Call this a spur of the moment, off the cuff, bit of musical blogging inspiration…and, hopefully, a bit of fun. A month or more ago, I came across this song on YouTube and it cracks me up every time I watch this performance of “Manchild” by theKyle Gass Band.
You might recognize the follicly-challenged frontman as one half of the comedy rock band Tenacious D with his counterpart Jack Black.
The lyrics are a big part of why I find this song so funny, but the delivery and commitment of Gass are also part of the equation. Pay attention to the 3:08 mark and you’ll see Mick Jagger has got nothing on the stage moves of Kyle Gass. The music in this song rocks and the lead guitarist plays a tasty solo as well.
Getting back to the lyrics, you have references to cow tipping, Lucky Charms, grilled cheese sandwiches, Slip n Slide, and, of course, lack of TV parental control. What’s not to like!
At the risk of starting my own personal blog overkill, I had a bizarre dream last night which is still fresh in my mind. The gist of the dream is this….Somehow or another The Rolling Stones ended up playing in Baldwin City, Kansas. This is the home of my college alma mater. It’s almost like the band knew someone on campus and were just hanging around jamming. I ended up in a jam or a practice with them. I honestly don’t know if I was playing an instrument. For the record, this was some kind of 70s lineup of the Stones, but I think Mick Taylor and Ronnie Wood were both there along with Bill Wyman on bass. Mick Jagger and Keef were there as you might expect. I’m not sure about Charlie Watts, but someone was keeping the beat.
There are two specific songs which popped up in this dream, but neither of them are Stones originals. The first one is a fairly obscure Jimmy Reed tune called “Mr. Luck”.
I think I was trying to work up the nerve to ask Keith Richards if we could play it in the key of “F” instead of “G” for some reason.
As the dream continued, the Stones practice migrated from a practice hall on a hill and morphed into a gig in a meadow. At this point, the band opened with an odd choice: “What’s Your Name” by Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Maybe Mick Jagger was thinking small town Kansas residents only listen to Skynyrd? I don’t think Mick was really on his game with this song selection for the band, but that was the dream.
It’s strange how dreams mash up people, places, and things. Maybe the Stones can play next year’s Maple Leaf Festival? That’s the only logical conclusion I draw from this one.
Another St. Patrick’s Day is fast approaching. What does that mean for you and yours…green beer…corned beef and cabbage…maybe you pull your Notre Dame or Boston Celtics jersey out from the back of the closet? As I look back on my previous holiday blog entries, I find myself asking this question: Why was there never “A Charlie Brown St. Patrick’s Day” TV special?
As someone of Irish heritage, I have to say I feel a bit slighted. To remedy this situation, I’m going to throw out a few ideas for a proposed TV special. Although I have a few ideas for the storyline, music is always a big part of these things…you know like The Whos in Whoville singing wahoo, etc. I propose Schroeder abandons his classical music taste in favor of playing Bing Crosby’s “Who Threw the Overalls in Mrs. Murphy’s Chowder?” on his piano.
Maybe the song could be the big finish of the special with Linus wrapping his security blanket around a shillelagh. Instead of psychiatric advice, Lucy could sell shots of Jameson Irish Whiskey or Guinness for 5 cents. What else? Personally, I think a donnybrook would be appropriate. Maybe Peppermint Patty could brush back someone from home plate during a softball game and instigate a bench clearing brawl. Just a thought. How about a green and an orange colored Rockem Sockem Robot tournament?
Instead of a Great Pumpkin, they could await the arrival of Liam the Leprechaun. I’m not 100% sure how Snoopy and Woodstock would be involved. I suppose Joe Cool could wear some shamrock shaped shades. Maybe Snoopy’s doghouse would work as a St. Patrick’s Day Parade float? There’s no shortage of St. Pat’s Day parades during this time of year. I’ve never been, but the small town of St. Patrick, Missouri is a safe bet. The post office there offers a special St. Pat’s Day postmark if memory serves me correctly.
Well those are just a few ideas for network TV executives to consider. They’ll probably just have a reality show anyway.
When I saw a series called “World War Weird” available on the free streaming network Tubi, I had to check it out. The first episode is a great one. I don’t think the rest of them did a lot for me.
In any event, Season One Episode One focuses on a couple of weird, if not amazing, tales from World War I. The first story focuses on the British cargo ship SS Iberian. It was torpedoed by a German U-boat in 1915, but that’s not the wild part. Supposedly, the direct hit awakened a large creature from the depths of the Atlantic Ocean. A couple of years later, a similar incident was reported with a different ship, Royal Navy convoy sloop HMS Coreoposis. Apparently, they came upon a U-boat crew which was standing on deck of its normally underwater vessel. The U-boat commander told them they were attacked by some giant creature from the depths.
I racked my brain for an appropriate sea serpent tune, but couldn’t find one so I’m posting a version of the traditional folk song “The Water is Wide” by Felix Pappalardi.
I also found another version by Rory Block.
As for the sea serpent stories, no one really knows what happened. Are they true stories or just maritime tall tales? Personally, I don’t care. I feel the value of the stories outweighs whether they’re truth, fiction, or something in between the two. I think part of the appeal is the mystery of deep seas and oceans. Could some enormous thing stay hidden there for half a billion years? I suppose it’s possible.
I briefly looked on Amazon and found a couple of related books: “Sea Monsters on Medieval and Renaissance Maps” by Chet Van Duzer and “The Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep” by cryptozoology guru Loren Coleman. If nothing else, I’m sure the graphics and artwork will be awesome. I’ll bet there are some great stories in there, too.
I don’t know why, but it seems like when I was a kid, my classes ended up reading excerpts of the same stories. Huck Finn is a big story in Missouri…then there was To Kill a Mockingbird…and then the story of Theseus & the Minotaur. My attitude towards the latter was, “Yeah, yeah, bull-headed dude, maze, smart guy with a string.” Did I miss anything? Apparently I did.
Recently, I watched an episode of “Great Greek Myths” on the FreeVee streaming network. Season 1, Episode 9 is entitled “Dedalus and Icarus.” If you’re confused, don’t be. I didn’t remember reading anything about Icarus in the multiple readings of Theseus & the Minotaur, but apparently, he was stuck in the aforementioned maze or labyrinth. British heavy metal band Iron Maiden paid tribute with a song called “Flight of Icarus.” (There is a great WAILING high note at the end of the song.)
MTV gave this song some airplay. The visual effects are fairly cheesy, but whatever…it was the 80s.
Getting back to the program, I don’t remember any tie in to Icarus with the whole minotaur thing. Apparently, his father whipped up some wings so he could fly out of the labyrinth, but there was some wax involved. As Icarus flew too close to the sun, the wax melted and Icarus fell into what’s known as the Icarian Sea. Tragic, huh? Then there’s a whole other thing about how the minotaur came to be which is pretty freaky.
Apparently, this was a French TV production because it’s listed on imdb.com as Les Grand Mythes. It was directed by Francois Busnel. There are about 40 episodes to choose from and they offer some stunning visual animation.
By the way, “Flight of Icarus” was written by Maiden’s Adrian Smith and wailing lead singer Bruce Dickinson. Perhaps someone should do a modern version of the whole thing and Theseus and Icarus can escape by playing the song at maximum volume. That should take care of the labyrinth and the minotaur. AAAAAaaaaahhhhh!!!!!!!
I can honestly say I’ve never seen another film like “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” — and it’s not just because of the monosyllabic title. It’s a truly unique film. I’m familiar with the story of the James-Younger Gang not only because I live in Missouri, but also because of other films on the same subject. More on that later.
This 2007 film was written and directed by Andrew Dominik and stars former Missouri resident Brad Pitt as the gregarious but ruthless Jesse James and Casey Affleck as the creeptastic, sniveling Robert Ford. I would describe the film as dark, serious and, visually striking. As you might expect, there is violence, but it’s not just a shoot ’em up Western. The film’s soundtrack definitely contributes to the dark mood thanks to songs like Nick Cave & Warren Ellis’ “Song For Jesse.”
For those of you hoping Ben Affleck plays Bob’s older brother Charley Ford, I’m afraid you’re out of luck. However, Sam Rockwell injects some humor into the character. Paul Schneider is a standout as the poetic womanizing gang member Dick Liddil. Gang members Wood Hite and Frank James (Jesse’s brother) are played by the late Sam Shephard and Jeremy Renner, respectively.
A big piece of the film is the relationship between Jesse James and the Ford family, Bob Ford specifically. The scenes with Affleck and Pitt are good ones. Ford is portrayed as a young Jesse James fanboy while James is the alpha male of the gang. It’s not all black and white, though, as both have strengths and weaknesses. Sideline aspects of the story include gang related murders , cover ups, and revenge motives. That’s something you don’t really see in Walter Hill’s “The Long Riders”, which is one of my favorite films. “The Long Riders” also gives more attention to the Younger family, which this film doesn’t.
As for general cinematography, the film captures some great visuals of a nighttime train robbery and another of riding across a snow covered prairie on horseback.
This is not a film for everyone, but it is a great one as well as a long one at 2:40. It’s based on a book of the same title by Ron Hansen.
A couple of years ago, I had a conversation with a co-worker about Thanksgiving holiday meals and traditions. To my surprise, he brought up a term I had not previously heard: TURDUCKEN. How would one define and and use in a sentence?
I was late to work because my car needs a new turducken.
Turducken is one of my favorite speed metal bands.
Coming this Fall…Amityville Horror – The Turducken.
His lack of goal scoring him landed him back on the farm team in Turducken.
Her favorite Egyptian god was the three headed Turducken.
Still confused? It turns out, it’s a meal. According to the always reliable Wikipedia, “Turducken is a dish consisting of a deboned chicken stuffed into a deboned duck, further stuffed into a deboned turkey“. I guess if you don’t like regular stuffing, you just grab as many birds as you can and keep stuffing them one into another. Perhaps, Weird Al Yankovic could work his magic with the music of Deep Purple’s Space Truckin’ by replacing it with Turducken? I think would be a nice tribute.
Oh, and it really hasn’t gotten as weird as it can be. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turducken . Apparently, this is a term only used in North America. If you opt for goose instead of turkey, then you have “Gooducken.” That opens up a whole bunch of other culinary questions for me. I mean, why limit yourself to only stuffed birds… Couldn’t people in Florida use alligator? Would that be a Gatorducken or a Turduck-i-gator? And what if you prefer the taste of ham or beef? Surely, one could stuff Spam into any or all of the aforementioned options. Let’s face it, not everyone has the time or patience to cook one bird let alone three. I need to know what my canned meat options would be here.
Furthermore, why haven’t any of the major chain restaurants hopped on this idea? Chick-Fil-A or KFC seem like they would have an advantage with the chicken part, but I thought Taco Bell has done things like a taco stuffed into a burrito. Maybe I’m wrong, but will Americans consider ditching their preference for pumpkin spice this, that, and the other? McDonald’s could do a limited time offer like the McRib.
I’d love to say more, but I have to go kill three birds with one stone, then stuff them all.
I don’t usually blog about current events, but this one struck a chord with me. A major electronics corporation is breaking ground on a new electric vehicle battery plant in the all-American small town of DeSoto, Kansas. The population there is five thousand plus. So why do I mention this? To paraphrase Austin Powers, I would have to say jobs and the economy “aren’t my bag, Baby.” However, what I find really interesting about this whole deal is the LOCATION of the new plant.
During one stretch of the horrible economy circa. 2008-2011, I lived in close proximity to the defunct Sunflower Army Ammo Plant which is, apparently, where the new plant is being built. I had never heard of the plant until lived in that area, but it was something to see. The best way I can describe it is like something out of a comic book or a sci-fi story. Lots of land, HUGE abandoned buildings, and no trespassing signs posted everywhere. Yes, it was a functioning ammunition plant during WWII and the Korean War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunflower_Army_Ammunition_Plant .
To give this an extremely loose tie-in to my usual “bag” of music, I’m including the Bo Diddley-ish highway song “285 DeSoto” by The Homestead Grays. They were a very popular band based in nearby Lawrence, KS during my college years.
Getting back to the abandoned ammo plant, the grounds were really something to see. I always felt compelled to hop the fence and really take a closer look at the big, broken down buildings. However, a local guy told me nobody really knows what’s buried there…chemical waste, asbestos, ammo manufacturing parts, etc. so I never ventured past the fence. (If you’ve ever heard the story of the Mothman of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, I picture the T.N.T. area from that story looking similar. It would be a perfect place for the creation of a cryptid or superhero depending on your preference.) The same local guy told me there had been BIG plans to turn the area into an amusement park, but that never happened. No roller coaster rides on The Ammo Express? What a Bummer.
Another interesting aesthetic about the ammo plant is the four water towers which you can see from nearby. (These, on the other hand, reminded me of the scarecrows in the original “Planet of the Apes” movie. You know, the ones guarding “the Forbidden Zone”?) I don’t know. Maybe I have an overactive imagination, but it’s not every day you see a large scale abandoned facility. There’s something fascinating about it to me. It’s mysterious — kind of like where I put all of my photos I took near the plant.
So many guitars….so little time. Yes, I am an aspiring guitar player. I’d like to think I’m at the intermediate level. Of course that doesn’t stop me from daydreaming about having a sort of Excalibur moment — you know, pulling THE guitar for me from a stone, anvil, or maybe even a backwoods swamp somewhere. One guitar which has always piqued my interest is the Michael Kelly Hybrid. (There’s also a Hybrid Special.)
I remember walking into a locally owned guitar shop in my area and thinking, “Wow, I have never seen a guitar that looks like this one.” The first one I saw had a natural almost creamy finish to it and it looked LUSCIOUS. Kudos to whoever designed this one. It looks the way it sounds.
So what is a hybrid guitar? Basically, it’s like a 2 for 1. You can get acoustic sounds and electric sounds from the same guitar. You can also blend the two sounds as well. If you are slightly indecisive (like me), you are covered either way. Michael Kelly still manufactures the Hybrid Special, which costs a bit more than the Hybrid. Unfortunately, the same exact creamy finish is no longer available and spalted maple doesn’t do it for me. Oh well, it just adds to the Moby Dick-like quality of the creamy one.
I’ve seen used Michael Kelly Hybrids priced around $400. Considering it’s really like getting two guitars in one, that is pretty reasonable.
Another guitar concept I’ve thought about a lot is the visually reactive one. There are lots of variations on this theme: thermochromic paint (reacts to temperature), LED pickups, LED guitar necks, Firefly guitar picks, etc. There is a company called Visionary Instruments which offers several different electric guitars along these lines.
I haven’t priced any of their custom instruments, but I don’t think I’ll be buying one soon. Still, the idea is fascinating. Will there ever be one guitar to rule them all? I doubt it. I could go on and on about preferred brands, necks, etc. I think part of the fun is seeing what other design and sound ideas can be developed.
Do you have a Halloween tradition that doesn’t include getting your kid’s candy X-rayed at the hospital? It’s a holiday that seems to have had its ups and downs over the years. Personally, I’m not really into horror or slasher films, but I do have a Halloween film recommendation. “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein” is a pretty safe bet. Apparently Universal Studio had the comedy duo under contract along with many classic monster-actors like Bela Lugosi (Dracula), Lon Chaney, Jr. (Wolfman), and more. I watched it recently and have to say Lou Costello’s comedic timing was pretty amazing.
While surfing YouTube, I also happened to find two 1970s TV specials involving the band KISS. The first was “The Paul Lynde Halloween Special”, which was your classic variety show format — plus, a pretty talented cast including Tin Conway, Florence Henderson, Margaret Hamilton (The Wicked Witch of the West), and the gal who played Pinky Tuscadero on Happy Days. Even Donnie and Marie Osmond showed up for this thing.
The second was the 1978 cult classic “KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park.” Words won’t really to this cheesy thing justice. It’s basically like a hard rock band in a Scooby-Doo plot. Naturally, it’s set in an amusement park. There are fights with robots, fights with KISS doppelgangers, and plenty of 70s styled special effects. Oh yeah, there’s also some music in it, too.
Do you have a favorite Halloween TV show? Which memorable Halloween costume was your favorite? One year I wore a Boston Bruins hockey jersey (AKA sweater), blacked out my front teeth, and carried a hockey stick as I went trick or treating with my buddy and his little brother. One guy actually identified me as Bobby Orr. (I guess it was open to interpretation.)
So what about next Halloween? There are some other shows and films I’ve got on my list. This year I found out there is one called “Halloween Is Grinch Night.” Somehow that seems appropriate. The most important question…of all the celebrities I mentioned. …who would win in a wrestling battle royal? I’d put my money on Ace Frehley.
Mojo Horizon 