Baron Dave Romm
Marscon CDs 3
By Baron Dave Romm
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Steve Goodie
Steve Goodie is another concert I missed at Marscon. The Dementia Music Track was packed, and other parts of the con were interesting (including the panels I was on) and sleep beckoned now and again. I eventually caught up with Steve at the Smackdown on Sunday. I had picked up one CD at the Merch Table, and won A CD during the act when I knew what a mohel was.
Steve
Goodie
Marscon, March 7, 2010CE
When Harry Met Charlie
When Harry Met Charlie (click on the "CDs for Sale" link at left) is from 2005, and already a shade dated, But not by much. Harry (as in Harry Potter) doesn't actually meet Charlie Bucket (as in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) but both had movies out that year and both are represented by several songs covering the books and movies.
Wizard Rock is a pretty big deal, probably the music movement with the largest fanbase that hasn't poked its way into regular radio airplay. While the buzz seems to have subsided nearly three years after the release of the last book and a year after the sixth movie, I predict Wizard Rock will come back strong when the seventh book is made into movies (yes, two of them; it's a big book). Much Wizard Rock is original. Some, like Steve Goodie, rewrite lyrics to other songs, making them basically filk.
Fittingly, then, my favorite song on When Harry Met Charlie is a parody of a Weird Al Yankovic original, "Hardware Store" called "Dumbledore". (You can hear a sample off the CD page):
On the train I met a guy named Ron
A red-headed kid and we really got along
Making stuff disappear with our magic wands
It was really really really really really really great
Then we met this girl, Hermione
Who knew every spell there is from A to Z
And we had ourselves some lunch, then unfortunately
Old Malfoy showed his face
...
I can't wait, no I can't wait
Hagrid open up that great big door
I'm goin' (yes I'm) goin', I'm a-goin' to meet
Goin' to meet (Dumble) dore I'm goin', really goin' to meet
Goin' (Dum-) I'm goin' to meet (-ble) oh yes, I'm goin' to meet
Dumbledore
When your audience is the fans, you don't have to always be inside the story. You can reference the fact that these are books and movies. "Rowling Must Deliver" is a fun parody of Proud Mary about the angst-filled anticipation of author JK Rowling's next Harry Potter Book. The first four books came out yearly, but the next three were each at least two years in the making. Seven books in eleven years is pretty good, but emotions ran high:
I've read every book in the series
'Bout Harry and Hermione and Hagrid and Ron
But Rowling don't write 'em, nearly fast enough
I need a lot more c'mon c'mon c'mon
Young readers keep returning
Big money you'll be earning
Rowling, Rowling, Rowling must deliver
"This Dude Ron Ron Ron" works as a parody of "Da Doo Ron Ron Ron" and I shouldn't have to tell you what inspired "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Malfoys".
The Charlie songs are also fun, and cover the supporting cast as well as much as the main character. "Walk on the Wonka Side" is a cover of Lou Reed's "Walk On The Wild Side" and fits well thematically as Charlie convinces his grandfather to take him to the factory. Charlie then follows the rules and is rewarded with "Wonka Gold". "Veruka", a parody of Suzanne Vega's "Luka", gently tears into the spoiled girl who's daddy 'found' her a Golden Ticket. Charlie gets even with kids making fun of him for being poor in "This Fudge".
The last three songs comprise two originals, two birthday songs and a pirate song. With overlap. "Steve The Pirate" works, and the birthday song he wrote for his nephew riffing off the song "Domino" is good. I'm less sure about "Birthday Munky", which is largely about monkeys throwing Birthday Poo. Some people are into it, I guess.
When Harry Met Charlie is recommended for fans of Harry Potter and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or any of the related movies. While I liked the CD in total, and the package, you can buy individual songs. Any mentioned here and many more at Buy A Funny Song For A Buck (click on the "mp3s for $1" link on the left).
The Least I Can Do
The Least I Can Do (click on the "CDs for Sale" link at left) is his most recent CD and the one he was promoting at Marscon, and the CD I won for knowing a dash of Yiddish. I then caught up with him and had him pose for a shot.
Steve Goodie, after
performance
Marscon, March 7, 2010CE
The Least I Can Do comments on current events. The story of Delta pilots missing the Minneapolis Airport because they were on their computer is pounded with geek glee in "Tweeting On A Jet Plane" to the obvious original:
Got my captain's hat and my clip-on tie, got my pilot's wings and I'm ready to fly
I even brought my laptop and iPhone
Now I'm bored to tears, at 30,000 feet, I'm on Facebook, and I'm posting Tweets
I'm blogging while I'm logging hours flown
So text me and chat with me, quick, before I hit a tree
I missed my stop, by a hundred miles or so
'Cause I'm tweetin' on a jet plane, the one I should be piloting
OMG, I got to go
Meanwhile, Tiger Woods' affair with Holly Sampson (among many others) is told from her point of view with lots of double entendres and golf puns to the tune of "Eye of the Tiger":
Then I find, he's not all mine
I've been in line with ten others
sports announcers: Twenty! Thirty! Forty!
It's not just me on TMZ and ET
How indiscreet, he should cheat, just with me!
Although
I bagged a Tiger, seems it's par for the course
Lots of folks have taken strokes with his 9-iron
Now at least half the planet claims they're swinging with Woods
They're all oogled and Googled 'cause I
Bagged a Tiger
Steve includes a version of "Dumbledore-Live!" The original (his original talked about above, not the Weird Al original from which the tune is taken) is exhausting just to listen to and even harder to pull off live, but he does it. Songs delve into Swine Flu, being lazy about housechores, a straightforward country song about a guy in a bar who's girl just left him, a couple of short but nice birthday songs and a few others. Bartcop-E readers will appreciate the last song, "Bye Bye W" to the tune of "Bye Bye Love":
Bye bye Dubya, bye bye Iraqi mess
No more incompetence, you've told us your last lie
Bye bye Dubya, bye bye empty head
Hello brains instead, it's two thousand and nine
Bye bye Dubya, goodbye
There goes the Bush boy, without a clue
Whole nation's bankrupt, and his work is through
He got us into, this depression
Thank God there's no chance, he'll be back again
(and uh, didn't you promise to get Osama bin Laden?)
Steve Goodie has a good ear for parody, an extensive vocabulary and the professional craftsmanship that separates the serious comedy musician from the day trippers. These are only two of his 21 CDs. They all sound iPod worthy.
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. A nascent collection of videos are on Baron Dave's YouTube channel. 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
Lucy Mangan: I think I need to see a doctor (guardian.co.uk)
Do you know what surgeons do? They cut people open and then they fix them! Can you imagine? Imagine being the first person to think - "You know what? I bet if we cut through that man's flesh and bone, cut out the bad part and put in a new one, he'd be OK. Pass me a knife."
Kerry Trueman: Rachael Ray Honors a Tough-But-Tender Teacher (huffingtonpost.com)
I asked Rachael Ray to tell me a little more about why she chosen to feature Wilma Stephenson of the documentary Pressure Cooker, and she kindly took the time to answer my questions.
Marilyn Preston: Diet and Dementia: Use Your Brain and Eat Smarter (creators.com)
Why am I writing about Alzheimer's for this week's column? Let me think ... A ... B ... C ... D ... ah, yes, diet and dementia. There's new research out that suggests you can significantly lower your risk of Alzheimer's by eating clean, healthy foods, a diet rich in fish, poultry, fruit, nuts, dark leafy greens, and vegetables like cauliflower and broccoli.
Julia Keller: What are your rules for reading? (Chicago Tribune)
My favorite description of spring comes from the Andre Gide novella "The Pastoral Symphony" (1931), in which a young, blind woman hears birdsong and assumes it is "simply the effect of light, like the gentle warmth which she felt on her cheeks and hands, and ... without precisely thinking about it, it seemed to her quite natural that the warm air should begin to sing, just as the water begins to boil on the fire."
Scott Ditzler: 'Mrs. Bridge' author Evan S. Connell looks back on the writing life (McClatchy Newspapers)
... I understood quite early that I was in for a lot of rejections. I did what a lot of young people do when they start writing: I pasted the rejection slips on the wall. I got up to something like 115 and thought, "This is going to go on forever," and so I stopped.
Claire Dederer: A Cinderella From Southern France (slate.com)
Fernanda Eberstadt tries something very different: a fairy tale.
Randall Roberts: Chrissie Hynde debuts new musical project (latimes.com)
Chrissie Hynde has been sneaking around Los Angeles for the last few days, doing quiet, low-key shows for small crowds.
Craig McLean: Jack White heads for Glasto (timesonline.co.uk)
How the musician of White Stripe, Raconteur and Dead Weather fame - also a devoted father - finds time to tour, and talk.
David Martindale: Cheech & Chong still rolling out 'stoner' routines for big laughs (McClatchy Newspapers)
When the legendary comedy team of Cheech & Chong does live shows, delivering its brand of drug and bathroom humor in the swankiest performance halls across America, the duo's fans sometimes go a little too far playing along.
Tim Engle: With his stand-up routine, Rob Schneider has fun with politics
Considering his movie roles ("Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo," anyone?), you might not expect Rob Schneider to talk intelligently about politics. But he can.
Roger Ebert: Why I Hate 3-D (And You Should Too) (newsweek.com)
I'm not opposed to 3-D as an option. I'm opposed to it as a way of life.
ROGER EBERT: Review of " Viridiana" (1961; A Great Movie)
I can't think of a more mischievous filmmaker than Luis Buñuel.
David Bruce: Maximum Cool: 250 Anecdotes (Lulu.com)
Click on "Download for free."
The Weekly Poll
Current Question
The 'To Serve Man' Edition (Thanks, Rod)...
...aliens are out there and Earth had better watch out, at least according to Stephen Hawking. He has suggested that extraterrestrials are almost certain to exist - but that instead of seeking them out, humanity should be doing all it that can to avoid any contact... He suggests that aliens might simply raid Earth for its resources and then move on...
Don't talk to aliens, warns Stephen Hawking - Times Online
Despite that, should we seek out new life and new civilizations? (Thanks, Gene)
A.) Sure! ... Yoo Hoo! Here we are! Stop by for dinner! (haha).
B.) No way! ... Move along now, ALF, nothing to see here (especially cats).
C.) Que Sera Sera ... (sang Doris, sweetly)
Send your response to
Friendly Reminder from BadtotheboneBob
Weekly Poll
Cut-off is tonight (Monday) at 8pm EDT
(5pm PDT fer you 'Left Coast' types, haha)
replied:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Wind finally died down (again), but allergies are way up.
Class Of 2010
NJ Hall of Fame
Jersey pride will run deep when the state's Hall of Fame inducts its newest class at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark.
Inductees on Sunday include actors Jack Nicholson and Danny DeVito, musicians Les Paul and Count Basie and authors Philip Roth and Judy Blume.
Others in the class of 2010 are former President Woodrow Wilson, Olympian Carl Lewis, architect Michael Graves and former Supreme Court Justice William Brennan. Rounding out the list are baseball player Larry Doby; women's rights advocate Alice Paul; actress Susan Sarandon; astronaut Wally Schirra; and singer Frankie Valli.
This is the third class to be elected into the hall, which currently exists as a virtual museum on the Web.
NJ Hall of Fame
Heavy Metal Dinosaurs
Hevisaurus
The usual heavy metal fan may not be a five-year-old girl in pigtails, but she is typical of hardcore following of Hevisaurus, a metal band that has hooked the kiddie crowd in Finland.
The group, which rocks on about homework and monsters, played its first gig, a charity event, only last September but its fan base of mainly five-to-seven-year-olds has grown rapidly.
The band was born when a flash of lightning and witches' spells revealed, cracked and brought to life five metal dinosaur eggs buried deep in a mountain 65 million years ago -- around the time most other dinosaurs became extinct.
Or so goes the "official" creation story of the long-haired reptiles in spiked bracelets and black leather billed as the world's only Jurassic metal band.
In reality, the idea hatched in the mind of drummer Mirka Rantanen, 38, a veteran "headbanger" who has played with numerous bands including the Finnish power metal group Thunderstone.
Hevisaurus
Diamond Donated To Charity
Pennsylvania
A retired jeweler sorting through items donated to a Pennsylvania charity spotted one fabulous find: a 2.6-carat diamond and platinum ring.
Officials from Goodwill Industries say the ring has been appraised at $17,600, making it the most expensive item ever donated to Goodwill Industries Keystone Area.
The ring was discovered last week by retired jewelry Barry Landis, who has sorted through donated jewelry in Goodwill's Harrisburg distribution center for the last two years. Most of it is costume jewelry, but the donated diamond shone through.
The ring has a two-carat European-cut diamond, surrounded 14 smaller diamonds.
Pennsylvania
Memorabilia Show In Japan
Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson fans flocked to the opening Saturday in Tokyo of an exhibition of memorabilia from the late King of Pop, including his famous crystal-studded gloves and favourite 1967 Rolls Royce.
Some ardent fans were overcome with emotion and fainted while viewing the Lifetime Collection of some 300 items belonging to singer on display in a hall at the foot of Tokyo Tower.
The collection also included costumes and masks of ghosts prepared for his unrealised London performance scheduled for last year as well as plastic containers used for his lunch in his last days.
Among other items were an antique piano, a gate sign from his "Neverland" ranch, trophies and gold discs commemorating one million sales of his records such as "Rockin' Robin," "Got To Be There," "Maybe Tomorrow" and "I Want You Back."
Michael Jackson
Speaks Out Against Extradition
Roman Polanski
Filmmaker Roman Polanski has broken his months-long silence to lay out his case for why he should not be extradited from Switzerland to the U.S.
In a post on a friend's Web site, Polanski says he is not asking for pity but only asks "to be treated fairly like anyone else."
"I can now remain silent no longer," he writes. Polanski argues that the case for his extradition is unjust and full of discrepancies. His text appeared Sunday on the Web site of French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy.
The Oscar-winning director of "Rosemary's Baby," "Chinatown" and "The Pianist" is under house arrest at his Swiss Alpine chalet.
Roman Polanski
Quick - Look Over There
Shroud O'Turin
Pope Benedict XVI all but gave an outright endorsement of the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin on Sunday, calling the cloth that some believe is Christ's burial shroud an icon "written with the blood" of a crucified man.
During a visit to the Shroud in the northern Italian city of Turin, Benedict didn't raise the scientific questions that surround the linen and whether it might be a medieval forgery. Instead, he delivered a powerful meditation on the faith that holds that the Shroud is indeed Christ's burial cloth.
"This is a burial cloth that wrapped the remains of a crucified man in full correspondence with what the Gospels tell us of Jesus," Benedict said. He said the relic - one of the most important in Christianity - should be seen as a photographic document of the "darkest mystery of faith" - that of Christ's crucifixion and resurrection.
The 14-foot-long, 3.5-foot-wide (4.3-meter-long, 1 meter-wide) cloth has gone on public display for the first time since the 2000 Millennium celebrations and a subsequent 2002 restoration. Kept in a bulletproof, climate-controlled case in Turin's cathedral, it has drawn nearly 2 million reservations from pilgrims and tourists eager to spend three to five minutes viewing it.
Shroud O'Turin
Accepts Papal Takeover
Legionaries
The Vatican's decision to assume leadership of the scandal-plagued Legionaries of Christ won acceptance Sunday from the order itself and praise from those who abandoned the conservative movement now discredited by revelations that its founder sexually abused seminarians and fathered at least one child.
But the abuse victims of the Rev. Marcial Maciel said the Vatican didn't go far enough in admitting its own alleged complicity in allowing Maciel's misdeeds to go unchecked. Maciel's most prominent accuser called for an independent commission of inquiry into the broader church's actions in the case.
The reaction came a day after the Vatican issued an extraordinarily blunt statement about Maciel and the religious order once championed by Pope John Paul II for its orthodoxy and ability to attract new vocations at a time when the number of priests was falling drastically.
In announcing the papal takeover, the Vatican excoriated Maciel for creating a "system of power" built on silence, deceit and obedience that enabled him to lead a double life "devoid of any scruples and authentic sense of religion" and allowed him to abuse young boys unchecked.
But rather than closing the order down, which some critics had called for, the Vatican assured the Legion's current members that it would help them "purify" what good remains in the order and would not be left alone as they undergo the "profound revision" necessary to carry on.
Legionaries
Domestic Tabby Adopts
Abandoned Bobcats
In just a few months, three baby bobcats found in South Carolina could be a danger to a gray tabby named Zoe. But these days, the fuzzy felines are just members of the family for the nursing mother. The bobcats, orphaned after the abandoned house they were living under in Newberry County was demolished, are being nursed by Zoe at Carolina Wildlife Care near the Saluda River a few miles northwest of downtown Columbia.
The nursing is expected to last about four weeks and is intended to give the bobcats a feline on which to imprint, said Joanna Weitzel, executive director of the wildlife rescue group. "It's important they get that nurturing and care from a species similar to their own."
After five weeks, though, their razor-sharp teeth and claws could hurt Zoe and Zoe's kittens - an orange tabby and a calico that now dwarf the three bobcats in their kennel. The bobcats are expected to grow over the coming months to the size of large dogs - about 22 inches tall and up to 70 pounds - while their adoptive siblings will likely max out around 10 pounds.
Once the bobcats are weaned, they will be put in a specially built habitat. The goal is to minimize their contact with humans.
Abandoned Bobcats
Weekend Box Office
"A Nightmare on Elm Street"
Freddy Krueger is raking in cash at the box office again, while Robert Downey Jr.'s "Iron Man 2" got off to a big start overseas.
A remake of the slasher flick "A Nightmare on Elm Street" led the weekend with a $32.2 million debut domestically, according to studio estimates Sunday. Released by the Warner Bros. banner New Line, the movie features Jackie Earle Haley as Krueger, a psycho killer who stalks and slays victims in their dreams.
Paramount's "Iron Man 2" got an international head start on its domestic debut this Friday, pulling in $100.2 million in 53 foreign markets. While Hollywood blockbusters typically open around the same date in most countries, some get an overseas jump of a week or more on their U.S. debuts.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "A Nightmare on Elm Street," $32.2 million.
2. "How to Train Your Dragon," $10.8 million.
3. "Date Night," $7.6 million.
4. "The Back-up Plan," $7.2 million.
5. "Furry Vengeance," $6.5 million.
6. "The Losers," $6 million.
7. "Clash of the Titans," $5.98 million.
8. "Kick-ass," $4.5 million.
9. "Death at a Funeral," $4 million.
10. "Oceans," $2.6 million.
"A Nightmare on Elm Street"
In Memory
Helen Wagner
Legendary "As the World Turns" actress Helen Wagner has died. She played mild-mannered Nancy Hughes on the CBS soap opera for more than a half-century. She was 91.
New York-based CBS says Wagner died Saturday.
The network says Wagner spoke the first words on "As the World Turns" when the show premiered on April 2, 1956, and held the Guinness World Record for playing the same role on television for the longest amount of time.
Wagner was born in Lubbuck, Texas. CBS hasn't said where she died or what was the cause of her death.
Helen Wagner
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