Missing Pieces

I recently came across an article in which the film critic for the San Francisco Chronicle admitted that there are five classic films that he's never seen. They are:

• To Kill a Mockingbird
• Young Frankenstein
• An Affair to Remember
• Blade Runner
• 2001: A Space Odyssey

Actually, he admits this deficiency and rectifies it in the same article. He watched all five films and reviewed them all at once.

This got me thinking...there are certain cultural entities (usually television, film, or music) that tend to define specific time periods so completely that they become part of the public consciousness. At a certain point, they are so ubiquitous that you just assume that people share that experience with you. It would never cross my mind that anyone around my age had never seen Sesame Street. It's a given that they also know about Jack, Janet and Chrissy*.

However, I'm guessing that, like the film critic I mentioned above, we all have a few pieces missing from our cultural mosaic. I'll bet that each of us have missed a few cultural events that 99% of our peer group can speak about fluently.

I think there is a sub-culture of people that take a certain sort of pride in avoiding things that are popular. As Stephen King said in 2003 in response to criticism that a "popular author" (him) was given the prestigious lifetime achievement medal from the National Book Foundation, "What do you think? You get social or academic brownie points for deliberately staying out of touch with your own culture?". I'm not talking about this kind of deliberate culture avoidance. I'm talking about the situation where you had the flu for a weekend at age 12, missed the neighborhood outing to see Star Wars, and just never did get around to watching it.

I've never seen Pretty In Pink or Say Anything. I've never seen Caddyshack, Animal House, Flashdance, or St. Elmo's Fire. I've also never seen an episode of M*A*S*H.

What pieces are you missing?

*small piece of trivia: I didn't know how to spell Chrissy, so I looked it up on IMDB and found that the character's full name is "Christmas 'Chrissy' Snow". I'll be damned.

Is 2008 "The Year Of Matt"?

Only one more month until Lindsey Buckingham's new live CD/DVD, "Live at the Bass Performance Hall" is released. I'm very excited about this, because of the inclusion of some very strong new material such as "Not Too Late", "It Was You", and "Castaway Dreams"...but slightly disappointed at yet one more live release of "I'm So Afraid" and "Big Love". Great songs...but LB fans already have many live versions of these tracks. At least we finally get a live version of "Holiday Road", one of Lindsey's most underrated songs, thanks to its attachment to the Chevy Chase movie.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that 2008 is tailor-made for me, but let's look at what it's brought/bringing so far:

1. Indiana Jones 4
2. Guitar Hero Aerosmith
3. Maynard Ferguson Tribute Concert in May
4. It's Cadbury Egg Season
5. New live Lindsey Buckingham CD/DVD
6. An Obama presidential win? (I hope)
   

I know you superstitious types are probably worried right now that I've just tempted fate and something terrible will happen to me soon. When it does, I'll post about it.

Girlyman

Last night, I drove to Omaha to see a group that I've been a fan of for a few years but have never had the chance to see perform. They are a somewhat unusual group and therefore have a somewhat unusual name: Girlyman. The press (when they get any) often refers to them as a "modern day Peter, Paul and Mary," which is not too far off of the mark. I would describe them as modern folk music with a hint of bluegrass and pop mixed in.

I first discovered Girlyman when Salon.com featured one of their songs ("Viola", from their first album) along with a paragraph raving about Girlyman's tight harmonies and strong songwriting. I became mildly addicted to "Viola" and started buying other tracks from their "Remember Who I AM" album until I finally broke down and bought the whole thing. They've since released two more albums, both incredible.

Girlyman has something in common with Fleetwood Mac in that each group has three strong songwriters, two female and one male, and each songwriter sings lead on his or her own song. Also, like Fleetwood Mac, all three lead voices sound completely unlike the others, and yet the real magic happens when all three voices harmonize. The members of Girlyman are also impressive instrumentalists, and swapped out various guitars and mandolins throughout the performance.

The show was well worth the 2 hour drive, and the venue was perfect for this type of concert. With a cozy atmosphere, Mick's Music and Bar holds maybe 200 people. We grabbed a table near the front and felt like we were watching a Girlyman show in our living room. Here's a low-res picture we took with our cell phone.


All right...enough of my blabbering. You can't describe music in a blog post. Listen to "Hold It All At Bay" from their latest album, "Joyful Sign". This link is only good for a week, so if you visit too late, make sure you check out the sounds clips on Girlyman's web site.

There Will Be Blood

A couple of days ago, my 7 year-old daughter made this sign for her bedroom door. It says (spelling corrected), "Keep Out! Or you'll be sorry!".

She showed it to me and I told her it was really neat. I said, "That looks like blood." Enthusiastically, she explained to me that, "when people see it they will be afraid and think that somebody was cut!".

I understand that therapy is expensive, but maybe if we started setting aside some money now, we could have a little psychiatrist fund all set up for her by the time she's an adult.

Nerdery Week - The Final Chapter

As Thomas from Tappity Tappity pointed out, it's hard to get a full week's worth of posts out of this nerdery thing. It's not that I'm running out of nerdy (I'm not); it's just that I've come to find out that my various nerdy aspects are not very diverse.

Therefore, my final Nerdery Week post is another video game post.

In my basement, I have a fully functioning, full-sized video game. It's called Champion Wrestler and it's extraordinarily lame. Unlike Pac Man or Donkey Kong or some other awesome retro game that would still hold some "cool", Champion Wrestler is just unabashedly terrible. So why do I have this behemoth? Good question.

I have it in my head that I will one day build an arcade machine. You know, a giant video game that has hundreds of old arcade games in it. I learned early on that one of the most difficult steps in this process is building a cabinet, and if you can find an existing cabinet in good shape, that will save lots of time and money. So, I went to a video game auction (hilariously called an "amusement auction") and plunked down a couple hundred bucks for Champion Wrestler. It was a pretty good deal, considering that the monitor and speakers still work.

The bad news is that it's been about two years since I've acquired this game, and yet I have no arcade machine. If it were procrastination week, I'd tell you more.

Nerdery - A cappella Style

I didn't realize that once I broke the seal the confessions would pour out so freely.

I'm a sucker for a cappella music. Ok, let me explain. I'm a fan of what a cappella aficionados would call the "contemporary a cappella" genre. What this means is that the style of music I'm referring to is not barbershop quartet or some sort of street corner doo-wop. Contemporary a cappella is very much like modern rock or pop music, except that the instrumentation just happens to be voices and sounds made by various appendages.

Some of the groups I enjoy are "pure" a cappella, meaning that the recordings are essentially 4 or 5 voices around a microphone, while others manipulate the vocals in post-production to create "percussion" loops or to make voices sound more like instruments.

I think part of what intrigues me about this genre is the complexity of the arrangements and the way that this style of music exposes all of a song's harmonies and moving parts.

Here are a few selected tracks from my collection that I highly recommend. The links will work for 100 downloads or 7 days, whichever comes first.

1. "4U4Now4Life" by Scott Leonard
Scott Leonard, lead singer and arranger for Rockapella, wrote this track, recorded every sound on it, tweaked the sounds in post-production, and mixed it himself. It's an exciting arrangement and has one of the hookiest choruses I've ever heard.

2. "Moments of You" by Rockapella
Another Scott Leonard lead vocal and composition, Moments of You was the song that first interested me in a cappella music. Rockapella (known primarily for their stint on "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?") still tours all year round and puts on a great live show.

3. "25 or 6 to 4" by The Ex-Boyfriends
A larger group than most, The Ex-Boyfriends cover a lot of classic rock and have a less-produced sound than many other a cappella groups. They write a lot of long, sprawling arrangements that includes snippets of other songs in them. This is a Chicago cover, but it includes moments of George Harrison, Pat Benatar, Led Zeppelin, and more.

4. "Eleanor Rigby" by Tonic Sol-Fa
The most traditional a cappella group I'm featuring tonight, Tonic Sol-Fa records straight-forward but extremely well produced arrangements. One of my favorites is this cover of Eleanor Rigby.

Other Nerderific Blogs

The following blogs are all reporting on their Nerderies as well:

• This Man's World
• Tappity Tappity
• Caryle's Corner
• The Poisoned Apple
• The Musings of Wendy Withers
• Uvulapie And His Amazing Hillbillies
• The Bookshelf Muse
• Unhinged
  

Beh-Jroom?

Last night my 5-year-old daughter and I were talking and she mentioned something about the bed in her room. Suddenly, a light bulb went off...and I could tell there was a mini-epiphany happening right before my eyes.

She looked at me with the passion of discovery and said, "Hey! Bed? Room? It should be 'bedroom'!" She annunciated that last word slowly and carefully, making sure that I heard both halves clearly. I was confused...it sounded like she had just uncovered the fact that the word "bedroom" was a compound word and had just realized why it was made up of those particular words...and yet, it also sounded like she didn't quite understand that.

Cautiously, not wanting to derail her excitement or steal any legitimacy from her serendipitous a-ha moment, I said, "Honey...it's already called a bedroom. That's what it is, a room for your bed." She looked at me, shoulders slumped and eyes half-lidded (as if trying to get through to someone who just can't GET IT), and said, "No, Dad, it's a beh-jroom. Jroom!"

Ok, I'm fully aware that this reads like a pitch meeting for a horrible Family Circus cartoon, but dammit, it was cute to me.

Nerdery Week - The Oaks

Let me just shake my nerves for a minute before I start...

Ok. This is, without question, the most embarrassing/painful/nerdy admission that I've made so far during Nerdery Week.

I have a lot of CDs. I'm not sure how many...maybe 500 or so. Anyway, they span 2 tall standing racks, and several rows of smaller racks.

And this is how many Oak Ridge Boys CDs I have. They start here, in this rack:
And they spill over into a second rack:
By my count, that's 24 CDs of Joe, Duane, William Lee, and Richard. Wow...24? All arranged chronologically, of course. I can't help but like them. I spent a lot of time with my grandparents as a child, and they played a lot of Oaks. My parents also played a lot of Oaks. I'm just a sucker for that 70s country and four part harmony.

What's not to love? And man, I wanted that low voice when I grew up.

Nerdery Week - The Video Game Situation

So far, after checking out a couple of the other Nerdery Week reports, I've learned a couple of things.

1. My office isn't nearly as cool as those featured by other nerds.
2. I need a better digital camera

For the next installment of Nerdery Week, let's take a peek at my video game situation. This is not technically in my office, but it still helps me shore up my nerd classification. In our family room, I have a multiplex of video game systems tucked into the various compartments of our entertainment system.

Behind door number one, we have a Sega Dreamcast and a VSmile:

Behind door number two, you can find a Super Nintendo (SNES) and a Nintendo 64 (N64). Notice the switcher on the left:

Finally, behind door number three, we have my PS2, a whole lotta games, and a SVHS switcher:Ok, so they don't look pretty. But I assure you, when all of the doors are closed, there are no visible wires.

Not pictured: My precious TurboGrafx-16. There's just no more room, little buddy. There's just no more room.

Nerdery Week - Nerdy Media

Today for Nerdery Week, I will show you another shelf from my office. This is one shelf of a large bookcase. Strangely, only one of the shelves is dedicated to books. This particular shelf is tasked with holding some DVD sets and graphic novels.

Ok...so we've got the Jurassic Park boxed set, which includes a bonus disc of extra features. Directly beneath that we have all three of the extended versions of Lord of the Rings. These longer versions really are worth the money. Next, we have Ren and Stimpy, seasons one and two. I can't wait until my girls are old enough to watch these. Then we have seasons one through ten of The Simpsons on DVD. Best television comedy ever?

Now onto graphic novel territory. We have about ten Punisher books, including the seriously great Punisher Max series (written for an adult audience). This comic book is published with six-issue story arcs. Whenever they complete an arc, they publish it in graphic novel form.

A few years ago, Marvel republished the first 50 issues of the G.I. Joe comic book in graphic novel form. Wow...most of these didn't age well, but I'm still glad to have them. The last volume or two, which is really Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow heavy, still holds up pretty well.

Finally, we have several Hulk: Visionaries editions, chronicling the work of the best Hulk writer ever, Peter David. I'm all caught up and will buy the next few that come out, which I'm most excited about because that's when Marvel teamed up the best Hulk artist ever (Dale Keown) with Peter David.

Ok...surely I've earned by nerd cred by now.

Nerdery Week - Day One

Today, February 17th, marks the first day of Nerdery Week. This is a week dreamed up by a blog called Tappity Tappity that is intended to encourage bloggers to expose our "Nerdery", or our nerdy workspaces.

I'll start with a photo of the shelf above my desk in my home office. I apologize for the poor quality of the photo.

I've numbered the various nerdtastic exhibits for your convenience.

1. The original HOODED Cobra Commander figure. You actually had to send in UPCs for this one.
   
   
2. A Christmas card from my jazz hero, Maynard Ferguson.
   
   
3. A vintage Storm Shadow figure. I only wish I still had his backpack that held a sword AND a bow. Sweet.
   
   
4. A Snake Eyes figure. There was no cooler G.I. Joe character than Snake Eyes. I can almost hear the pitch meeting. "Ninjas are great, right? And commandos are cool, right? Ok...hear me out. We have a ninja who is also a commando. He carries a sword and an uzi. He wears all black and can't talk because of a war injury. Oh, and his pet? A FREAKIN' wolf. Oh, yes I did."
   
   
5. From the Super Powers series, this is a Steppenwolf figure. I believe you also had to send in UPCs for this guy.
   
   
6. A signed photo of myself and Maynard Ferguson...circa 1993.
   
   
7. A Disco Stu figure from the Simpsons. "Disco Stu doesn't advertise".
   
   
8. A large Punisher button. The art on this button is by Mike Zeck, my favorite Punisher artist. I used to have this Mike Zeck poster hanging in my high school bedroom.
   
   
9. Also from the Super Powers series, a Green Arrow figure. I was always drawn to the super heroes that had no actual powers. Batman, Green Arrow, The Punisher. I prefer the characters that were a little flawed and had to rely on their skills.
   

Not pictured: My seriously kick-ass Indiana Jones figure that came with a whip. My girls have been playing with it and it's currently MIA, probably suffocating beneath a pile of Barbies somewhere.

That pretty much wraps up day one of Nerdery Week for me. My challenge will not be to find some nerdy aspect for each day, but rather to narrow it down to only 7 days' worth of material. In fact, I could've just posted a photo of myself typing this entry, since maintaining a blog is already a little nerdy.

God Must Have a Crush On Me

Yesterday, I get the new Indiana Jones trailer. Today, I get news that is almost as exciting. First, let me back up to express something that anyone who knows me has already heard a million times: Guitar Hero is the most fun game ever invented. Oh, yes. And I'm not just talking about video games. It's more fun than poker, 20 questions, baseball or bowling. Never in the history of recreation has there been a more engaging or enjoyable activity.

Now I'll back up even further to say that my favorite band in high school was Aerosmith. It's a little tougher to be an Aerosmith enthusiast today than it was in the early 90s, but I'm still a big fan. As someone who follows their career, I've been aware of a rumor that's been swirling around on the (always trustworthy) internets for the past couple of months. The rumor has suggested that the next installment of Guitar Hero would focus on the music of Aerosmith in some way.

Today, there's an article in USA Today that not only confirms this rumor, but goes further to say that the entire game will be dedicated to the music of Aerosmith. In fact, the game will actually follow their career from their beginnings in Boston to eventual super stardom.

"It's got our whole career, from the first place we ever played as a band, Nipmuc High School (in 1970, about 40 miles from Boston) to the (2001) Super Bowl halftime show," says lead singer Steven Tyler. "It's 30 years of the legend of Aerosmith and where we played to get where we are."

I've already warned my wife that I will have to get an apartment so that I can more fully focus my attention on Guitar Hero during the entire summer. I really think that in this age of digital cameras and email that I can stay in the loop with the activities and goings on of my children during this time.

Seriously...a new Indiana Jones movie in May and an Aerosmith Guitar Hero in June? I can only assume that for July someone is planning to resurrect Bill Bixby from the dead and start up a new Incredible Hulk show.

Oh. My. God.

This trailer gave me chills. So many iconic images and sounds from my childhood. No fictional character was ever more important to me as a young boy (or ever, I suppose). Super heroes? Luke Skywalker? Knight Rider? They all paled in comparison to Indiana Jones. He was a real guy...no powers, just brains and courage and countless adventures that I attempted to reenact in my backyard using a chain from our swing set as a bull whip.

I can't think of any film in my adulthood that I've anticipated with this level of enthusiasm. And, as a result, never in the history of films has a film had such potential to disappoint me. Honestly, the odds are stacked against it ever living up to my expectations. Nonetheless, I'll be there on opening weekend.

The Whitest Kids U Know

The Whitest Kids U Know is my favorite comedy show on television. Last year they debuted on Fuse, but this year they've moved to the Independent Film Channel and they're uncensored.

I've watched this skit at least ten times, and I appreciate the writing more each time.

"You blew its head off!"
"Yeah, I Ricked him!"
"Man!"

Plant and Krauss, Part 2

I don't want to take ALL of the credit for this, but on Sunday night, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss won a Grammy in the category of "Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals" for their recording of Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On). This is pretty impressive, as they were up against Beyonce & Shakira, Gwen Stefani & Akon, and Timbaland & Nelly Furtado & Justin Timberlake. You may recall that I posted about this song specifically back on January 30th. Am I a spotter of greatness? Some sort of human divining rod when it comes to talent? Frankly, yes.

Now Plant and Krauss are going out on tour, forestalling a potential Led Zeppelin reunion tour. Something about Robert Plant's willingness to put this quiet little understated tour ahead of a what would certainly be the biggest rock reunion tour ever makes me happy.

90 Days Until...?

Ryan, A co-worker of mine, recently pointed me to a blog called 90 Day Jane. Jane (pictured at left) is a blogger who has promised to commit suicide in 90 days. Her blog is supposed to be a chronicling of her final days on Earth. As of today, she's only six days in.

Ryan then suggested that, after reading her blog, he would like a little more commitment from my blog. He proposed that I do something in 90 days.

Any ideas? Eat a Cadbury Egg? Play Guitar Hero? These things represent my level of daring.

Held Back By Wacky?

I'm getting pumped for "These Are The Good Times People", the new release by the Presidents of the United States of America. I've been a loyal PUSA fan since college, including the several strange and interesting solo projects by lead singer/songwriter Chris Ballew (the 2 Giraffes CDs are among my favorites). Last week, the first single from the new album, called "Mixed Up Son of A Bitch," was released on their MySpace page, and it's killer. I highly recommend that you take a listen.

The Presidents have a certain amount of "wacky" in their songs and in their persona, which I think has held them back a bit in the public eye. They fit well, along with the Blues Brothers and Tenacious D, into that category of groups that make excellent music but aren't taken 100% seriously because they don't take themselves 100% seriously. This is too bad, because the Presidents consistently write really solid rock songs. Few other bands seem to enjoy themselves as much as they do. I say bring on the wacky!

I...AM...IRONMAN

You know what rules?

When your 7 year-old daughter comes down from her bath in her little girl pajamas, puts the Guitar Hero guitar on her lap (Jeff Healey style), and busts out with Black Sabbath's "Ironman".


She doesn't know the words, so she just sings this line over and over again to the melody: "I am Ironman, I-ee-I-ee-I-ee am Ironman...".

That rules.

Coming Soon: Nerds!

My friend Dan has been inspired by another blog to recognize "nerdery week", a week dedicated to blogging about the various aspects of our lives and workspaces that can reasonably be described as nerdy. I've decided to join in, despite the fact that I'm wicked rad and have no nerdy aspects. You can see by the large number of comments in Dan's post that many others have agreed to chronicle their less hip sides, too. Who would've thought that a group of bloggers would have nerdy interests? *ahem*

So, starting next week, be prepared for me to display my "nerdy laundry" and expose my most shameful nerdy secrets.

Update: Nerdery Week begins 2/17

Weiner Poopie

This is the best clip I've seen in a long time.


It reminds me of the Minnesota lady that Mo Collins used to play on Mad TV.

What's Your Game, Mellow Man?

I distrust Jack Johnson. I know it's irrational, but I do. Who is that mellow? I kind of want to flick him in the head to see what would happen.

Fear Versus Opportunity

I have been asked to fill the role of MC at an upcoming Maynard Ferguson Tribute concert in May. I've been asked to do this not because of any skill I may have at being an MC (I have very little), but because of my more than ten years of being associated with Maynard Ferguson. In January of 1997, I started a fan site for Maynard that eventually lead to that site receiving "official site" status and then (later still) was moved onto the MF-owned MaynardFerguson.com domain.

My initial reaction to the invitation was one of fear. I describe myself as a site-specific extrovert (a term I heard Mike Myers use once), someone who enjoys the spotlight on a small and well-controlled scale. I do not enjoy public speaking, and I imagined the intense case of nerves I would be dealing with for several days leading up to the event. I pictured myself on that stage, looking out over the 1,625 seats, and almost broke out in flop sweat at the mere suggestion.


However, I believe that pangs of regret are always more painful than twinges of nervousness, so I said yes. Please wish me luck and hope for an understanding audience on May 4th, which would've been Maynard's 80th birthday.

Cleavage

Is it just me, or is the entire concept of cleavage a little odd when you really think about it? How has it become socially acceptable for women to display just a little bit of body parts that are so sought after that men will actually pay money to see them?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining...I'm just saying that the entire concept is a little shocking when analyzed. A couple of nights ago, my wife was concerned that a shirt she was wearing was showing too much cleavage (it wasn't). I imagined how horrifying that conversation would've been if the genders had been reversed:

Me: Do these shorts show too much penis?
Anne: No, there's only like a quarter inch showing.
Me: Yeah, but I feel like it's completely hanging out.
Anne: No, it's a totally tasteful amount of penis showing.

A Rare Parental Reward

Despite what sitcoms such as Full House might indicate, parenting is exhausting and relentless. If you're a self-centered crab like me, it's easy to miss the rewarding moments in the day-to-day chaos. However, this weekend managed to provide one sweet moment.

Anne was shopping and I was running on the treadmill, an activity that I try to do at least quarterly. During my run, the girls were playing in their normal fashion, which (as far as I can tell) consists of shouting at the top of their lungs and running in circles. Afterwards, I needed to take a shower and I could see that the girls were starting to settle a bit. I turned on Spongebob in our bedroom so that the girls could lay on the bed and watch while I took a shower. When I came out, they were laying together, like this:


I'm not normally sentimental, but the sweetness of the moment did get to me. They are in first grade and kindergarten, and they have to deal with the "every man for himself" nature of elementary school. It's nice to know that they have each other, and that home will always be a safe place for them.

Smegma U

I know it can be juvenile, I know it can be offensive, I know it can be shocking...but Loveline was the funniest radio show in the history of radio shows. Dr. Drew and Adam Carolla were the perfect comedic duo. The combination of Drew's unwavering sincerity and Adam's sarcasm and instant wit have never been matched*. Sadly, Adam Carolla is no longer on the show, and it's no longer funny. However, the Loveline Archive has hundreds of classic Drew and Adam episodes available for download.

The biggest payoffs came when Adam and Drew were dealing with callers that weren't necessarily at the top of their mental game. Which brings me to my all-time favorite Loveline call. The call is a four minute masterpiece of comedy that builds to a natural peak about 3 minutes into the conversation. This is when Adam finally has enough, puts the caller on hold, and rants about her. At this point, I have tears of joy. After this rant at the 3 minute mark, it reverts to a normal call and the hilarity dissipates.

Please, PLEASE listen to this call.

If you don't find this funny, you and I have nothing in common.

Warning: This call contains some adult subject matter.

*Why yes, I AM prone to hyperbole. Thanks for asking.

Romney as Burns?

I'm a political junkie, and my favorite political blog is Talking Points Memo. It was created by Josh Marshall (seen in the video below). He and his team of reporters really crank out some excellent coverage of the campaigns and at the same time manage to inject a little humor into their dispatches. Every Friday, Josh puts together a brief highlight reel of video clips from the previous week of political happenings. This week's video was particularly enjoyable, with a great (and surprisingly accurate) comparison of Mitt Romney to Mr. Burns.