, it seems to me that the use of the insult “douchebag” had been skyrocketing in the last few months.
I’ve always kind of liked the word because it’s almost quaint and it was so underused in conversation. And it feels so 1970s, like when I was a kid and we would say, They said “Bastard” on TV; somehow douchebag fits into that childish insult category. There’s so many other insults that are used every day that to hear a weird one like douchebag was kind of refreshing. To say nothing of the fact that it is actually an object (evidently–I’ve never actually seen one to confirm this).
Yet over the last few months, I think I may have heard it used on every show that we watch. I would speculate that it’s been used on How I met Your Mother, Community, New Adventures of Old Christine, The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family and Chuck. Oh and probably 30 Rock, too. (I can’t confirm this, I’m using my admittedly sketchy memory).
In fact, to confirm my suspicions I did a search and found that even the venerable New York Times has observed this increase in douchebag usage.
It’s funny as I’m not prudish at all, but I’m getting a little uncomfortable at hearing the word so much. Once in a while was fine, but it seems a little stale all of a sudden. I think I heard it three times in one night of TiVo catching up.
When it’s used that much, it’s just lazy. (more…)
Posted in Culture Shock, Foreign Books, History, Larry LaLonde, Les Claypool, Mad Magazine, Marriage (Happy), Memoirs, Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars, Nature, Peter Kuper, Pig Hunt, Primus, Violence on February 9, 2010| 1 Comment »
SOUNDTRACK: LES CLAYPOOL-Of Fungi and Foe (2009).
Claypool was asked to score a video game called The Spore Wars and, at around the same time, to score a movie called Pig Hunt. According to the liner notes of the disc, he used the templates that he made for the scores and fleshed them out to make this album.
This was the first Claypool solo album I’d bought in several years (since 2002’s Purple Onion). I’d heard “Mushroom Men” on the radio and really liked it, so I decided to get the disc. And I have to say overall I’m a little disappointed.
Now, I’ve been a Primus fan for years (I even saw them right after Suck on This) so I know what I’m getting with Les. And yet, maybe I don’t anymore. The disc is very percussion heavy, with lots of rather long songs. And although I love long songs, I love long songs that aren’t the same thing for 6 or so minutes. I also rather miss Claypool’s voice. He doesn’t sing a lot of these songs in his typical falsetto. There’s a lot of very deep voiced, rather processed sounding voices here (it works great on the muh muh muh muhshroom men, but not so great elsewhere). Because when you combine that with the bass and percussion, it’ really hard to hear what he’s on about (and Claypool lyrics are half the fun).
Plus, we know that with Primus’ own brand of weirdness, a little goes a long way. So, hearing the same bizarro riff for 4 minutes can be trying.
Despite the criticisms, the disc is good in small doses. The first 4 tracks are all really solid. But that 5th track, “What would George Martin Do?” just sucks all the life out of the disc. The same goofy riff for 6 minutes with completely unintelligible lyrics. Ouch. But “You Can’t Tell Errol Anything” picks up the pace somewhat with a wonderful Tom Waits-ian soundtrack. The addition of Eugene Hutz on insane wailing vocals brings a wonderful new level of dementia to the disc.
Throughout the disc there some amazing bass riffs (of course) and some really cool effects thrown onto the bass (and other instruments). But the overall feel of the disc is just too samey. I think the music would probably work really well as soundtrack music, but it lacks a little something by itself.
I’m not suggesting that Claypool needs to be more poppy, because that’s hardly it (although he does have an amazing gift for clever hooks), but it’s possible that he needs an editor. Was that the role Ler played in Primus? Who will ever know?
[READ: February 5, 2010] Diario de Oaxaca
Wa-HA-Ca (that’s how you pronounce Oaxaca (the first question I had)).
I ordered this book for our Spanish collection without really knowing what it was about. When it arrived I had a hard time deciding where to catalog it…is it a graphic novel? a biography? It’s bilingual so does it even go in the Spanish collection, which has much less circulation than our English collection? As I flipped though the book, it looked really cool, so I decided to just read it and figure it out for myself.
Peter Kuper is, among other things, the drawer of Mad Magazine’s Spy vs Spy since about 1997. Sometime in 2006, Kuper decided to go on sabbatical from the politics of George W. Bush. He and his family packed up and moved to Oaxaca, Mexico for two years. While he was there, the city experienced a semi-annual teacher’s strike. However, this particular strike turned bloody when the President of Oaxaca turned his soldiers against the strikers. (more…)
Posted in 30 Rock, Better Off Ted, Chuck, Community, Craig Ferguson, Glee, How I Met Your Mother, John Dore Show, Jon Stewart, Jools Holland, Late Late Show, Later with Jools Holland, Life Unexpected, Modern Family, New Adventures of Old Christine, Parenthood, Project Runway, Robot Chicken, Scrubs, The Big Bang Theory, The Colbert Report, The Daily Show, The Inbetweeners, The Office, The Simpsons, The Whitest Kids U'Know, TV 2010 on February 7, 2010| 1 Comment »
In addition to reading, Sarah and I watch TV, too. In the past, I posted occasional updates to a Tab devoted to TV. But I’m going to put new information in individual posts instead. So I’m starting with this season’s TV.
Of course, in the last couple of years, TV has changed from working on an easy to summarize Spring/Fall schedule to having shows appear almost at random. This really undermines the very idea of a “season,” so I’m including a show or two from the end of 2009 as well.
One surprising thing about recent TV is how I watch almost nothing on the CW or Fox. These were my mainstays as recent as two years ago, but they’ve totally dropped the ball lately. And I can’t believe how much I’m enjoying shows on CBS (isn’t that the old people’s network?).
And so, for 2010: (more…)
I Just Read About That... 