Monday, September 27, 2004
This week George W.Bush is giving his one and only television interview on Fox News...because he wants to position himself as the fair and balanced candidate. . .
Meanwhile, Ann Coulter was spotted sticking needles into her Kitty Kelley voodoo doll outside the Northridge Outback Steakhouse while waiting for her table last Saturday night.
But I digress...
The best possible pop culture news of the past few days has to be:
Meanwhile, Ann Coulter was spotted sticking needles into her Kitty Kelley voodoo doll outside the Northridge Outback Steakhouse while waiting for her table last Saturday night.
But I digress...
The best possible pop culture news of the past few days has to be:
- The ultrasuperbadass reinvention of Pulp's "Common People" from William Shatner's new album getting major airplay! (visions of a jealous Leonard Nimoy screaming "Get me Rick Rubin on the line!" abound..)
- My wife digging the new Shatner CD as much as I do.
- John Waters new film A Dirty Shame...(Best Use of David Hasselhoff since Knight Rider!)
- The new Star Wars DVD box (just for having a trailer titled "Forbidden Love"...figure that one out yourself).
- And the lastly and perhaps most wonderful, The release of Brian Wilson's belated masterpiece SMiLE tomorrow!
Good Vibrations indeed.
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Actual Flyer Spotted On Actual Street Corner In The Actual Beverly Hills:
"I (Heart) Paris Hilton"
"Marry Me?"
The flyer then goes on to list a name and an address in Downtown Los Angeles.
Could this be the work of a Stalker Street Team? Or just a guy wishing to make an independent film....
Stay tuned.
"I (Heart) Paris Hilton"
"Marry Me?"
The flyer then goes on to list a name and an address in Downtown Los Angeles.
Could this be the work of a Stalker Street Team? Or just a guy wishing to make an independent film....
Stay tuned.
Friday, September 17, 2004
Musically speaking, 2004 is at long last showing some signs of life...
Need proof? Well, just released albums by The Thrills, Madeline Peyroux (the best voice in contemporary jazz), and forthcoming ones from Brian Wilson (SMILE!!), REM, William Shatner tell me that the world has yet again been saved from the Jessica Simpsons and Hoobastanks of the world. . .But then again, can anyone be really saved from a band called Hoobastank? I'm serious. Last time I checked Hoobastank was a euphemism for the unwanted byproducts of tainted Mexican food. But I digress...
William Shatner's first full length album since LBJ was in office (1968's The Transformed Man) is a surprisingly brave and poignant work. Cleverly titled "Has Been" (out on Shout Factory 10/5) and deftly produced by '90s geek-pop-genius Ben Folds, this is as disarming as new pop records get.
What we all expect when we hear Shatner on record is the stuff of Rhino's Golden Throats series but with Has Been we're taken to an all together different place. A place where lyrics are contributed by Nick Hornby and vocal support provided by Joe Jackson, Aimee Mann, and Henry Rollins.
The scope ranges from an emotionally-charged cover of Pulp's Common People (delivered with an almost angry Dylan-esque sneer), to reflective, often humorous meditations on insecurity and mortality ("It Hasn't Happened Yet"; "You'll Have Time"), and rants against the absurdity of modern life ("I Can't Get Behind That").
This is a record that captures a man fully aware of where he's been and the road ahead.
To say this is the spoken word equivalent of Johnny Cash's American Recordings by an artist of equal pop cultural importance would not be an unfair comparison.
May William Shatner continue to live long and prosper...
Need proof? Well, just released albums by The Thrills, Madeline Peyroux (the best voice in contemporary jazz), and forthcoming ones from Brian Wilson (SMILE!!), REM, William Shatner tell me that the world has yet again been saved from the Jessica Simpsons and Hoobastanks of the world. . .But then again, can anyone be really saved from a band called Hoobastank? I'm serious. Last time I checked Hoobastank was a euphemism for the unwanted byproducts of tainted Mexican food. But I digress...
William Shatner's first full length album since LBJ was in office (1968's The Transformed Man) is a surprisingly brave and poignant work. Cleverly titled "Has Been" (out on Shout Factory 10/5) and deftly produced by '90s geek-pop-genius Ben Folds, this is as disarming as new pop records get.
What we all expect when we hear Shatner on record is the stuff of Rhino's Golden Throats series but with Has Been we're taken to an all together different place. A place where lyrics are contributed by Nick Hornby and vocal support provided by Joe Jackson, Aimee Mann, and Henry Rollins.
The scope ranges from an emotionally-charged cover of Pulp's Common People (delivered with an almost angry Dylan-esque sneer), to reflective, often humorous meditations on insecurity and mortality ("It Hasn't Happened Yet"; "You'll Have Time"), and rants against the absurdity of modern life ("I Can't Get Behind That").
This is a record that captures a man fully aware of where he's been and the road ahead.
To say this is the spoken word equivalent of Johnny Cash's American Recordings by an artist of equal pop cultural importance would not be an unfair comparison.
May William Shatner continue to live long and prosper...
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
Going up for air. . .
- Being pursued by a gentleman named Ricker (Ricker??) to join the local 24-Hour Fitness.
- Mario Machado just gave me a set of Sennheiser headphones as a belated wedding gift.
- And William Shatner is releasing a new CD.
More to follow soon...
Friday, September 10, 2004
The Brown Bunny is to films what Hoobastank is to band names.
Need I say more?
The film that gave Roger Ebert bad gas is by far the most recent film Vincent Gallo has released.
Need I say more?
The film that gave Roger Ebert bad gas is by far the most recent film Vincent Gallo has released.
Thursday, September 09, 2004
Monday Morning I embraced my inner Jim Garrison (AKA DJ Kevin Costner) and toured the Sixth Floor Museum at the Texas Book Depository in downtown Dallas, TX.
I stood on the Grassy Knoll, got my picture taken, and waited for a magic bullet to tell my fortune.
Down the road from the book depository is The Conspiracy Museum, where the truth lives for only $10 admission. Basically looking like a junior college dorm room shrine to the works of Oliver Stone, this is the place where you watch a 16 year-old VHS tape of the Zapruder film (shown from multiple angles for Maximum Costnerization) while a George Plimpton-type points out the glaring omissions and fallacies of The Warren Commision.
Its also where you can purchase a JFK movie poster for $100.
Before you start snickering and call me Michael Moore, consider this: Did you know there was a conspiracy film about the Kennedy asassination before JFK called Executive Action starring Burt Lancaster???
What's the matter?? Can't handle the truth?? I'm waiting Oliver....
I stood on the Grassy Knoll, got my picture taken, and waited for a magic bullet to tell my fortune.
Down the road from the book depository is The Conspiracy Museum, where the truth lives for only $10 admission. Basically looking like a junior college dorm room shrine to the works of Oliver Stone, this is the place where you watch a 16 year-old VHS tape of the Zapruder film (shown from multiple angles for Maximum Costnerization) while a George Plimpton-type points out the glaring omissions and fallacies of The Warren Commision.
Its also where you can purchase a JFK movie poster for $100.
Before you start snickering and call me Michael Moore, consider this: Did you know there was a conspiracy film about the Kennedy asassination before JFK called Executive Action starring Burt Lancaster???
What's the matter?? Can't handle the truth?? I'm waiting Oliver....
Wednesday, September 08, 2004
Back In The Saddle Kids!
When work is not eating my brain like flys on a ribroast I shall post like the wind blowing out of Rumsfeld's mouth...
When work is not eating my brain like flys on a ribroast I shall post like the wind blowing out of Rumsfeld's mouth...
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
So now we know where the Bush twins get their sense of comic timing from...watching these Simple Life simpletons mistake the RNC for the VMAs (for which they were given a most warm reception) makes me glad I got my higher education via the California Community College system...because Yale these days seems to really have taken on more short bus students than they can handle.
ANYWAY.
Before Day 2 of the RNC's Ahnuldpalooza, I discovered that hipster band Death Cab For Cutie takes their name from the most obscure of Beatles references. Maybe I'm the last one to make this connection but I feel somewhat accomplished that this information wasn't gleaned from the pages of MOJO, Q, or Under The Radar.
So that aforementioned Beatles reference? Its the name of the tune the lounge singer croons during the striptease sequence in Magical Mystery Tour. *(It's important to note that not only do I own a copy of this film, I watched it willingly all the way through as well, the geek-Beatle-love runs deep).
Its discoveries like these that help me sleep better at night.
So good day Beatle People, I'm off to the Lone Star State for a wedding featuring my lovely wife in the role of bridesmaid and me as the happy-go-lucky-hubby.
See you next week sports fans!
ANYWAY.
Before Day 2 of the RNC's Ahnuldpalooza, I discovered that hipster band Death Cab For Cutie takes their name from the most obscure of Beatles references. Maybe I'm the last one to make this connection but I feel somewhat accomplished that this information wasn't gleaned from the pages of MOJO, Q, or Under The Radar.
So that aforementioned Beatles reference? Its the name of the tune the lounge singer croons during the striptease sequence in Magical Mystery Tour. *(It's important to note that not only do I own a copy of this film, I watched it willingly all the way through as well, the geek-Beatle-love runs deep).
Its discoveries like these that help me sleep better at night.
So good day Beatle People, I'm off to the Lone Star State for a wedding featuring my lovely wife in the role of bridesmaid and me as the happy-go-lucky-hubby.
See you next week sports fans!
