Pop Culture Blog: Music, Movie and Humor

Leveraging low-hanging synergies outside the vertical fruit box since 1999.

Wednesday Wadio: Belle And Sebastian’s ‘Funny Little Frog’.


in Wednesday Wadio

“The frisky bassline and chunky horn blasts are rewarding enough, but it all sounds too easy, too patronizing for a band in the adulthood of their career.” – Pitchfork

Go to jail. Go directly to jail. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. Belle and Sebastian’s new album, The Life Pursuit, isn’t released for over 2 months yet, but I accidentally found it online. Funny Little Frog has been available from their Peel session for almost a year now, but this is the full studio version and I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I’ll surely enjoy being buggered in the shower at MCI Concord during my 18 months for piracy.

This is your archetypical ‘new’ B&S song – piano, horns and mindless optimism. I especially love the sound of the snare drum, and the way Stuart Murdoch pronnounces thro-at so that it rhymes with poet. Cute, Stu. I think Pitchfork was a little hard on this single, and the album in general. I don’t honestly think the new album is on par with their best work, but I can’t fault them for evolving and changing – “…at least they aren’t pulling a Robert Smith and staying “miserable” ad infinitum“. I’m always glad to see them, and we’ll always have If You’re Feeling Sinister.

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Ring A Dong Kong.


in

I haven’t been excited about a movie in a long time. As I wrote to a friend yesterday, who asked me to comment on the movies of 2005 for an article he is writing: “There are so many CGI-powered films these days that special effects hardly seem challenging any more. The real magic of Star Wars back in the 70s was the innovation behind the visuals. No one had ever seen anything like it before. Now, it seems like Sith was sandwiched in somewhere between Chronicles of Riddick and Serenity, and the magic has become mundane.” I just quoted myself. About Star Wars. If there’s still any uncertainty about whether or not I will die alone, this should put that right to bed.

A King Kong remake seemed like a decent idea to me. Mighty Joe Young didn’t quite cut it, and the 1976 version is a snoozer, in spite of Charles Grodin. Add Peter Jackon to the mix, and I might actually go see it in the theatre instead of downloading it whilst counting booty, sharpening a cutlass and feeding a parrott. Walking around on a peg leg whilst making a Frenchman walk the plank and leering at the computer screen with my one good eye. Dammit I’m a pirate!

The preliminary reviews have started to come in, and they are beyond good. I haven’t seen the movie, so I can only share some of the snippets I have heard thus far:

– “Grown men around me were crying,” says one Hollywood insider.
– “…a wonderful blend – probably the most perfect blend – of escapism and adventure, mystery and romance”.
– “could legitimately be described as the most thrilling B-grade movie of all time”.
– “Jackson evokes such a sense of empathy for his beast that Kleenex should be sold along with the popcorn.”

So we have the action of Jurassic Park (the flick is apparently chock full o dinos once they get to Skull Island,) and the weepiness of Titanic. Something for everyone. A bit chicky, and a lot dudey. An enormously diverse target audience. Time will tell, but I can say that I’d love to see Jack Black, and not Leonardo DiCaprio, as the star of the highest grossing movie of all time. I mean I’d just sleep better.

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Friday’s Quizzlet: Seascapes Of Violence.


in Monday's Quotelet

Appetizer: When was the last time you did something courteous?
I’ve been giving my seat up on the train a lot more frequently. It hurts at first, and it’s hard to sit down for a few days afterwards, but it’s a good way to make some extra pocket money and there are always generous elderly gentleman cruising public transportation.

Salad: If you were to have a painting done of you, what would background be?
The background would be that I’m enough of a narcissistic twat to comission a painting of himself. So, in other words, a seascape.

Soup: Describe your voice.
It’s smooth and deep. I can do a great Dean Martin impersonation. But if we’re talking inner-voice, it’s a selection of three murderous circus clown brothers bent on violent necrophelia.

Main Course: What is something you would like to do, but are afraid of the risks?
I’d like to move fairly soon. I don’t see myself living in Boston forever. But dropping everything is a very scary prospect. Like when you’re babysitting an infant. I’m thinking Toronto or Vancouver, but I’d likely have to change my profession a little due to the marketplace. I recently got a book on juggling.

Dessert: What was the last television show you watched?
Last night I watched an old episode of Family Guy – the one where Meg skips Stewie’s birthday party to unsuspectingly attend a cult meeting. I was a late adopter of this show, but it’s absolutely hilarious and I am so glad I eventually got around to wasting copious amounts of my time with it. Homer who?

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That Thing About The Iron And The Candle Wax.


in

My new roomate Tom moves in this weekend. Yes, another new roomate. I swear to Christ I’m not going all John Wayne Gacy on them and stuffing them under the water heater. Rest assured, all my former roomates are alive and well attending outpatient therapy somewhere.

The former tenant was nice enough to leave three big gobs of candle wax and chewing gum (I’m not sure which is which) on the carpet, and although I steam cleaned Tuesday night, they are still front and center. Someone at work told me about a neat trick – cover the wax or gum with a paper bag and hit it with a hot iron. The smeg will stick to the bag and come right out of the carpet.

You know what? It works. Amazing. If you don’t have similar spots on the rugs in your home, make a mess just so you can try this out. Have a Satanic ritual, seal an envelope, find a pack of Big League Chew and get things started. Best of luck.

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