'Best of TBH Politoons'
Baron Dave Romm
State Fair Music
By Baron Dave Romm
The Reutrn of the Podcast!
Shockwave Radio Theater
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Recent
additions include:
1993 Interview with
Douglas Adams
2005 Gilligan's
Island Theme (re Bob Denver's death)
Baron
Dave with three butterfly friends
The 2006 Minnesota State Fair is still going, as of this writing, but I'm not going to face the crowds on Labor Day (as you're reading this) so my one sojourn last week will have to suffice. I wrote about this in my LiveJournal, so I won't repeat it here. To read the report (plus an interesting range of comments) go to "Who would you impeach first: Bush or Cheney" My Day At The Fair. The picture above comes from Butterfly World.
Tonic Sol-Fa are still trying to be a Top 10 Boy Band and they are still too good for that sort of pop success. Four boys doing a cappella doo-wop classics and arrangements of standards with the occasional original song have as much fun as Sha Na Na and all the talent of the Nylons. They have a loyal following around Minnesota, and regularly release small (10 cut) CDs and now have a DVD. The DVD (of one of their Christmas shows at Orchestra Hall in Mpls) isn't on their web site but almost everything else is. The site is full of pretty Flash animation and sound (mercifully short) and you can download songs (individually for 99¢ per or entire albums for an additional nine¢). I still prefer to own the Tonic Sol-Fa CDs.
A while back I reviewed Red Vinyl and have picked up several since, all at the Fair. One of their earlier CDs, Left Turns, is now unavailable except in their 3-Pack, and I hesitate to recommend that otherwise good deal since one of the CDs is their Christmas CD (which I don't have) and most of the best songs from Left Turns are on their 2004 CD By Request, which I picked up this year. Style remains my favorite of their albums, with terrific a cappela versions of Eleanor Rigby, Man of Constant Sorrow, Na Na Na and Land of 10,000 Dances. The whole album is iPod worthy (iPw).
By Request claims to be an Enhanced Album, but doesn't seem to do much for the Mac but open up a page that supposedly links to a special page, but doesn't. Still, it's a good album with crisp re-recording of several great songs from the deprecated Left Turns, the remix of a novelty song and a few new cuts. Their covers of Cecelia, Brown Eyed Girl and El Paso probably won't make you forget the originals but do bring some great songs to a news audience. The electronic remix of Scooby Doo, Where Are You? is even more fun than their first time around. They get all Backstreet Boys/N-Sync/Boyz II Men with ballads such as At the Dark End Of The Street and Until Forever's Gone. Their Christian Radio cut is Long Back Train (to hell).
I wish they'd put a few more cuts on every CD (they do several songs in concert that aren't available) and I wish they'd concentrate on making music rather than trying to market themselves (though I can't fault them for trying to be in that lucrative niche). Still, Tonic Sol-Fa is iPw and I'm going join the 21st Century by recommending individual songs to download for a buck each: Eleanor Rigby, Man of Constant Sorrow, Na, Na, Na (from Style); Sold, Scooby Doo, Where Are You (remix) (from By Request); and the original song they're promoting, Boston to Beijing. Any one of these will give you a taste of, and any two will give you the flavor of, Tonic Sol-Fa.
Brave Combo is another long-time favorite group who gave a great concert at the MN State Fair and I picked up two CDs (out of many that I didn't have). Indeed, this will be a rarity for me: I'm about to review a Grammy winning CD!
Brave Combo can make a polka out of anything, and usually does. You can dance while being strange and hip at the same time. What a deal!
Lets Kiss is their 25th Anniversary Album and won the 2005 Grammy Award for Best Polka Album. (Oddly enough, Lets Kiss is the 2nd Grammy Winning Best Polka Album I own...) As a polka album, naturally it starts and ends with a sailor's hornpipe. Dutch Hornpipe as a schottische is daring enough and to do a full band version and a dub version shows mastery of the craft that few possess. Arrr, matey.
But wait, there's more! (A nod to mark the passing of direct marketing pioneer Arthur Schiff.)
The Red River Valley polka is appropriately Western dance swing, either Take Me Out To The Ballgame polka or Take To The Ballgame oberek will enliven those seventh inning stretches and The Simpsons polka was, iirc, used on tv. The Lets Kiss czardas may put some good ideas in the right person's head. I've only dipped into the CD, and all the cuts are tremendous and danceable.
If you want to get the PDQ Bach crowd on the dance floor, then Box of Ghosts is just the ticket. Classical music, from Mozart to Tchaikovsky, will get your bootie shaking in styles from polka to disco. I'm not going to go into all the cuts, but I will mention a few favorites. Dance of the Hours, Parts 1 & 2 is well known to any boomer: Part I is the tune for Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah!, here done as a cha cha. Part II is standard circus music ala the Ed Sullivan Show, here done as polka. I didn't know Swan Lake had lyrics, much less that it could be done as a tango. If you never imagined the William Tell Overture a polka, you will never forget. Fear (Air on a G String) is a meditation: ethereal Back, with lyrics, almost new age. Habenera, a tango from the opera Carmen, works as a twist in a live recording.
Brave Combo are extremely good musicians and fearless performers. The liner notes are great. The song selection is great. The arrangements are great. The music is great. Highly recommended and highly iPw.
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia who produces Shockwave Radio Theater, writes in a Live Journal demi-blog, 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
digby: One Year Ago Today (Scroll down; digbysblog.blogspot.com)
The Washington Post also reported Bush's stern warning: He also warned Gulf Coast residents, including those searching for water and food, not to break into businesses or commit other crimes during the crisis.
Coretta Scott King: 'How We Open Our Hearts to God' (beliefnet.com)
A spiritual lifeline for African-American slaves, prayer became a source of divine inspiration during the civil rights movement.
Dan Wakefield: St. Dorothy: Why Dorothy Day should be canonized (beliefnet.com)
Will the Roman Catholic Church confer sainthood on a Greenwich Village radical and activist who had an abortion, was divorced, and bore a lover's child out of wedlock?
John Zmirak: The Former Slave Who Became an American Saint (beliefnet.com)
Pierre Toussaint's holiness was recognized throughout New York City. All he needs now is official canonization.
Daniel Blau: Somewhere over the pride rainbow
A young gay man examines the legacy of Judy Garland with the PBS American Masters Series production of Judy Garland: By Myself.
Alexandra Mendenhall: Review of But I'm a Cheerleader (afterellen.com)
Out director Jamie Babbit is busy these days. Her new film The Quiet began opening in theaters this month, and she's currently at work on directing Power Up's first feature film,&;; The Itty Bitty Titty Committee. But before all this, she wrote and directed the 1999 cult hit But I'm a Cheerleader, a comedic look at the lunacy that is gay rehabilitation - think ex-gay movement at summer camp.
Alexandra Mendenhall: Jeanette Winterson's Luminous Life (afterellen.com)
British novelist Jeanette Winterson is an out lesbian who has earned much success and acclaim within the worlds of literature, television, theater - and organic groceries. Yes, the woman who is best known for her novel Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit even deals in organic groceries. Her small London shop, Verde's, offers a personal alternative to the supermarkets of today. Her most recent novel, Tanglewreck, explores a world of children's fantasy and time travel - a far cry from the lesbian-themed literature that she is primarily known for.
Marcy Rodenborn: Seth Appleby: A Gay Comic Strip Character Speaks Out (afterelton.com)
9 Chickweed Lane was created in 1993 by Brooke McEldowney and is one of the few mainstream comic strips to feature a prominent gay character. It's syndicated nationally and its flights of fancy and vivid storylines have earned it a devoted following. Below is an "interview" with the character of Seth Appleby, a gay ballet dancer who shares an apartment with the heroine of the strip, Edda. It can be found on the web at comics.com.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Finally added a new flag - Iraq 
The Crocodile Hunter
Steve Irwin
The Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, is dead.
It is understood he was killed by a stingray barb that went through his chest.
He was swimming off the Low Isles at Port Douglas filming an underwater documentary when the tragedy occured.
It is believed his American-born wife Terri is trekking on Cradle Mountain in Tasmania and is yet to be told of her husband's death.
Irwin - known worldwide as the Crocodile Hunter - is famous for his enthusiasm for wildlife and his catchcry "Crikey!".
Sneaks Doctored Paris Hilton Albums Into Stores
Banksy
Record chain HMV said Sunday it had pulled from shelves several copies of Paris Hilton's Paris album that appeared to have been doctored by British graffiti artist and prankster Banksy.
The doctored version includes a topless image of the celebrity heiress, as well as a picture in which she sports the head of a dog.
A sticker advertises the album's "hits" - "Why am I Famous?" "What Have I Done?" and "What Am I For?"
Banksy's spokeswoman, Jo Brooks, said the artist had hidden 500 copies of the altered album in record stores across Britain.
Banksy
Visited 'Biotown'
CSNY
Tour buses carrying members of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young stopped in a northern Indiana town to support turning it into "Biotown USA."
The rock group, whose touring vehicles have used alternative fuels for six years, made a detour Saturday on their Freedom of Speech '06 tour to visit the town.
The buses pulled into a new gasoline station in Reynolds that sells alternative fuels and filled up on B-20 - a mixture of 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent diesel fuel. Footage was shot during the stop for a VH1 documentary.
"This is a beginning, a start," Graham Nash said. "Someone has to lead us out of this dark hole of dependence on foreign oil."
CSNY
Extreme Makeover
'Star Trek'
CBS Paramount gave Trekkers reason to throw their pointy ears in the air Thursday with the announcement that all 79 episodes of the original Star Trek are being digitally remastered and will be heading into syndication next month for the first time in 16 years in honor of the sci-fi classic's 40th anniversary.
Many of the series' beloved yet decidedly dated visual staples, from the galaxy glimpsed in the opening title sequence to the myriad otherworldly landscapes seen from the bridge of the starship Enterprise, will receive a CGI makeover to appeal to the sons and daughters of 1960s-era Star Trek fans who actually found someone to mate with.
The hull of the Enterprise, as well as every other spaceship that passes by, will soon be computer generated, so it will no longer resemble a Frisbee with a couple of batteries attached to it. But rest assured, you loyalists out there--the digitally redone Enterprise is based on the original model, which is now docked for posterity at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.
What the minds behind the redecorating want you to know, however, is that nothing is being altered too drastically, a la the changes that left Star Wars purists up in arms a few years ago--when George Lucas peppered the original three films with CGI "upgrades."
'Star Trek'
New Fall Films
Iraq War
It took years for the Vietnam war to "come home" to U.S. moviegoers, but a series of fall films will soon test the appetite for cinematic tales about U.S. politics and the human toll of the war in Iraq.
Whether the movies, which include documentary "The Ground Truth" and feature film "Home of the Brave" from Oscar-winner Irwin Winkler, will challenge White House policies or impact audiences is open for debate.
None of the makers of the upcoming Iraq war film said their movies were meant to stir opposition to the Iraq war or to resident George W. Bush. Yet, the movies all raise questions that have no easy answers.
Iraq War
Sentenced
Guitar Thieves
Two men accused of stealing guitars once used by Faith Hill and Nickelback have been sentenced to probation. Jeffrey H. Lanahan, 44, was accused of stealing at least a dozen instruments from his employer, Paul Reed Smith Guitars. He gave them to Michael J. Kelly, 42, accused of passing them along to another man who sold them on eBay.
Lanahan and Kelly, who had pleaded guilty, were sentenced Friday. Circuit Judge Ronald A. Silkworth ordered Lanahan to serve three months of house arrest and five years of probation. Kelly was sentenced to three years' probation.
Both men must undergo evaluation for drugs and alcohol, as well as pay restitution for the stolen guitars. Of the nearly $60,000 worth of guitars, all but $21,050 worth were recovered. Lanahan agreed to pay $21,050 in restitution, while Kelly will pay $5,000.
Lanahan worked for the company for eight years until he left in 2004. His task of delivering guitars allowed him to establish relationships with clients, such as U2 and Jimmy Buffett. Company officials reported the missing guitars to police in May 2005. An investigator found a man selling the merchandise on eBay and traced it to Lanahan and Kelly.
Guitar Thieves
Pleads Censorship Over 9/11 Show
CBS
Broadcasters say the hesitancy of some CBS affiliates to air a powerful Sept. 11 documentary next week proves there's been a chilling effect on the First Amendment since federal regulators boosted penalties for television obscenities after Janet Jackson's breast was exposed at a Super Bowl halftime show.
So far, about a dozen CBS affiliates have indicated they won't show the documentary, another dozen say they will delay it until later at night and two dozen others are considering what to do.
On Friday, Sinclair Broadcasting became the latest company to say it was delaying the broadcast until after 10 p.m. on its stations in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Portland, Maine, saying it was concerned it could face fines.
The announcement came as the Tupelo, Miss.-based American Family Association readied its 3 million members to flood the FCC and CBS with complaints after the documentary airs.
CBS
Traditional Puppets Tackle Tough Issues
Indonesia
Thousands cram the narrow streets of this Indonesian village to watch an all-night performance by one of the country's most famous puppeteers. But interspersed with ancient tales of gods and demons, they also get a lesson on terrorism.
Asep Sunandar Sunarya's elaborately painted wooden doll Cepot appears on stage and tells his two long-haired sons that strapping a bomb to your back and detonating it is not holy war, it's murder.
Indonesia's traditional puppet theatre - wayang kulit, in which the shadows of intricately carved flat leather dolls are cast on a screen, and wayang golek, where three-dimensional wooden puppets are manoeuvred on rods - is rooted in the Hindu religion that held sway over the islands before the arrival of Islam more than seven centuries ago.
Despite mounting criticism from hard-line religious groups and competition from radio, television and movies, puppetry remains the premier form of dramatic expression across much of the sprawling archipelago, which today has more Muslims than any other country in the world.
Indonesia
Finally Answered
Question In A Bottle
A message in a bottle found after being hidden in a wall at Quonset Naval Air Station for more than 60 years came with a question its authors knew couldn't be answered unless their makeshift time capsule was discovered
The message asked, "Will this bottle see the sun?"
It did after being found in May, and Quonset Development Corporation authorities in North Kingstown made the bottle and its contents public Friday.
The bottle offers a rare glimpse into the past. The message inside was written in 1941 on a business card by two carpenters - Theodore Jackvony of Providence and Emile Gaudette of Seekonk. The men wrote their names on the back of the card, which was from a Providence candy store that no longer exists. Then they shoved it into a pill bottle and sealed it inside the walls of the building they were working on.
Question In A Bottle
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