Hello Again, Old Friends

Most days I'd like nothing more than to write blog posts with the relative frequency I was once afforded. Because you see there are things, strage things, unimaginable stories, thoughts, and pop culture insights floating around in my brain that I'd love nothing more than to sit down for two free minutes and share with the world. But while I'd sit there for five minutes thinking of how to stop starting blog post sentences with prepositions or using the word 'however' 8 more fucking times, people are moving up in the world. So I've devoted 2010 to "doing it." Doing what? I don't know. Being better, I suppose. Moving up. Moving on. So, where am I?

1. I'm working. A lot. Somehow, an upside of working in the financial industry at this time is that nobody knows what the hell is going on. One minute we couldn't be more busy, the next we're all doomed and heading for a crash. With that in mind, our company took the conservative route by not hiring enough people and letting a lot of people move on to other departments. In turn, the market did well enough for us to become busy, and bam. Overworked. It's okay though, with being overloaded comes unlimited overtime, and with unlimited overtime comes more money. As an outcome, no more credit card debt. Also, company softball.

2. I'm being proactive. I'm learning to cook and to eat more economically and responsibly. I'm working out harder and smarter than I ever have before, seeing a chiropractor once or twice a week to fix the severely incorrect curve of my neck that's troubled me since middle school, and trying out recipes that reinforce all the other good habits I'm trying to keep. I'm finding that doing this all requires discipline and time, two things I'm working on making more of for myself.

3. I've moved! Sort of. I'm at an apartment in "downtown" Marlton, NJ with Ashley, and it's fantastic. Living on my own, I mean. The being so far away from work part has made my daily commute a living hell, but I've tempered that by staying at my parents house twice a week. Once because I need to play hockey near their house, and another just to save on gas,tolls, and sanity. Living on my own again for the first time since college is...just like college, only with way less drinking and much more responsibility. We're in a low rent situation, get-out-of-it-if-we-want-to situation, which is perfect for us. Only occasionally have Ash and I looked at each other with "now what?" look on our faces, and for the most part our living together has been an outrageous success full of shared responsibility and sacrifice for the overall greater good of our relationship.

4. I'm writing and researching. Not for blog posts or livejournal entries, but an honest to God business plan for what will one day be a bakery called Beachy Cakes. The ownership details are still hazy, and the implementation of such a plan is probably years off, but it WILL happen. If I need to own it in order to get Ashley's dreams off the ground, so be it. But I plan to make no money off of this venture until it makes sense that I be making any money other than the money I invested. I certainly am not the talent when it comes to cake making. Instead, and yes this is presumptuous, I consider myself the business and strategy specialist, at least of the two of us. Will it be a proprietorship? Partnership? LLC? All of this has yet to be decided. A store front? If so, where? How about a home-based business? To be decided, as well. The research takes time, but it seems like a worthy and efficient way to launch the career of my best friend, and the one of us who has any tangible marketable talent.

So, there's that. In lieu of long-winded, semi-researched blog postings, your'e most likely to find my ramblings boiled down into tweets and facebook status updates. Unless business slows down, although I think I'd rather it never slow down.

Let's DO IT, everyone. Let's all be better people in 2010 and beyond.

The Dana Carvey Show

By now we're all well aware that the internet is the only place the following can happen in a 10 minute period:
- Read AV Club's interview with Louie CK, where you learn CK wrote for a sketch show you'd long forgotten, The Dana Carvey Show.
-Immediately Google "Dana Carvey Show"
-Confirm via wikipedia that he was, in fact, lead writer for the show, but also discover that entire first and only season exists for free on Hulu now.
-Halt productivity.

The Dana Carvey Show was a sketch comedy on abc that ran for only 7 tenths of a season in 1996, and it was hilarious. How do I know it was hilarious? I was 11 when it aired and I have fond memories of it. That's enough, right? Also, I specifically remember feeling uncomfortable watching it with my mom around which means that I toughed it out through the awkwardness (because it was funny) and she toughed it out through the jokes that were inappropriate for an 11 year old at 9pm on a Tuesday because she understood that I'd one day have an affinity for inconsequential pop culture.

Though Carvey himself left his stamp on the show with his trademark impressions like the Church Lady and Paul McCartney, the real talent resided in the rest of the credits, where people like CK, Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, and Robert Smigel were creating some of the funniest, subversive sketch comedy that couldn't have been seen anywhere else on tv at the time. Possibly too subversive, though, as sponsors began running away from act 1 scene 1 as Carvey's Bill Clinton breast fed babies and animals (hard to explain).

Every episode, including the unaired, are available in full on Hulu. Definitely worth checking out, if only to see the careers of Carrell and Colbert launch.

Dropkick Murphys - Barroom Hero

"Face down in the gutter won't admit defeat though his clothes are soiled and black, he's a big strong man with a child's mind, DON'T YOU TAKE HIS BOOZE AWAY..."

Flogging Molly - Drunken Lullabies

Flogging Molly - Seven Deadly Sins

Tossers - Siobhan

Tossers - Goodmorning Da

The Irony in this Post Will Be Astounding

You know the guy you grew up with who co-opted his heritage as the bulk of his identity? He had the t-shirts, ate the food, knew some words, knew every player on the national soccer team, and listened to the music, all as if some test was coming where he'd have to prove how loyal to his ancestors he'd been. My Irish buddies were just as guilty as the Italians.

Now, we should all be so lucky on this planet as to have something such as that to make us feel interesting and happy. But if I could go back to high school and college to send one message to the people who fit that description, it would be this: Pick more interesting music. This goes to the Irish punks especially. There are literally a thousand or more punk bands claiming the irish ethos as their own. You don't have to listen to them all! They aren't all good! So, if you must listen to music about drinking and fighting, go for the Jameson, not the Black Velvet. First, if you haven't done so already, check out the Pogues, and then at this point you might as well listen to Dropkick Murphys. Got that? I think you're ready for some other gems too.

Mystery Team

For my final rental from Blockbuster, I'm enjoying Mystery Team, Derrick's Comedy's 2009 movie about 3 high school seniors who've never outgrown their childhood hobby of solving kiddie mysteries. In attempting to regain their lost favor, they take on a murder case. Hilarity, I assume, ensues. I'm about a quarter of the way through, but so far, so good.

In my opinion, Derrick Comedy is the new Lonely Island, Donald Glover is the new Andy Samberg, and Mystery Team is their Hot Rod.

Also, did you know there was a Betty-White-SNL-esque facebook (and other social network) campaign to get Donald Glover an audition to be the next Spider Man? Well, there is. And I approve. And so does Stan Lee.

Espionage

According to my iPod I have 8,345 songs available to me at any moment. So I consider it a severe improbability that the Shuffle function would ever play the 3 instrumental tracks out of a possible maybe 20 instrumental tracks I might have in a matter of twenty minutes. And yet it happened today. Okay, okay, I get it. Shuffle works in mysterious ways. But it just so happens all three would be perfect for urgent, aggressive, espionage scenes.

First up, Green Day's "Espionage," complete with surf guitar and just the right amount of horns. This was apparently recorded for one of the Austin Powers' movies, but you can also find it on the B-Side album Shenanigans.

	Green Day - Espionage
	Found at skreemr.org

Then there's MxPx, with "The Theme Fiasco," which I'm positive was written with spies in mind. Heavy on the bass.
(I could only find the live album version, but it's good)

And finally, Everclear's "El Distorto de Melodica," which, I'll admit, was probably not written with spy movies in mind. But, if you imagine Jason Bourne bum rushing a terrorist compound while listening to this track nothing will seem out of place.

RIP Blockbuster

The Wall Street Journal announced this week that Blockbuster Video is attempting to secure debtor-in-processing financing, which is the final step a company takes before filing for bankruptcy. For some this will come as a surprise, but not to those of us in Philadelphia's outer suburbs where Blockbuster locations have been disappearing seemingly overnight for a while, and especially not for me.

Here in Blockbuster's final days it would seem I represent the only demographic hanging on to hope that the company survives, and here's why: I am a member of Blockbuster Total Access and self-admitted gamer. The advantage BTA has had over Netflix is that it gives members the ability to exchange their mailed movies for in-store movies for free and without it counting as a rental. My particular plan has allowed me to rent and subsequently exchange 3 movies a month PLUS a free video game rental every month. In total, I was getting a game and six movies by only spending $10.59 a month for services that would otherwise have cost me around $35. My costs were covered even if I only watched one movie and rented one video game.

For a while at college it seemed a small price to pay to drive to the next town for my rentals after the local store closed up shop. Then I graduated and moved back home where I had my pick of Blockbuster stores to exchange in and rent games. The first real store closing that affected me at home came more than 2 years later when the Blockbuster near Ashley's house at the Berlin Circle in New Jersey closed. It was a common spot for us to rent movies while at her place. I thought nothing of it. Several months later they came for my local PA Blockbuster in Springfield, a sure sign that I'd soon be migrating to Netflix, but not quite yet. There was still the Blockbuster on Route 3 which was convenient to visit on my commutes to and from work. Until this week, that is. Now my closest option is in an out of the way neighborhood I'd rather not go to, but even that I'm sure is on its way out. So long, Blockbuster!

Is this the last we've seen of Blockbuster? I doubt it. Rumor is they'll be back with a kiosk style business plan similar to the Red Box, but by then Netflix will own the bulk of the market. It's a shame, too, Blockbuster's inability to stay afloat and dynamic in the technologically changing rental market, because regardless of their lack of leadership the name "Blockbuster" will always be seen as a pioneer.

Best Ramones Songs?

Paste attempts the impossible by listing the 10 Best Ramones Songs of All Time.

To me this is more a list of the most important songs to hear if you're new to the Ramones. Besides, without Dee Dee's "Warthog" it can't be a "Best Of" list. A nice attempt nonetheless.

Rambocky

Wawa Records and Filmed Entertainment presents Rambocky, starring Philly Boy Roy and Patton Oswalt.

See it HERE.

Rojo Johnson

Earlier in the week:

"The Round Rock Express have acquired Billy Ray "Rojo" Johnson... Johnson, who was born in East Texas but was raised in Venezuela, recently had his prison sentence commuted. He served time for running a smuggling ring that imported rare and illegal species of reptiles into the United States from South America during the mid-to-late 1990s."

Pitcher Rojo Johnson made his minor league debut for the Round Rock Express last night. Astonishingly, he threw only one pitch before being chased out of the ballpark. Just watch.

'Nem Tasers

On this week's Best Show on WFMU, "Philly Boy" Roy Ziegler had a chance to react publicly to the week's news about his son running around Citizens Bank Park and eventually being tasered into submission.

TO hear it, click HERE, and skip to 22:15.

WDW Lines

Another option for wait time application, assuming you think you need one (and I do), is WDW Lines by touringplans.com. This program is different than Ride Hopper because it accepts user-submitted wait times, but encourages people not to use them. Instead, their primary attraction wait time program was built using thousands of statistical data points and models, using over 10 years of park history. This program is specific to Disney World while Ride Hopper is not, and also includes suggestions for parks to avoid on any given day. I assume this will be the more accurate application.

Ride Hopper

Ride Hopper is an Android app I intend on trying out in Disney World next week. It's a multi-park tool that allows people touring those parks to submit wait times for rides. To prevent anyone from submitting false times from their couch at home, the program uses your phone's GPS to verify that you are in the same zip code as the park you're submitting a time for.

Seems useful, but I'm thinking that user-submitted data may be too small a cross section to really be accurate. We'll see.

Hard to Handle

I heard Otis Redding's original version of the song "Hard to Handle" on XPN a few days ago and ignorantly thought to myself, "this is such a great cover of the Black Crowes' song." It was an ignorant thing to think for several reasons, not the least of which is the fact that Redding has been dead since 1967. So to honor the man, let's all listen to the song that sparked this post and make a pact to be music snobs together and point out to anyone listening to the Black Crowes that arguably their biggest and only hit is the one they didn't write.

Runner Runner

No, that's not the cast of the new show Jersey Shore Emo, it's Runner Runner, the first and only band signed to David Letterman's new Clear Entertainment record label.

On one hand, I'm not surprised Dave has a record label as he's consistently been the late night host who books the best bands and he seems to genuinely care about the music. But, on the other hand, this might be the worst pop-punk band I've ever heard, and the label's signing is an obviously pandering to the Hannah Montana generation where the quality of the music means nothing.

Hear for yourself with Runner Runner's new "single" "So Obvious":

Por Favor Manténgase....

I've been putting together a list of odd things I want to accomplish for the 6 days I'm in Disney World. I'll still be seeing the typical attractions, but I'm also excited about some of the other random things I can do. I just started the brainstorming, but I like what I have so far.

1. Re-create a photo from past Disney trips. Lots of people do this, but I haven't been to WDW since 1996, so this could be interesting. Here's one, but this one would be hard to re-create (although all of these people will be in attendance)given the state of the castle and I'm sure a family photo will take place in similar proximity anyway simply because that's what people do. I can do better.

2. Shun all of the Disney character attempts to say hello to me, but be really, visibly excited to meet "Bert" the chimney sweep from Mary Poppins. Is it chimney sweep Bert or One-Man-Band Bert? Is it a real brit, or a cheap Van Dykian imposter? I'll find out.

3. Record audio of the monorail's "stand clear of the door" warning, specifically for the awesome spanish translation, "Por favor mantengase alejado de las puertas."

...is what I would have made #3 if this hadn't already been done for me by the internets.

See, it was during that last Disney trip in '96 that my family and I (just me and my brother) started to memorize that line, simply because we heard it so often on our monorail trips and the spanish part is admittedly fun to say. But when we came home to 1996 suburban Philadelphia the technology just wasn't there for us to be able to hear it again. No matter how many alta vista searches and web crawls I performed, I just couldn't find a .wav file that didn't take 9 days to download on our very normal dial-up Prodigy connection. Fast forward to 2010, 10+ years since I'd even given the phrase a thought I do a google search and it turns out thousands of people are obsessed with the monorail audio, so much so even that when WDW retired the original voice actor's entire monorail speech, they KEPT the "stand clear of the doors" portion of his speech and replaced the rest with someone new. Not only that, but they sell t-shirts with the popular spanish phrase IN THE PARK (see above).

So until next time, por favor mantengase alejado de las puertas.

End of the Century

In last week's post about It Might Get Loud, I mentioned it was my second favorite documentary. The first is one I've blogged about before, and that is End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones. I love it simply because it seems surreal. People who hate the band's music would be interested in their story simply because of the multiple personalities involved and the length of their careers. And now I can prove it because it's available in parts on Youtube.

Start with Part 1, here.

Sky Map

I recently moved into the world of modern cell phone technology by purchasing the HTC Droid Eris which besides allowing me to stay on the Verizon network that I enjoy (as opposed to buying an iPhone), also offers the freedom of Linux-based mobile processing with the Android Operating System, which was developed by Google. Although having so much data available at my fingertips was overwhelming at first, I'm finding that one of the great things about a phone like this is the array of free applications available. There's a thousand ways to make your day easier just by taking a minute to download something new. This is a concept I'm getting used to, so expect some posts about different apps I'm trying, like this one, Google's Sky Map.

I haven't used it yet, but supposedly all I need to do is point my phone at the sky on a clear night and the GPS function on my phone will point out the different constellations I'm looking at or pointing me towards an object I'm looking for (like in the picture above) and showing me how to spot it. The app already gets some rave reviews on the internet, but I'll check back with mine once I try it out.

Tiger Army

On the heels of their latest album, 21st Century Breakdown, Green Day is going on tour this summer and bringing fellow San Franciscans and 924 Gilman Street alum AFI along as the opening act. The tour will come through Philadelphia by way of Camden's Susquhanna Bank Center, which is a venue I find a little big for my personal tastes, so I'm debating whether or not to go. Of course, the decision would be a lot easier if my dream of adding a third San Francisco based band and Gilman Street alum were added to the bill were to come true. I'm talking about Tiger Army, who unfortunately don't have a new album to promote, so I can forget about this Back to Our Roots Tour (tm) happening.

Tiger Army is great because they combine elements of music not seen often enough in today's cookie cutter era of rock music with bands like Nickelback and faux-punkers like Fall Out Boy. I'm talking, of course, about the upright bass, and the sound known only as "psychobilly," which Tiger Army offer their own twisted take on with only 3 members. A "power psychobilly trio" if you will, and a singer who goes only by the name of "Nick 13." It's intriguing, right? And the upright bass is up there with the moog synthesizer on the list of most underrated instrument. [Side Note: I saw Bob Dylan in Hershey 2 summers ago and of of course the show was great. But I've always wondered, was it great because I saw a two-hour mix of past and present super-hits performed by one of the world's most popular and influential music legends, or was it because Dylan's bassist strummed an upright bass? I may never know.]

Listen to that bass go walking on "Pain" from 2007's Music From Regions Beyond.

#42

Q: Before MLB retired Jackie Robinson's #42 for the entire league, who was the last Philadelphia Phillie to wear it?

A: Toby Borland

See more fun facts about #42 in baseball over at Craig Robinson's Flip Flip Fly Ball.

Shimmy Shimmy Quarter Turn

Ash and I caught the band Hello Goodbye while they opened up for New Found Glory a month or so back. Their use of auto-tune on a few songs was a little much for me to commit to calling what we heard "great," but there was this one song I've since found myself blasting probably a little too often.


*Warning* This song is pretty much for children, but see if it has the same affect on you.

It Might Get Loud

If I could just start slow with a simple film recommendation, I'd have to say that It Might Get Loud is the second best documentary about music I've ever seen (I haven't seen a lot of music documentaries), and one of the better films I've watched in the last few months for sure.

The basic premise is "what would happen if Jack White, Jimmy Page, and The Edge (U2's guitarist)were hanging out together in a room full of guitars and amplifier equipment?" And even if you aren't a fan of or two of these guys, the answer to that question is "some really incredible guitar sounds, stories, and insight." My personal favorite overall musician is Jack White, so his presence would have been enough for me, but Jimmy Page is fantastic in this too, and outside of allowing himself to be called "The Edge," the dude from U2 does plenty to remove himself from Bono's shadow and portray himself as a pretty cool guy, even if a lesser musician than the other two.

Stick around to watch the "Deleted Scenes," a couple of which show the three learning each others songs. Not surprisingly, these deleted scenes are probably the only scenes of the film that can't seem to stay up on YouTube for very long. But I did find THIS CLIP of Jimmy Page showing the guys how "Kashmir" was born. Pretty cool stuff.

Grade: B

Coming Back

I've been considering pulling the ol' Irish Goodbye on this blog. I started a new role with more responsibility and less free time with my employer in mid-March (pretty much the same amount of money though), and I've been filling my free time with Ashley, hockey, softball, the gym, itinerizing the family trip to Disney World in May, looking for a new place to live, fantasy baseball, and playing video games. In that order, pretty much.

Yet somehow, though I'm on facebook and twitter, I feel the need to keep this creative outlet going, if only just for archival purposes.

Also, I couldn't let the site end with a post about Night Terrors.

Night Terrors

I'm sure many a rock hit was penned bedside by an insomniac, frustrated at his inability to sleep with or without the usual battery of drugs or alcohol. No time better than the middle of the night to write down that weird shit that's keeping you up. Here are two songs that incorporate the lyricist's late-night tape recordings into the song:

My Chemical Romance - Sleep
MCR's Black Parade was produced at a mansion in Burbank, CA. Each member recounts a creepy, haunted experience during their stay. Gerard Way recorded his first thoughts about experiencing night terrors and incorporated it into a few parts in this song, including the intro.

"There are these terrors. And it's like, it feels like as if somebody was gripping my...Like last night, they are not like tremors, they are worse than tremors
Like last night, they are not like tremors, they are worse than tremors, there are these terrors. And it's like, it feels like as if somebody was gripping my throat and squeezing.....
"...Sometimes I see flames.
And sometimes I see people that I love dying and... it's always...""

Alkaline Trio - Warbrain
Matt Skiba's late night, insomnia fueled Nietsche reading led him to tape a certain passage he liked at 4am. It later ended up as the intro for this track which was recorded specifically for the first volume of the Rock Against Bush compilation.

Thoughts are the shadows of feelings, always darker, emptier, and simpler. I don't care if they're fake or real. I just thank them for showing up at all. I have black periods. Who does not? But they do not have me, they are not a part of illness, but a part of my being. One might say I have the courage to have them. It's four o clock in the morning. This sucks.

By the way..

Doesn't Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter look just like Elijah Wood?

Almost Alice

Saw Alice in Wonderland over the weekend. It was okay, not great. I think it helped that I had completely erased from my mind any preemptive notion of the story left behind from childhood. No expectations for a Tim Burton movie might be the best way to attack one. Visuals are fantastic, though I think I'm completely done with this 3D novelty at this point. It's just not a great value for the money.

Anyway, though the film is worth seeing, when it's all said and done the real triumph for me is the soundtrack. Not the Danny Elfman one (though I'm sure that's great too), but the "alternative music" accompanying soundtrack called Almost Alice, which has some surprisingly great tracks from Robert Smith (the Cure), Wolfmother, Franz Ferdinand, Mark Hoppus (blink 182), Motion City Soundtrack, Shinedown, and most suprisingly Avril Lavigne whose "Alice" I think I might like best of all.

The Stomp

March Madness is here, and to celebrate let's take a look at my second favorite NCAA tournament moment of all time, HERE. To say this this kind of cheap play didn't inform my own basketball game in the years after this would be a flat out lie.

Rod Argent

My favorite song of the last 3 years has finally shown up on grooveshark for everyone's free listening pleasure. If I could put together a backyard concert and re-unite one band that might actually show up, it would definitely be the Ergs!

Agent M

Introducing my favorite female punk vocalist of all time, Emily Whitehurst of Tsunami Bomb. Considering she was the first one I'd really heard and my music collection really doesn't consist of a whole lot of lady vocalists, I'd say I'm still pretty open for a new "favorite," but she's a fine placeholder atop the list for now as someone who sang her ass off and paved the way for the Paramore's and the Eisley's of the world today.

Emily went by "Agent M" in the mid to late 90s when it was fashionable to have some sort of punk rock nickname (was that ever fashionable?).Not sure if she still prefers that name today with her new band The Action Design, but here's the song that won me over in 10th grade.


And last year, Whitehurst provided vocals on MxPx's cover album for "Heaven is a Place on Earth:"

Ruth HBP

Just in time for spring training, we have an interesting video of Babe Ruth getting hit by a pitch. His reaction is priceless.

The Progressive Girl

I choose to believe that Stephanie Courtney, the star of those Progressive Insurance commercials, tried really hard not to sell out to corporate America. But in the end, the comedy career just wasn't going anywhere.

Olympics

Is it only the American "medal trackers" like this one that seemingly base Olympic success on total medals won?

I guess it's a logical way of reporting the scores, but I think I'd rather see reported in a way that gives less credit to the 2nd and 3rd place athletes. In my system, I'd show most gold medals won and only that, because after all, it's about winning, right? "Wrong," you say? It's about competing? Fine. Let's assign a point score to the medals. 1 for bronze, 2 for silver, 3 for gold. See who comes out on top. Using that method it seems the standings stay largely the same, but at least the "total medals" nonsense is taken out of the equation.

USA - 70 pts
GER - 63
CAN - 61
NOR - 49
AUS - 30 (that's AustRIA)
S.K - 32
RUS - 26
CHN - 23
SWE - 23
SWZ - 21

Not much movement, but with this scoring South Korea jumps Russia for 6 (shameful) and the Swiss jump over France for 10th. Regardless, blasphemy or not I think Canada won the Olympics.

Scholastic Book Fairs

There were two major book events that we looked forward to in elementary school. One we simply called RIF, named after the organization Reading is Fundamental, who would deliver free books of all kinds to the school for us to keep. Usually these were thin books with a lot of pictures, so everyone won. Those of us wanting to learn could learn and everyone else had something shiny and new to look at.

The other event was the school sponsored Scholastic Book Fair fund raising event, during which kid-book giant Scholastic would essentially bring all of their new books and their shiny, illustrated covers and put them up for sale in an attempt to have kids persuade their parents to give them book money. Of course, NOBODY bought books. Not the students, anyway. It may have been that they and their blue collar families couldn't afford the outrageous prices, but it was much more likely that they would have just blown the money on the TOYS, neon bookmarks, and pencils Scholastic always added to their shop each year and that the few who remembered money during their library classes where the fairs were held would buy. I highly doubt I was as cynical about corporate interests and greed infiltrating the youth reading movement as a 4h grader, but just know it's Scholastic I say "for shame" to, not the students buying the shiny pencils. They're kids.

So to conclude, RIF > Scholastic Book Fair

Gorlliaz - Stylo

Gorillaz have a new album coming out soon (I'm sure the kind Sheriff will let us know the details), and with it comes this outstanding new video for "Stylo."

If, like me, you wonder for a moment about half way through, "is that Bruce Willis?" Why yes, yes it is.

Am told you can preview the entire album for free and with a clear conscience here.

Ghoti Hook - My Bike

Movie Samples as Song Intros 6

And lastly, my favorite. I'm not sure what kind of marketing Tooth & Nail were doing in the mid 1990s, but Ghoti Hook was another Christian Punk band I found myself listening to back then, discovered entirely via the internet. It's possible that it wasn't the marketing at all, but the film samples like the one in "My Bike" in which we're greeted by one of the hero's famous lines from Pee Wee's Big Adventure. Ghoti Hook was the one Tooth & Nail band using humor along with the punk and christian themes.

Ghoti Hook - My Bike (1997)
Film - Pee Wee's Big Adventure (1985)

Slick Shoes - Another Day

Movie Samples as Song Intros 5

Slick Shoes rounded out an impressive lineup of Christian-inspired punk bands that seemed to find themselves on the Tooth & Nail Label in the mid to late 90s. It wasn't that the label was trying to portray themselves that way, it's just there were a lot of bands like that in the northwest back then. Most of Slick Shoes' songs about Jesus could just as easily have been about a girl. Take for example today's song, "Another Day," with lyrics like In all the time that has gone by,Only you have stayed the same. Could be an ode to a loyal girlfriend. Nope. About Jesus. Fair enough. The song also has a 14 second intro from Young Frankenstein.

Slick Shoes - Another Day (2000)
Film - Young Frankenstein (1974)

Saves the Day - Hot Time in Delaware

Movie Samples as Song Intros 4
Before Saves the Day found their identity they were just a couple of kids in New Jersey ripping off Lifetime**, trying to figure it all out. Songs all clocked in at under 2 minutes, lyrics were god awful, and musicianship was questionable. But it's what we liked. It wasn't much of a surprise, then, that just like similar artists they went the movie scene intro route on the track "Hot Time in Delaware" which appeared on the 1998 album Can't Slow Down. And even though Saves the Day's lineup has changed significantly over the years and now sound more like the Beatles-meet-grunge than the Ramones (or Lifetime**), it's still nice to hear something from Can't Slow Down at their concerts, which they were nice enough to do last Friday.

I should mention that my girlfriend and I haven't missed an opportunity to see Saves the Day on any of their tours since about 2006, so this one is near and dear to me.

Saves the Day - Hot Time in Delaware (1998)
Movie Sampled - A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)


And for comparison's sake, here's what Saves the Day sounds more like now:

**Both Lifetime links lead to a song called "Turnpike Gates" which also used a film sample intro.

New Found Glory - Hit or Miss

Movie Samples as Song Intros 3
I mentioned last Friday I'd be seeing pop-punk stalwarts New Found Glory in Atlantic City with Saves the Day supporting. It occurs to me now both bands have gone the movie scene intro route in their past.

"Hit or Miss" is by far the most popular song New Found Glory have written in their 13 year career. I doubt they've ever gone an entire set without playing it. In fact, it appears on each of their first two LPs. The first album, Nothing Gold Can Stay which contains the film sample (and others) came out in early 1999 on Eulogy but was re-released later that year on Drive-Thru Records. When the band released their self-titled album the following year on Drive-Thru (but this time with some money from MCA) producers had the band record a more cleaned up version of the song (and remove the 'A' from their name).

A New Found Glory - Hit or Miss (1999)
Movie Sampled - The Outsiders (1983)

Ash - Kung Fu

Movie Samples as Song Intros 2
Quick! What is the best band to come from Ireland? Here's a hint. It's definitely not U2. Personally, I'm going to say it's Ash. To hear what they sound like, have a listen to "Kung Fu." When you love that, I suggest picking up their version of a greatest hits record called Intergalactic Sonic 7".

Ash - Kung Fu (1995)
Movie Sampled: Close Encounters of the Spooky Kind

Movie Samples

In the late 90s and early 00s it became common for punk bands that I like to intro some tracks with clips of movie scenes. I was never quite sure why, but I've always found it interesting and enjoyable. I'm trying to research who may have started the practice, but so far the earliest example I've found (I'm sure there are earlier examples) was this:

Guns 'N Roses - Civil War (1991)
Movie:Cool Hand Luke


I'll be posting some of favorite examples as I research this. Feel free to chime in.

Arctic Monkeys on SNL

Speaking of musical guests, my favorite performance of all time was the Arctic Monkeys performance of "A Certain Romance" on SNL. I had never heard of them or the song, but after seeing them that night I've been a fan since. Unfortunately, NBC has pulled the video. What I remember most about that specific song (they played 2 that night) was that at one point their lead singer (Alex Turner) noticed an audience member yawning and pointed it out mid-song and continued on disgusted. The guitarist broke his guitar as he slammed it in anger after the song. I guess the single yawn justified the band's apprehension to leave the UK for the first time. Anyway, that part of the performance is of course still alive and well here on youtube.

Airborne Toxic Event

If it's not too late, I'd like to put in a nomination for Best Musical Guest on a Late Show of 2009. It was the January 16th performance of "Sometime Around Midnight" by Airborne Toxic Event on Letterman. Just a great performance of an otherwise still fantastic song made all the better by being performed live. Got it?

Please watch it HERE.

Apple Pie Cowboy Toothpaste

If you listen closely to "Apple Pie Cowboy Toothpaste" (starting at 2:38) from Fenix TX's self-titled album, the otherwise standard pop-punk song becomes a tribute to this scene from the 1984 smash hit Revenge of the Nerds.

In case you need me...

I'll be at the House of Blues in AC seeing this tonight:
I've alwayws wanted to see one of my favorite albums played start to finish live (this kind of thing happens maybe once a year), and I'll finally get to. Plus Saves the Day will be there. Can't go wrong.

Small Wonder DVD

The 1985 tv series Small Wonder,a delightful little show about a robotic daughter brought home form the lab so that it can "mature within a family environment," (hilarity inevitably ensued) was officially brought to DVD this week. This begs the question, "who the hell asked for a DVD of Small Wonder?"

Look, I'll admit as 7 year old watching reruns of the show, VICI's (Vicky) literal interpretation of human speech was unending in its wealth of hilarity. A robot mocking humans is sometimes funny, sometimes not (see:Bicentennial Man). The fact that I even remembered the show when I read about this and decided it was post-worthy is plenty proof that I liked it as some time. But there are just so many shows that need to have official DVDs made before we bestow a show the likes of Small Wonder with that honor. Quick research reveals that even The Wonder Years (the charming television show, not the Philadelphia-based punk rock band) hasn't been made into DVD yet. But there are many more. For example, why isn't every season of SNL on DVD? I'd buy that. I'd spend significant money on that. So I ask, with love, WTF television industry?

The Philadelphia Mafia

After reading that a recently deceased ex-mob associate was a frequenter of my favorite local bar, I wondered, "hey, what ever happened to the South Philly mob?"

Luckily, Philadelphia Magazine had my back, as THIS ARTICLE answers that question superbly. It's 12 pages, but it's a quick read and if you're at all interested in the mafia, it's worth reading.

Glengarry Glen Ross

I've not seen the film Glengarry Glen Ross, but I've seen this scene about a dozen times since it was spoofed as "Glengarry Glen Elf" on SNL a few Christmases ago (and every Christmas thereafter in my house). I figure there's really not much else to see after watching the greatest scene in the history of cinema.

Local Olympians - Ben Agosto & Tanith Belbin

Ice Dancing

Rounding out this disappointing list of local Olympians are the pair of Belbin and Agosto, ice dancers. Though neither are from the area originally (Belbin is Canadian-American but competes as an American, Agosto is from Chicago), the pair have made their home in nearby Aston, PA, whose Ice Works ice rink is apparently some sort of figure skating mecca. Who knew?

Ice Dancing kicks off...sometime this week I'm guessing.