'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Baron Dave Romm
New CDs from Old Friends
By Baron Dave Romm
The great Luke Ski's infectious enthusiasm is evident in his latest CD, Worst Album Ever. Nearly 74 minutes of parodies, originals, guest artists and self-effacing humor can't contain Luke's full fanboy effervesence, but he tries. This is the closest recorded effort to the boundless energy of his concerts and live appearances. Even the CD case artwork is busy and loads of fun.
Plug of two radio shows and a convention: One of Luke's heroes (and mine) is Dr. Demento, who keeps playing his songs. It's a good thing all three of us are going to be Guests of Honor at Marscon, March 5-7 2004. I had Luke on my show last week (see below for archive info, 8/23/03 show may still be up on the KFAI site and I'll eventually put it up on mine), and Stealing Like A Hobbit immediately catapulted into the top spot on Shockwave's Funny Three (a long tradition that started with this visit from Luke...).
Stealing Like A Hobbit is the best produced song on the album, a parody of Emimen's Cleaning Out My Closet all about Frodo's meeting with Gollum in the second Lord of the Rings movie. Luke is also proud of the original song, The Ballad Of Optimus Prime with The Nick Atoms, all about The Transformers. Personally, I'm fond of Because I'm Jedi, to the tune of Because I Get High from Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back all about the second (or fifth) Star Wars movie; and 88 Lines About 44 Simpsons, from an out of print album all about... well, you can guess. You can also guess the subject of the rap song Christmas In Hogwart's.
In person, Luke likes to credit other artists and gives credit where due. On the album, many guest artists get to strut their stuff: Tony Goldmark, Sudden Death, Tom Smith, Ookla the Mok, Power Salad and the aforementioned (and latermentioned) Nick Atoms.
A CD called Worst Album Ever just begs for Comic Book Guy nitpicking, and here are mine: The interstitial tracks can go on too long. While the studio recordings are well produced, some of the live tracks aren't engineered particularly well, at the wrong sound level with a few pops and clicks. Not all the songs are as tightly written as my favorite of his previous efforts. There's so much stuff on the album that I accused Luke of believing in his own hype. He responded, "I spend most of the album telling people how much I suck."
Worst Album Ever doesn't suck. It's a tremendous effort that will facilitate the great Luke Ski's transition from filker to Weird Al-worthy professional musician. Most previous filk singers (science fiction/fantasy fans singing parodies and/or originals for their friends at conventions) come from the folk tradition. Luke comes from the 80s Rap and Hard Rock era, and that's reflected in both his music and subject matter. Worst Album Ever is a great introduction to his body of work, and sharing the spotlight with friends makes it one of the best introductions to the world of filk singing.
Also bumping up a notch in professionalism are The Nick Atoms. They had been burning CDs of their music and passing them out, willy-nilly, to their fans. Those CDs had minimal packaging and no CD labels. After Guest of Honor appearances at Marscon 2003 and stints at other cons, the two CDs they had over the summer represent a large leap of marketing as well as musicianship. I don't, frankly, know how you would get them. I bet if you wrote and offered some reasonable amount of money they'd send you one.
One nicely packaged set of 13 songs is simply called The Nick Atoms. It has their usual punk arrangements of tv and movie theme songs such as Our Man Flint, Escape From New York, MST 3000, Spider-Man and G.I. Joe, as well as originals such as We're The Nick Atoms, Cathy and Jet Jaguar. Capturing their costumed show is tricky, but the last (hidden) track tries pretty hard. The music is tighter and better produced than some of their earlier efforts.
The Nick Atoms Chrismas Record is unlikely to be elevator music at any time in the near future. Interspersed with comments and introductions are songs (and variations on songs) including Winter Wonderland, Do You Hear What I Hear, Let It Snow Let It Snow Let It Snow and Christmas In Heaven. The game they invent for The Twelve Days of Christmas may very well catch on; it's my favorite cut for the sheer inventiveness and fearlessness of the attempt. They have fun with a "traditional German Christmas song" and rap the classic 'Twas The Night Before Christmas. Not for everyone, but I liked it.
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia with a radio show, a very weird CD collection and an ever growing list of political links. He reviews things at random for obscure web sites. You can read all his music recommendations from Bartcop-E here, and you can hear the last two Shockwave broadcasts in Real Audio here (scroll down to Shockwave). Thanks to everyone who has sent me music to play on the air, and I'm collecting extra-weird stuff for a possible CD compilation.
from Mark
Another Bumpersticker
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
The pleasant weather remains.
The volume of SoBig-related e-mail is not letting up. Miss the more traditional spam.
For the time being, if you want to send me anything, here's a temporary addy - Marty.
Tonight, , CBS opens the night with a RERUN 'Yes, Dear', followed by a RERUN 'Still Standing', then a RERUN
'Raymond', followed by a RERUN 'King Of Queens', than a RERUN 'CSI: Miami'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Dave are Al Franken and Grant Paulsen.
On a RERUN Craiggers are John Leguizamo, Robbie Williams, and softball player Jennie Finch. (RERUNs all week)
NBC starts the night with a RERUN 'Fear Factor', followed by a FRESH 'For Lu$t Or $ Special' (it runs over 10 minutes), then a FRESH
'Who Wants To Marry My Day Reunion Special'.
On Jay are Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Jay Mohr, and Black Eyed Peas. (Not sure if this is a FRESH show or a
RERUN - looks like a RERUN, but I could be wrong).
On a RERUN Conan are Reese Witherspoon, Stephen Colbert, and Gang Starr.
On a RERUN Carson Daly are Marley Shelton, Last Call Little Leaguers, and Sam Roberts.
ABC has the movie 'Any Given Sunday'.
On a RERUN Jimmy Kimmel (from 6/24/03), are Steve Harvey, Bob Odenkirk, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, guest co-host David Cross.
The WB offers a RERUN '7th Heaven', followed by a RERUN 'Everwood'.
Faux has a RERUN 'The O.C.', followed by a FRESH 'Parasite Hotel'.
UPN has a RERUN 'The Parkers', a RERUN 'Girlfriends', another RERUN 'Girlfriends', and a
RERUN 'Half & Half'.
A&E has 'MI-5', followed by the movie 'Rob Roy'.
AMC offers the movie 'The Usual Suspects', followed by the movie 'The Untouchables', then the movie 'The Two Jakes'.
BBC -
[6pm] 'BBC World News';
[6:30pm] 'Parkinson' - Mel Gibson;
[7pm] 'Ground Force' - Blackhurst Hill;
[7:30pm] 'Changing Rooms' - Eastbourne;
[8pm] 'Red Cap' - Espirit De Corps;
[9pm] 'Rebus' - Dead Souls;
[11pm] 'So Graham Norton' - Dolly Parton;
[11:30pm] 'So Graham Norton' - Nia Vardalos;
[12am] 'Rebus' - Dead Souls;
[2am] 'Red Cap' - Espirit De Corps;
[3am] 'So Graham Norton' - Dolly Parton;
[3:30am] 'So Graham Norton' - Nia Vardalos;
[4am] 'Rebus' - Dead Souls; and
[6am] 'BBC World News'. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has 'The West Wing', followed by the movie 'Eight Men Out'.
On a RERUN Jon Stewart is the "I'm A Correspondent, Please Don't Fire Me" special. (RERUNs all week)
History has 'Motorcycles', 'Mail Call', another 'Mail Call', and 'Frat Boys'.
SciFi is all 'Stargate SG-1' all night.
TCM -
[6am] 'The Phantom Tollbooth' (1969);
[7:30am] 'The Boy Friend' (1971);
[10am' 'Father Takes A Wife' (1941);
[11:30am] 'Tea And Sympathy' (1956);
[1:45pm] 'The Andromeda Strain' (1971);
[4pm] 'Cahill, United States Marshal' (1973);
[6pm] 'Hang 'Em High' (1968);
[8pm] 'Foreign Correspondent' (1940);
[10:15pm] 'Touch Of Evil' (1958);
[12:15am] 'The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes' (1970);
[2:30am] 'The Men Who Made the Movies: King Vidor' (2002);
[3:30am] 'Among Those Present' (1921); and
[4:15am] 'My Favorite Year' (1982). (ALL TIMES EDT)
Michael Jackson listens as fans chant 'Michael' during his 45th birthday celebration at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, Aug. 30, 2003. The event was organized by a Michael Jackson fan club.
Photo by Chris Carlson
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Quits Stint With USA Network
Anna Kournikova
Anna Kournikova didn't fare much better as a roving TV reporter than she did as a globe-trotting tennis ingenue.
The glamorous Russian, who worked three days at the Open during USA Network's coverage, said she was uncomfortable interviewing other players and spent too much time eating, besides.
"We'd only contracted for her to work three days and that's the way it went down," USA spokesman Tom Caraccioli said. "Then again, who knows what opportunities will arise for her in the future."
Anna Kournikova
Recommended Reading
'Saving Face, Losing a War'
Harley Sorensen
"Bring 'em on," the man said. He is not a brave man, but he plays one on television.
When it came his turn to fight in a war, he hid behind Daddy. Then he had another drink and hid from the National Guard. Then he had another drink.
When our nation was attacked on Sept. 11, he hid in an airplane, flying to and fro around the country. While our nation was crying for leadership, he was making sure the coast was clear.
And the planes fly into Dover Air Force Base in Delaware (sometimes sneaking in at midnight), where we have the people and the equipment to make dead young people look almost like they are sleeping.
Then we send the dead young people home to their parents and brothers and sisters and grandparents and other relatives and friends, and we send pretty flags with them, and handsome men in uniform, and we call the dead young people heroes.
We call them heroes because they're dead. If they were still alive, we'd be angling to reduce their combat pay and trying to figure out a way to close the hospitals they'll be entitled to use if they survive.
For the rest, Saving Face, Losing a War
A replica keelboat and accompanying flotilla float down the Ohio River from Pittsburgh to Brunot's Island one mile downstream Sunday, Aug. 31, 2003, to mark the 200th anniversary of Merriweather Lewis's departure from Pittsburgh to begin his history journey to explore the American west. Lewis left Pittsburgh on Aug. 31, 1803, and met William Clark several weeks later.
Photo by Christopher Rolinson
Cautions Arnie About Perils of Politics
Sylvester Stallone
Arnold Schwarzenegger may be dead set on running for California state governor, but fellow action hero Sylvester Stallone has a few words of wisdom for him.
"I think it's very dangerous waters," the hero of the "Rambo" movies, "Rocky" and "The Specialist," told Reuters in Venice during the 60th film festival here.
"In that particular field you can't yell 'action' and 'cut' and 'take two' and 'take three.' It's real."
"I personally think actors should remain actors, but I know he's always had blind ambition for that, so maybe it'll work out great for him."
Sylvester Stallone
Tops British Chart
Elton John
Elton John topped the British pop charts Sunday with a single that flopped on its first release nearly 25 years ago.
The singer's catchy disco track "Are You Ready for Love" peaked at No. 42 in 1979, but hit the No. 1 spot second time round.
British DJ Fatboy Slim re-released the song after it became a surprise nightclub hit over the summer. A television station boosted sales by using it as the soundtrack for a high-profile publicity campaign.
John's latest No. 1 comes more than 30 years after his first British hit, "Your Song," which reached No. 2 in 1970.
Elton John
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Play on Despite Naysayers
The Doors
The Doors are trying to light a fire among audiences minus the Lizard King, and they don't care if people disapprove of their attempt to revive the group without Jim Morrison.
"I suppose there's always going to be those hardcore naysayers who believe that if it's not Jim Morrison, it's not the Doors," said Robby Krieger, one of two original band members in the new Doors.
"I don't really care what those people think," the 57-year-old guitarist added. "If they don't want to come to the show, they don't have to. It's not a problem. Believe me, those who have come to see us have loved it."
The Doors
A girl dressed as a mermaid sits on a float decorated with flowers during the 'Batalla de las Flores' (Battle of the Flowers) in Laredo, near Santander in northern Spain. The Battle of the Flowers an annual tradition celebrated on the last Friday of August. Picture taken on August 29, 2003.
Photo by Victor Fraile
Urges Muslims to Open Schools
Yusuf Islam
Former pop star Cat Stevens urged American Muslims to start religious schools in their communities, speaking about the school he started soon after converting to Islam in the 1970s.
Stevens, who now uses the name Yusuf Islam, said he got the idea when the prayer leader at his mosque gave a sermon about the importance of Muslim schools and asked the singer for a donation.
At the convention, organized by the Islamic Society of North America, he said Islamic education was critical because movies and other media were distracting Muslims from their religion.
Yusuf Islam
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Kicks Off North American Tour
R.E.M.
R.E.M. began its six-week North American tour on Friday (August 29) at Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver--where the trio has been working on its next studio album.
The new tour is not supporting a particular album, since the group's next release, In Time: The Best Of R.E.M., 1988-2003, doesn't come out until October 28. But bassist Mike Mills said that the group doesn't feel like it has to have a specific reason to tour.
"I don't often think about tours as supporting albums, although the next one we do will," Mills said. "This one, it's touring around the Best Of, so we won't be doing quite as many new songs as we might normally have done otherwise. But then the next tour we do, after the next album comes out, we'll be doing a lot more new stuff."
R.E.M.
About 30 volunteers leave water for immigrants in the desert along the California/Baja California border on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2003 in Jacumba, California. The San Diego-based organization, Border Angels, sets up stations with water and food in an attempt to reduce the number of undocumented immigrants who die from heat exposure, while crossing into the U.S.
Photo by David Maung
Sing of Jungle Hardships
Pygmies
Pygmies from deep within Congo's jungles have launched their debut compact disc, singing of the hardships -- and attractions -- of forest life.
The disc, produced with funding from United Nations cultural body UNESCO, includes 10 tracks by pygmy band Ndima from the Congo Republic, one of a few countries in central Africa where tribes of pygmies cling on to their traditional way of life.
"This disc aims to promote the culture of a people threatened with extinction," said Sorel Eta, who co-ordinated recording on behalf of the Association for Respect for Pygmies.
The group uses traditional instruments such as animal horns, stretched jungle creepers, wooden hide drums and pipes made from bamboo and tree trunks.
Pygmies
Hunger Strike
Aung San Suu Kyi
The State Department said on Sunday Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi had gone on a hunger strike to protest her detention by the country's military rulers and said Washington was concerned for her safety.
Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was arrested on May 30 together with dozens of her supporters, after pro-government forces attacked her convey during a provincial tour, killing several opposition members and sparking international condemnation of the regime and calls for her release.
Washington called on authorities to release Suu Kyi and imprisoned supporters of her National League for Democracy.
Aung San Suu Kyi
New Museum Opens in Egypt
Alexandria National Museum
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak inaugurated a new antiquities museum Sunday, displaying mummies as well as pharaonic and Roman artifacts, in this Mediterranean port city.
The Alexandria National Museum, located in a restored mansion, will hold up to 1,800 artifacts from the country's pharaonic, Roman, Coptic and Islamic eras and some modern pieces. Mummies are shown in a special underground chamber.
In addition to an aggressive campaign of urban renewal, Alexandria last year celebrated the opening of the $230 million Bibliotheca Alexandrina, a modern version of the ancient library founded around 295 B.C.
Alexandria National Museum
In Memory
Charles Bronson
Charles Bronson, the Pennsylvania coal miner who drifted into films as a villain and became a hard-faced action star, notably in the popular "Death Wish" vengeance movies, has died. He was 81.
Bronson died Saturday of pneumonia at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with his wife at his bedside, publicist Lori Jonas said. He had been in the hospital for weeks, Jonas said.
During the height of his career, Bronson was hugely popular in Europe; the French knew him as "le sacre monstre" (the sacred monster), the Italians as "Il Brutto" (the ugly man). In 1971, he was presented a Golden Globe as "the most popular actor in the world."
Like Clint Eastwood, whose spaghetti westerns won him stardom, Bronson had to make European films to prove his worth as a star. He left a featured-role career in Hollywood to play leads in films made in France, Italy and Spain. His blunt manner, powerful build and air of danger made him the most popular actor in those countries.
At age 50, he returned to Hollywood a star.
In a 1971 interview, he theorized on why the journey had taken him so long:
"Maybe I'm too masculine. Casting directors cast in their own, or an idealized image. Maybe I don't look like anybody's ideal."
His early life gave no indication of his later fame. He was born Charles Buchinsky on Nov. 3, 1921 — not 1922, as studio biographies claimed — in Ehrenfeld, Pa. He was the 11th of 15 children of a coal miner and his wife, both Lithuanian immigrants.
Young Charles learned the art of survival in the tough district of Scooptown, "where you had nothing to lose because you lost it already." The Buchinskys lived crowded in a shack, the children wearing hand-me-downs from older siblings. At the age of 6, Charles was embarrassed to attend school in his sister's dress.
Charles' father died when he was 10, and at 16 Charles followed his brothers into the mines. He was paid $1 per ton of coal and volunteered for perilous jobs because the pay was better. Like other toughs in Scooptown, he raised some hell and landed in jail for assault and robbery.
He might have stayed in the mines for the rest of his life except for World War II.
Drafted in 1943, he served with the Air Force in the Pacific, reportedly as a tail gunner on a B29. Having seen the outside world, he vowed not to return to the squalor of Scooptown.
He was attracted to acting not, he claimed, because of any artistic urge; he was impressed by the money movie stars could earn. He joined the Philadelphia Play and Players Troupe, painting scenery and acting a few minor roles.
At the Pasadena Playhouse school, Bronson improved his diction, supporting himself by selling Christmas cards and toys on street corners. Studio scouts saw him at the Playhouse and he was cast as a gob in the 1951 service comedy
'You're in the Navy Now' (1951) starring Gary Cooper.
As Charles Buchinsky or Buchinski, he played supporting roles in "Red Skies of Montana," "The Marrying Kind," "Pat and Mike" (in which he fell victim to Katharine Hepburn's judo), 'House of Wax' (1953), "Jubal" and other films. In 1954 he changed his last name, fearing reaction in the McCarthy era to Russian-sounding names.
Bronson's first starring role came in 1958 with an eight-day exploitation film, 'Machine-Gun Kelly' (1958). He also appeared in two brief TV series, "Man with a Camera" (1958) and "The Travels of Jamie McPheeters" (1963).
His status grew with impressive performances in 'The Magnificent Seven (1960),'
'The Great Escape' (1963), 'The Dirty Dozen' (1967). But real stardom eluded him, his rough-hewn face and brusque manner not fitting the Hollywood tradition for leading men.
Alain Delon, like many French, had admired "Machine Gun Kelly," and he invited Bronson to co-star with him in a British-French film,
"Adieu, L'Ami" ("Farewell, Friend") (1968). It made Bronson a European favorite.
Among his films abroad was a hit spaghetti western,
'Once Upon a Time in the West' (1968). Finally Hollywood took notice.
Among his starring films: 'The Valachi Papers' (1972), "Chato's Land,"
'The Mechanic' (1972), "Valdez," "The Stone Killer," "Mr. Majestyk," "Breakout," "Hard Times," "Breakout Pass," "White Buffalo,"
'Telefon' (1977), "Love and Bullets," "Death Hunt," "Assassination," "Messenger of Death."
His most controversial film came in 1974 with 'Death Wish' (1974). As an affluent, liberal architect, Bronson's life is shattered when young thugs kill his wife and rape his daughter. He vows to rid the city of such vermin, and his executions brought cheers from crime-weary audiences.
His first marriage was to Harriet Tendler, whom he met when both were fledgling actors in Philadelphia. They had two children before divorcing.
In 1966 Bronson fell in love with the lovely blonde British actress Jill Ireland, who happened to be married to British actor David McCallum. Bronson reportedly told McCallum bluntly: "I'm going to marry your wife."
The McCallums were divorced in 1967, and Bronson and Ireland married the following year. She co-starred in several of his films.
The Bronsons lived in a grand Bel Air mansion with seven children: two by his previous marriage, three by hers and two of their own. They also spent time in a colonial farmhouse on 260 acres in West Windsor, Vt.
Ireland lost a breast to cancer in 1984. She became a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society and wrote a bestselling book, "Life Wish." She followed with "Life Lines," in which she told of her struggle to rescue her 27-year-old son, Jason McCallum Bronson, from drug addiction. He died of an overdose in 1989, and she died of cancer a year later.
Bronson is survived by his wife, Kim, six children and two grandchildren. Funeral services will be private.
Charles Bronson
A tiger female plays with her two 45-day-old tigers cubs in the Matecana zoo of Pereira, August 30, 2003. Three tiger and three lions cubs were baptised before being relocated in several zoos of Latin America.
Photo by Eduardo Munoz
'Ark of Darkness'
"The Ark of Darkness", a Political/Science-Fiction online novel.
'The Osbournes'
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'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1
