Pop Culture Blog: Music, Movie and Humor

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

Not Quite a Quizzlet: “Your Names”


in Friday's Quizzlet

I don’t take the time to fill out many of these, kids, but I enjoyed this one and it didn’t take 3 hours to complete. My favorite is #7 – Best Superhero name in human history, and those were seriously the first two words that came to mind. Give ‘er a shot yer darn selves.

YOUR REAL NAME: David James Pye

2. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother and fathers middle names): Douglas Elizabeth

3. NASCAR NAME: (first name of your mother’s dad, father’s dad): Jimmy Stanley

4. STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name): Pyeda

5. DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal): Cobalt Blue Canine

6. SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, town where you were born): James Ottawa

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd fav color, fav drink, add “THE” to the beginning): The Maroon Harpoon

8. FLY NAME: (first 2 letters of 1st name, last 2 letters of your last name): Daye

9. STREET NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, fav cookie): Mint Chocolate Chip Chocolate Chip

10. PORN NAME: (1st pet’s name, street you grew up on): Apple Island View

11. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first 3 letters of last name plus izzle): Pyeizzle

13. YOUR IRAQI.. NAME: (2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, first two letters of your middle name, last two letters of your first name then last three letters of your last name): Aejaidpye

14. YOUR GOTH NAME: (black, and the name of one of your pets): Black Shepherd

Sharper than an M.I.T. student on adderall. Stronger than a hunk of unpasturized blue cheese left in a shoebox slightly above room temperature for a week. Criminals everywhere would shake in their shiny boots at the mere mention of… The Maroon Harpoon!

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The Immediate Future of PITF


in Pye in the Face

I can’t take it anymore. My current install of Wordpress, the application which powers this blog, is currently so corrupt that most people can’t comment and I can’t save any backend changes whatsoever. Might as well rename it www.Blagojevich.tv. I have tried to avoid a complete reinstallation but at this point I don’t think there is any way to avoid it. I recently migrated a Wordpress blog for a friend and my confidence in that process has increased a bit, so I am thinking now is the time for action. Now is the time I reclaim Pye in the Face from the wee gremlins and ghosties that have been gumming up the works for the past 6 months. It must be great again!

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of the times. Now is the winter that, discontented, I reinstall Wordpress.” – Me

If you pass by and see anything wacky going on in the next few days, you’ll know why. I refuse, however, to be held responsible for any and all niche Austrian pornography which may appear here in my absence. Especilly those midget clowns that pee on female ringmasters. I may have just dreamed that, though.

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Friday’s Quizzlet: Oil Can of Pain


in Friday's Quizzlet

Thanks to my friend Kate for the questions this week. If you too would like to contribute a round of quizzlet queries – please send an email to dave (at) davepye.com.

Appetizer: You’re prescribed a mood-stabilizing food instead of a drug. What would you want to eat?
Feta cheese. I am already of the sincere belief it is the cure for everything that ails me.

tin-iron-manSoup: Whose superhero sidekick would you be and what would your superpower be?
I think Iron Man needs a sidekick. I would be the Tin Man and absolutely fuck up villains using my radioactive oil can.

Salad: What is the attraction of a magnificent bastard?
The knowledge that while in their presence it is safe to always assume the absolute worst.

Main Course: What would you like the opening line of your eulogy to be?
“Pack it up, pack it in, let me begin…”

Dessert: Describe a pleasure in which you do not regularly indulge.
I think I’d like to play more paintball, to be honest. I have seen some decent guns for sale at the local Canadian Tire and I think there are some folks in the area that partake, if my memory of certain drunken summer conversations serves. Golly knows there are enough open, forested spaces around here that would suffice. Yes, I think that might be something I will look into.

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Wednesday Wadio: The Doves ‘Jetstream’


in Movies, Wednesday Wadio

doves-kingdomofrustOne of my favorite bands of all time write a song dedicated to my favorite movie of all time. How could I not take 5 minutes out of my busiest week in years to comment on this?

Being fans of the Vangelis film score, Blade Runner, we always wanted to write an imaginary song for the closing credits on Ridley Scott’s classic… It’s called Jetstream… Cheers.

If you’re a fan of The Doves you can download “Jetstream” as an MP3 for free off their official website – right this instant. The forthcoming album is titled “Kingdom of Rust and will be available in early April.

And obviously the Kingdom of Nerds couldn’t contain themselves long before actually setting the new song over the flick’s end titles and uploading it to YouTube. Well, sorta. From the YouTube page:

Blade Runner closing images don’t last long enough to enjoy the whole song. So there it is: Doves’ Jetstream song combined with the (fake) Blade Runner end titles reconstructed… using shots from The Shining, Koyaanisqatsi, Mar Adentro & other movies.

I knew that in 1981 Ridley Scott contacted Stanley Kubrick and asked him for extra footage that was originally filmed for The Shining when asked by the studio to make Blade Runner’s ending more upbeat. The scenes in question consisted of forests filmed from a helicopter which I assume were originally slated for helping create the Overlook Hotel’s sense of isolation.


“I’ve seen things you Mancurians wouldn’t believe.”

Does the tune work when played over this cobbled-together series of Runner-esque clips? Regardless, I think it’s a cool premise to admit to on the eve of your first album release in four years. I have high hopes for the record but I highly doubt Jetstream will end up being my favorite track. Having a new Doves record right around the corner, however, makes me happier than a Nexus 6 with no incept date.

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