Baron Dave Romm
Jonathan Coulton
By Baron Dave Romm
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Opportunity Workshop Bus Story
More fun with cheap video cameras. This time, I recorded my friend Bo, at one of his retirement parties, after 31 years as a bus driver. Instead of using some of the easiest software ever (from the Flip cam), I used iMovie to make a quickie movie take a long time to make...
Opportunity
Workshop Bus Story (2:30)
Best. Concert. Ever.
Best. Concert. Ever. was filmed in February 2008 in front of a sold out crowd at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. I was not there. Indeed, I hadn't heard much Coulton previous to the concert where I took the above picture. Frankly, I went to the Minneapolis concert, at the Guthrie Theater, more for Opening Band Paul & Storm than for headliner Jonathan Coulton.
Shockwave Radio Theater podcast with Paul & Storm, April 11, 2008CE; my interview plus a few songs. No Bus Plunge, alas.
Recordings of live concerts are generally not my favorite introduction to an artist. The CDs tend to be for fans who went to the concert more than for a wider audience. One of the options is to purchase all of his songs as mp3s on one USB flash drive, or simply download everything at once. So buying the concert DVD/CD was a bit of a gamble for me. Fortunately, a good one. As concert films go, "Best. Concert. Ever" is terrific. Great sound. Fluid camerawork that keeps you viewing but doesn't get in the way. A tidy set of extras (most of which I haven't watched as yet). The package is superior: Not just the graphics (which are great), but the content: The CD only extracts the songs and doesn't preserve the interstitial dialog or introductions.
Jonathan Coulton is a product of the Digital Revolution. A self-proclaims internet superstar, his songs were always geeky and usually for a geek audience. I've written sketches about Pluto, but Coulton writes I'm Your Moon. Ostensibly a love story from a satellite, we can all relate:
Sad excuse for a sunrise
It's so cold out here
Ice and silence and dark skies
As we go round another year
Let themthink what they like, we're fine
I will always be right here next to you
In addition to Pluto, he goes to the future, Ikea, revisits the 1919 World Series, describes aMandelbrot Set, writes about George Plimpton's interesting life and does a very nice cover of Baby Got Back (another song I seem to be collecting variants on). One of his earlier "hits" helps explain where he's coming from and why his popularity grows. All of this while bantering with the audience, his guests onstage, and himself. As a Code Monkey software programmer, he was subject to all the stresses of the job, and as a songwriter he generalizes to the larger world experience:
Code Monkey like Fritos
Code Monkey like Tab and Mountain Dew
Code Monkey very simple man
With big warm fuzzy secret heart:
Code Monkey like you
Code Monkey like you a lot
I sat down to listen to the CD for this review, and wound up watching the DVD. The concert is loads of fun. Coulton has devoted fans all over, and he knows it. For a guy whose reputation was made over the internet, he's very comfortable in front of a crowd. Paul & Storm contribute great backing vocals and are even better with an audience than Jonathan. They, and his other contributors, are a pleasure to watch. Even the audience members are great. The visuals come from a staggering amount of cameras, from the stage crew (presumably) plus Paul & Storm onstage, plus some fan footage.
And the DVD has a commentary track. Ah, but that's a listen for a different day. The extras will have to wait as well.
Best. Concert. Ever. is highly recommended in any of its incarnations: CD/DVD set, mp3 DRM-free download or FLAC download. You can explore the Jonathan Coulton web site for individual songs and other CDs. He has a lot of material and a devoted following. It's time to jump on the bandwagon.
Bonus plug: Paul and Stormm are still great, and do a podcast worth listening to.
U're The Best
Art Paul Schlosser is hard to describe, though I've tried before and interpreted one of his songs. Art Paul is a street performer in Madison WI, and a fixture on Main Street. Really, you need to see him in person. He is, as we say in the music biz, "a hoot". So reviewing any one of his dozens of CDs is tricky.
U're The Best continues the tradition of CDs that are fun to dip into. As usual with Art Paul's CDs, I check out a few cuts but don't listen to the whole thing in one sitting.
His songs about Donald Driver or Tiger Woods or Martin Luther King will get people to stop and throw a buck into a hat. He offers the dry observation, "I'm stuck in quicksand and I can't get out" but saves the best for last:
The world isn't going to end instantly
No, you're going to have to live through it
And you're going to have to get a job
'Cause you're going to have to pay your bills
And one day you'll try to use your phone
And it just isn't going to work.
The world isn't going to end instantly.
Art Paul Schlosser is, to be sure, an acquired taste, but one I have acquired. If you've liked his other CDs, you'll like U're The Best. If you've never heard any Art Paul before, this is as good an introduction as any. But really, this is a qualified recommendation: Download a cut or two first.
Confessions of a Celtic Music Junkie
Marc Gunn is trying an internet approach: You can download Confessions of a Celtic Music Junkie for free. It's a compilation of mp3s from previous CDs. Marc, one of the Brobdignagian Bards, accompanies himself on autoharp. Some tracks have bass, vocals or other guests. Many of the songs are traditional, such as Gypsy Rover, or are original songs based on tradition, such as Soul of a Harper, or variants on tradition, such as Molly Malone... The Cat's Perspective. But some are filk, such as Don't Go Drinking With Hobbits or the double entendre-laden The Lusty Young Sith (Star Wars).
Marc is finding his fan base, which is growing. For free, Confessions of a Celtic Music Junkie is an unbeatable deal. It's not quite to my Celtic Folk-Rock tastes, but he's a good singer and the songs are fun. Certainly worth a listen, and you may become a fan. From here, explore the Marc Gunn website and maybe pick up the full CDs.
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia who produces Shockwave Radio Theater, writes in a Live Journal demi-blog maintains a Facebook Page, plays with a very weird CD collection and an ever growing list of political links. Dave Romm reviews things at random for obscure web sites. You can read all his music recommendations from Bartcop-E. Podcasts of Shockwave Radio Theater. Permanent archive. More radio programs, interviews and science fiction humor plays can be accessed on the Shockwave Radio audio page.
Thanks to everyone who has sent me music to play on the air.
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Michael Moore: 'Capitalism is evil - you have to eliminate it' (guardian.co.uk)
After guns and the Iraq war, Michael Moore is now taking on an entire political and economic system in his latest documentary, 'Capitalism: A Love Story.' So what message does the man who once planned to become a priest have? Chris McGreal finds out.
Bob Samuels: How America's Universities Became Hedge Funds (huffingtonpost.com)
Since it is very difficult to lay off tenured faculty, and administrators are resistant to get rid of other administrators, the only thing left to cut is the instructors without tenure, and this means courses will be cancelled and class sizes will be expanded. In short, students will be paying more and getting less because big bets did not pay off.
Sen. Byron Dorgan: How Democrats Pulled the U.S. Economy Back from the Brink
When President Barack Obama took the oath of office about a year ago, he inherited the biggest economic mess since the 1930's: millions of Americans losing their homes to foreclosure and their jobs to a steadily deteriorating economy, huge budget deficits fueled by tax cuts for the wealthy and two wars his predecessor simply put on the national credit card, mushrooming national debt and some of the biggest barons on Wall Street in financial collapse.
James Kidd: Read 'em and weep: The literary masters of misery who delight in desolation (independent.co.uk)
A sad, frigid day in deep winter. Perfect for some literary gloom. The pain, grief, desolation, and ashes of Cormac McCarthy will do nicely...
Chris Kornelis: Patti Smith on Christ, Cobain and Robert Mapplethorpe (Seattle Weekly)
Twenty years after the death of her friend and lover, photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, punk-rock pioneer Patti Smith has released 'Just Kids,' her memoir of the couple's bohemian, hardly-fed days in late-'60s New York City.
PAUL CONSTANT: Who Will Save Us from the Future? (thestranger.com)
What Google Has Done to Life on Earth.
Margaret Wappler: With Grammy nomination, Silversun Pickups shift into overdrive (Los Angeles Times)
The Silversun Pickups are the local indie embodiment of the famous quote from the Irish writer Samuel Beckett: "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.
Randy Lewis: Ringo Starr relishes new challenges, but he's forever a Beatle (Los Angeles Times )
The 69-year-old visitor to the downtown Grammy Museum strolled with fascination through its new exhibit of Alfred Wertheimer's celebrated 1956 photos of Elvis Presley at 21, just as the impossibly handsome young singer was on the threshold of stardom.
Midlake: 'I wish I'd heard Black Sabbath in high school' (guardian.co.uk)
Texas rockers Midlake grew up playing jazz, but fell headlong into a love affair with vintage rock. They tell Sylvie Simmons about their latest fixations, and why the new album took three years to make.
Roger Ebert: Ebert's Oscar predictions: Bullock, Bridges, Waltz and Mo'Nique
The Academy Award nominations will be announced bright and early on Tuesday, and in some categories they'll be almost a formality. Four of the inevitable nominees in the acting categories seem to be shoo-ins for Oscars.
Janice Turner: Is Julianne Moore Hollywood's sanest star? (timesonline.co.uk)
Ditch the limos, show a little grace, and an Oscar-nominated actress can walk unpestered to collect her son from school.
Susan King: Noel Coward's blithe spirit lives on (latimes.com)
Noel Coward once described himself as "an enormously talented man, and there's no use pretending that I'm not."
Hubert's Poetry Corner
Jimmy Don Clyde: Soldier and Accidental Porn Star
THE inspiration for THAT infamous alleged sex tape?
The Weekly Poll
Current Question
The 'Sublime Prime Time Programming' Edition
Which TV network has the best prime time programming line up?
1.) ABC
2.) CBS
3.) NBC
4.) Fox
5.) FX
6.) PBS
7.) Other
Send your response to
wrote:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Suggestion
Progressive Populist
Hi,
I read your request for suggestions, including for cartoons.
I just renewed my subscription to The Progressive Populist, a newspaper published in Storm Lake, IA, with editorial HQ in the Austin, TX area. I don't know if you've ever seen it. Mostly they collect op-eds and political cartoons from syndicated sources but they also write their own editorial and every issue has great original political cartoon art on the cover. The cartoons have really good caricatures. I've long admired them and look forward to each new one.
Editor is Jim Cullen, Associate Editor is Art Cullen. The name on the artwork is Dolores Cullen. I'm too lazy to go upstairs to check the latest issue but I believe Dolores is her first name.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
Kathryn Bigelow Takes Top Honor
Directors Guild
Kathryn Bigelow and "The Hurt Locker" became official awards-season front-runners Saturday after Bigelow won the top prize from the Directors Guild of America.
The 58-year-old filmmaker is the first woman to win the guild's top honor, which positions her and the film as shoo-ins for the Academy Awards. The DGA boasts that its winner has gone on to win the directing Oscar all but six times since 1948, and more often than not, the film that wins the directing Oscar goes on to win best picture.
Still, she was the only nominated director who earned accolades for her physique as well as her filmmaking. Bigelow was up against Quentin Tarantino for "Inglourious Basterds," Jason Reitman for "Up in the Air," Lee Daniels for "Precious" and her ex-husband James Cameron for "Avatar."
Carl Reiner hosted the event recognizing achievements in directing, as he has for 22 years.
"Modern Family" won the top honor for television comedy for its pilot, directed by Jason Winer.
Directors Guild
Oscar-Winner Shines Light
Alex Gibney
After tackling the collapse of Enron and the torture of detainees in Afghanistan, film-maker Alex Gibney is shining a light on corruption in US politics in his latest film.
Gibney, who won an Oscar in 2008 for his account of how an Afghan taxi driver died in US custody in the documentary "Taxi to the Dark Side", has now turned his camera on the life and crimes of jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
The documentary -- "Casino Jack and the United States of Money" -- is vying for honors at the Sundance Film Festival, where it is screening in competition.
The film-maker believes the rise of corruption in American politics can be traced back to the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, an event which coincided with a "fundamental shift" of values.
"We've adopted a value that says that money is the ultimate value. And in that way you measure everything," Gibney said. "You measure success, you measure failure and now we measure our political system that way."
"In the United States, the corruption is legal. That's the terrifying thing. We have reached the idea that it's good. Campaign finance is a system which legalizes bribery. How can we be comfortable with that?"
Alex Gibney
To Be Awarded
'Lost Booker Prize'
More than three decades after Iris Murdoch won her Booker prize, she has a chance to win the Lost Man Booker Prize.
The late author, who died in 1999, is up against 21 other writers who published novels in English in 1970 - which are still in print and available today - but were never considered for the prestigious prize.
The reason? The Booker was originally awarded for any book published in the previous year. But in 1971, it became a prize for the best novel published that year.
That meant that a raft of books published in 1970 were left out in the cold, and the "Lost Man Booker Prize" is an attempt to remedy the oversight.
'Lost Booker Prize'
Egypt Set To Unveil DNA Results
Tutankhamun
One of the great remaining mysteries of ancient Egypt, the lineage of the boy-pharaoh Tutankhamun, may soon be solved, the country's antiquities supremo hinted on Sunday.
Zahi Hawass told AFP he has scheduled a news conference for February 17 in the Cairo Museum to unveil the findings from DNA samples taken from the world's most famous pharaoh.
The announcement will be "about the secrets of the family and the affiliation of Tutankhamun, based on the results of the scientific examination of the Tutankhamun mummy following DNA analysis," Hawass said.
In August 2008, Egypt's antiquities authorities said they had taken DNA samples from Tutankhamun's mummy and from two foetuses found in his tomb to determine whether the still-born children had been fathered by the boy king.
Tutankhamun
Lawyers OK'd Torture
No Sanctions
Bush administration lawyers who drafted legal theories that led to waterboarding and other harsh treatment of terrorism suspects showed poor judgment but won't face sanctions for professional misconduct, according to a published report.
A forthcoming government ethics report initially concluded the two key authors of the so-called torture memos, Jay Bybee and John Yoo, who were officials in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel during the Bush administration, had violated their professional obligations as lawyers when they crafted the memos that allowed the use of harsh interrogation tactics.
But a senior Justice Department official, David Margolis, later softened the department's finding to say the authors simply showed poor judgment, Newsweek reported.
The finding is likely to unsettle interest groups who contended there should be sanctions for Bush administration lawyers who paved the way for tough interrogations, warrantless wiretapping and other coercive tactics. Bybee is now a federal appeals court judge in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals covering several Western states, and Yoo is a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley.
No Sanctions
Eyes Suit To Stop Replacement
Steven Tyler
Amidst continuing reports of other singers being approached to front Aerosmith, Steven Tyler and his handlers are taking steps to reassert his position in the band.
Tyler's Los Angeles-based attorney, Skip Miller, fired off a letter to Aerosmith manager Howard Kaufman last week, independently obtained by Billboard.com, requesting that Aerosmith's management "immediately cease and desist from engaging in acts and conduct to the harm and detriment of your own client, Aerosmith, and our client who is one of its members."
Miller subsequently told Billboard.com that on behalf of Tyler he has called a meeting of Aerosmith's "shareholders" on February 9 to discuss the band's future, including such matters as the recording of a new album and tours this year of Europe and South America. The four-page letter also states that "we reserve all of our legal rights and remedies in this matter, including, without limitation, pursuing legal action for damages and other appropriate relief."
Tyler is undergoing therapy for a painkiller addiction brought on by orthopedic problems. The location of his treatment is unknown, but recent public appearances -- singing karaoke at a bar in Palm Springs, Calif., and signing autographs and singing over the public address system at a Home Depot in Rancho Mirage -- led to speculation that he's at the nearby Betty Ford Center.
Steven Tyler
Barbara Walter's Big 'Get'
Scott Brown
Sen.-elect Scott Brown (R-Palin With A Penis) says he'd like daughter Ayla to have another crack at "American Idol," where judge Simon Cowell once described her performance as robotic and empty.
The fledgling recording artist, a 21-year-old student at Boston College, made it to the show's final 16 singers in 2006.
Her father told ABC's "This Week" that Ayla was so new to it all back then that she had never put on makeup until she did "American Idol." He also says that Cowell's critique, while harsh, was on target.
Ayla Brown has sung the national anthem with the Boston Pops and released three albums - including one called "Circles" that just came out.
Scott Brown
Compassionate Conservatives
"Proud Racist"
Republican gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman is severing ties with an elected official who described himself as a "proud racist."
The Whitman campaign issued a statement Saturday disavowing Santa Clarita Councilman Bob Kellar. The statement comes one day after state Democrats called on the former eBay chief executive to distance herself from Kellar.
During a recent Tea Party-style rally in Southern California, Kellar blamed illegal immigrants for harming the economy. His videotaped remarks were posted on YouTube and caused an uproar.
Kellar has said he has no regrets over the remark.
"Proud Racist"
Weekend Box Office
'Avatar'
"Avatar" is on the cusp of toppling the domestic box-office record after leading all movies for a seventh straight week.
James Cameron's 3-D epic earned $30 million over the weekend, and its domestic total reached $594.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. That puts the film only about $6 million behind the domestic record set by Cameron's "Titanic" in 1998 with $600.8 million.
Mel "Sugar Tits" Gibson's revenge-thriller "Edge of Darkness," debuted this weekend with $17.1 million for Warner Bros., a respectable if slightly low total. Dan Fellman, head of distribution at Warner Bros., called it a "solid opening."
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "Avatar," $30 million.
2. "Edge of Darkness," $17.1 million.
3. "When in Rome," $12.1 million.
4. "The Tooth Fairy," $10 million.
5. "The Book of Eli," $8.8 million.
6. "Legion," $6.8 million.
7. "The Lovely Bones," $4.7 million.
8. "Sherlock Holmes," $4.5 million.
9. "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel," $4 million.
10. "It's Complicated," $3.7 million.
'Avatar'
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