Heya, gals! Want to keep that man? Tab Cola will tell you how… (via @Caissie via @finslippy via @morethanmama)
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February 28, 2010
February 26, 2010
A Bit Of A Chat with Ken Plume & Caissie St. Onge 2
I’m Ken Plume, and soon you’ll be listening to “A Bit Of A Chat” with me, Ken Plume.
In this episode, I have another chat with a very funny writer/producer who traces her career from THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN through THE ROSIE O’DONNELL SHOW to THE BEST WEEK EVER (and its Paul F. Tompkins-helmed successor). There are plenty of other stops along the way, and plenty of irons in the fire, so sit back & listen to me chat w/ the very funny Caissie St. Onge.
Hope you enjoy…
Download “A Bit of a Chat with Ken Plume & Caissie St. Onge 2“:
[audio:http://traffic.libsyn.com/bitofachat/bit_of_a_chat-caissie_st_onge-2.mp3]
SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe to this Podcast via iTunes
Drop Ken a line HERE.
##
You can also find more of my interviews by clicking HERE.
Weekend Shopping Guide 2/26/10: Factoring Aliens
The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the FRED Weekend Shopping Guide – your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…
(Please support FRED by using the links below to make any impulse purchases – it helps to keep us going…)
The long drought of last year is but a distant memory as the new Cinematic Titanic releases roll out with great speed this new year, the latest being The Alien Factor (Cinema Titan, $14.99), a horrid 70’s cheapie shot in the wilds of Baltimore, that manages to be a sci-fi version of Manos‘s low-rent, interminable filmmaking – making it glorious fodder for the fine folks at CT. This is another of their live performances, shot last year at LA’s Largo. The energy of the crowd elevates the Titans’ own energy – making for quite a nice little feedback loop.
Moore Action Collectibles had a go at it a few years ago, but it wasn’t until Toynami took over the license that the Futurama action figure line really took off and became what fans always hoped for – mainly, filled with characters. If you’re completely oblivious to the existence of these figures, then thank Thinkgeek for collecting together a clutch of them and offering them as Futurama 2-Packs ($24.99). The available pairings are Fry/Bender, Hermes/Farnsworth, & Leela/Zap Brannigan. You know you want them. You know you do.
There’s an entire generation out there that never got to experience the golden years of a show called Night Court (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP), and I urge them to do so by picking up the finally-released third season of the show, which brings Markie Post on full-time as public defender Christine Sullivan. If you’re unaware of the show, give it a spin. Fans are already there.
R. Lee Ermey returns with a brand new series – Lock n’ Load (History Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$34.95 SRP), which finds the retired Gunnery Sergeant taking viewers on a history and demonstration of battlefield weapons from tanks to rockets. Even if you’re not a warmonger, the history and innovation is fascinating. This 4-disc set contains all 13 first season episodes.
Where the Coen brothers fell down, a firing-on-all-cylinders Steven Soderberg delivers The Informant (Warner Bros., Rated R, DVD-$28.98 SRP) a tale of espionage – the corporate variety – in the form of an immensely likeable, deluded man named Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon) who felt the secret recordings he was making of corporate bigwigs price-fixing food additives would make him a national hero. He did become the highest-ranking corporate whistleblower in US history, but… well, that would be spoiling a very funny film. Bonus materials are limited to additional scenes. A Blu-Ray edition ($35.99 SRP) is also available, with identical features.
I think the title of his new DVD sums it up pretty well – Sinbad: Where U Been? (Comedy Central, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP) finds the comic returning to the stage for his first special in years, riffing on where exactly his disappeared to after incredible success in the late 80’s and early 90’s. The disc also contains a behind-the-scenes featurette.
Remember About Schmidt? Remember Jack Nicholson’s cross-country journey to reconnect with his daughter after his wife’s passing? Well, crank up the schmaltz factor and regress the script, and give the lead to Robert DeNiro and you’ve pretty much got Everybody’s Fine (Miramax, Rated PG-13, DVD-$29.98 SRP), which finds DeNiro’s widower traveling cross-country to reconnect with each of his kids. Bonus features include a featurette and deleted/extended scenes.
It’s always interesting to find out about the people behind the names that have become nothing more than brands, and such is the case with the biopic Coco Before Chanel (Sony, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$34.95 SRP), which looks at the humble beginnings of Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel (Audrey Tatou), who would one day take the fashion world by storm under her nickname, Coco. Bonus features include an audio commentary and a trio of featurettes.
I never thought I’d be interested in seeing the pressure and power struggles that went into making an issue of Vogue magazine, but like any good documentary, The September Issue (Lionsgate, Rated PG-13, DVD-$29.98 SRP) had me glued as the mag’s legendary editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour (immortalized by Meryl Streep in the fictionalized Devil Wears Prada), did just that. The 2-disc set contains an audio commentary, deleted scenes, photos, trailer, and over an hour of additional footage.
The film’s a mess but I love how the cover of the oddball Vampire’s Assistant: Cirque Du Freak (Universal, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$36.98 SRP) tries to make its tale of a kid who joins the circus to become a Vampire into Twilight – going so far as to heavily photoshop its lead to look more like Robert Pattinson. Bonus features include a pair of featurettes and deleted scenes.
Zombie Nazis. Does anything else really need to be said about the Nordic take on Evil Dead, Dead Snow (MPI, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP), that will make its goofy premise any more appealing? I didn’t think so. The 2-disc special edition contains behind-the-scenes featurettes, outtakes, and more.
Michael Palin turns in a memorable dramatic performance in the UK miniseries GBH (Acorn, Not Rated, DVD-$59.99 SRP), as an unassuming headmaster who inadvertently derails a labor strike called by an egomaniacal Labour party leader, which leads to a fierce test of wills in this still powerful satire. Heck, it even has a soundtrack by Elvis Costello. The 4-disc set also features an audio commentary on the first episode and an interview with writer Alan Bleasdale.
For those with very little patience, you can pick up and either re-watch or get caught up with the first half of Flashforward‘s debut season (ABC Studios, Not Rated, DVD-$29.99 SRP). The 2-disc set contains the first 10 episodes, plus an effects featurette and a preview of things to come.
Front and center, Edie Falco makes an indelible impression as the titular Nurse Jackie (Lionsgate, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) as an acerbic caretaker in a New York hospital who also intakes a healthy dose of pain pills to deal with her constant back pain. Give the first season a spin and see if you’re not hooked. The 3-disc box set contains all 12 episodes, plus commentaries, featurettes, and nurse stories.
It’s not my cup of tea, but there’s no denying that Superjail! (Adult Swim, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP) is easily one of the most visually distinctive shows to hit Adult Swim, and could certainly grow into a unique cornerstone of the programming block. The first season set contains all 10 episodes, plus the pilot.
Go back to the infancy of the Oscars with the Academy Collection: The Envelope Please Volume 1 (Infinity, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP), which collects eight early Best Picture nominees that have slipped into public domain. Those films are The Racket, Alibi, The Front Page, A Farewell To Arms, The Private Life Of Henry VIII, A Star Is Born, Pygmalion, and Love Affair.
Learn of the perils and impending issues of overfishing in the compelling documentary The End Of The Line (Docurama, Not Rated, DVD-$26.95 SRP). It’s rather sobering to think just how close to the brink an entire ecosystem is. Bonus materials include 6 behind-the-scenes webisodes, an interview with narrator Ted Danson, featurettes, and a trailer.
Those nifty score purveyors at La-La Land Records have delivered another trio of releases to keep soundtrack fans happy and penniless – Christopher Young’s score to Love Happens (La-La Land Records, $17.99 SRP), Bear McCready’s music from Battlestar Galactica: The Plan and Razor (La-La Land Records, $17.99 SRP), and cues from the long-running soap Days Of Our Lives (La-La Land Records, $23.99 SRP), by Ken Corday & D. Brent Nelson.
Science! Can’t get enough of it. Also? Excited by it. The 4th season box set of The Universe (History Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$39.95 SRP)? Can’t wait to dive into the 12 stunning episodes exploring the mysteries and majesty of outer space. The 4-disc set also contains a pair of features on meteors and comets. The real way to watch it, though is in glorious high definition via the Blu-Ray edition ($54.95).
I can only assume they’re a big hit north of the border, but I confess to being nonplussed by the titular comedy troupe helming the feature film Trailer Park Boys: Countdown To Liquor Day (Screen Media, Rated R, DVD-$24.98 SRP), but I can assure you that the film will probably appeal to those who dug the Blue Collar Comedy tour. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, deleted scene, featurettes, and more.
So there you have it… my humble suggestions for what to watch, listen to, play with, or waste money on this coming weekend. See ya next week…
-Ken Plume
##
Masters Of Song Fu #6: Round 3 Challenge Revealed!
We here at FRED are true lovers of music, in all its forms. We’re also quite keen on the spirit of competition, and of spurring creativity through said competition.
To that end, we launched a unique form of creative combat.
In this age of manufactured and painfully earnest talent contests, we’ve decided to instead shine a light on the quirky, quixotic underworld of musicians that don’t get nearly the attention they deserve.
Ah, but I did mention that there was a competition involved…
Like a songwriting version of Iron Chef, the competitors will be presented with a very specific songwriting challenge. They’ll be given one week to complete their songs – however they see fit, within the parameters set forth – after which time the entries will be uploaded to FRED to be voted on by you, the audience.
At the end of the 3rd Challenge, the two Challengers with the most votes will face off, mano a mano for the title of…
MASTER OF SONG FU
However, there may yet be one final challenge for this newly crowned Master – for they very well might (if the stars align and schedules permit) face off against one of the LEGENDARY MASTERS – artists like Jonathan Coulton, Paul & Storm, Neil Innes, Doc Hammer, & The RiffTones. Think of them as the iron chefs of Song Fu – one of which may or may not be revealed as your ultimate challenge. Only the wheel of uncertainty can predict (and even then, not).
So what was the first Challenge?
ROUND 1 CHALLENGE
Write a song that is about (or at least has key to the central narrative) RAIN (the meteorological phenomena). At some point (or throughout) the song, you must utilize an instrument (or vocals) that represent the rain. You are free to write your song in any style that you choose.
That’s it. The only other directive is that your song must run no shorter than 1 minute 30 seconds.
And then our Challengers were given their Round 2 Challenge…
ROUND 2 CHALLENGE
Write a song that does not rhyme.
CLARIFICATION: Your song can be in any style, but must not contain any rhymes of 2 dissimilar words within a traditional verse structure. Exact repetition of a phrase or word is permitted. Your song must run no shorter than 1 minute 30 seconds..
If you want some inspiration, here’s a number song from The Muppets…
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/rhymingsong.mp3]
You’ll find the Round 1 and Round 2 songs from each of our Challengers below, as well as the results of the Round 1 voting and the STILL ONGOING Round 2 voting. More importantly, though, you’ll find the reveal of the 3rd Challenge!
THE CHALLENGERS
MIKE LOMBARDO
Mike Lombardo is a piano-playing geek-pop-rock singer-songwriter who likes to use hyphens when describing his occupation. He has been known to write songs about just about anything, including rocks and SAW 4. When not banging on a piano, Mike spends most of his time playing way too many video games or teaching small children how to bang on pianos. A graduate of Berklee College of Music, Mike is currently finishing up his second album with his piano rock band, the Mike Lombardo Trio.
Official Website: www.mikelombardomusic.com
Twitter: twitter.com/mikelombardo
ROUND 1 SONG: “Sit And Watch The Rain”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/mike_lombardo-sit_and_watch_the_rain.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “I Found You”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/mike_lombardo-i_found_you.mp3]
EDRIC HALEEN
Edric is a returning veteran of the Masters of Song Fu competition. He has been writing music (off and on) since the early nineties. He wrote and directed a musical, The Pushcart War, based on Jean Merrill’s wonderful novel. He has written and/or arranged a number of songs for various friends – some commissioned, some as surprises. He loves acting in community theatre, and is inspired by the music of Stephen Sondheim, Jason Robert Brown, Adam Guettel, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. Also – feel free to check out (and add to!) the “Happiness Board” on his web pages!
Official Website: happinessboard.com/Edric_Haleen.html
ROUND 1 SONG: “In The Rain”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/edric_haleen-in_the_rain.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “This Song Doesn’t Rhyme”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/edric_haleen-this_song_doesnt_rhyme.mp3]
GODZ POODLZ
Legends foretell of a mighty duo, born in the frozen North. Two neighbors and friends will unite to form “Godz Poodlz” and battle the Mazters or Song Fu for glory and bragging rights! Godz Poodlz are Rüss Rogers and Rod Durre. Russ Rogers was once a member of “Kit and Kaboodle” (still available on iTunes) and currently performs in “Rusty’s Rocking Jamboree!” Rhod Durre was in the Goth Rock Band, “Sear!” Beware the Godz Poodlz Ear Worm! Godz Poodlz songs are bright, funny and tenaciously catchy. Come join Godz Poodlz Legionz of Fanz!
Official Website: godzpoodlz.bandcamp.com
ROUND 1 SONG: “Rain Is Pouring Down”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/godz_poodlz-rain_is_pouring_down.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “Blue Sky Thinking”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/godz_poodlz-blue_sky_thinking.mp3]
SPENCER SOKOL
Spencer is trying to do things. Music is one of those things. It is painfully obvious to him, if not others, that he has absolutely no idea what he’s doing. In the past he has been musically inclined with a guitar and occasionally with a piano. He is trying to be musically active once again, but this time he is attempting to do so while on the Internets. Creating music is a large part of his 40×40 list and he thinks this competition seems like “a Super Mega Happy Fun way” to rekindle his musical desires.
Official Website: www.spencersokol.com
Twitter: twitter.com/spencersokol
ROUND 1 SONG: “Reservations”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/spencer_sokol-reservations.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “Minus”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/spencer_sokol-minus.mp3]
KYLIE PETTO
My name is Kylie, and I’m your everyday 17-year-old girl with a passion for music. I’ve been writing my own songs since I was ten years old, and nothing is more fun for me than to sit down with my guitar and unwind. Now I thankfully have a violin to add to my arsenal, and I’m armed and ready for my second go at song fu!
Official Website: NONE
Twitter: twitter.com/KyliePettoROUND 1 SONG: “Robby”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/kylie_petto-robby.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “All These Knives”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/kylie_petto-all_these_knives.mp3]
CALEB HINES
Caleb is a software engineer who pretends to be a musician on the internet. Self-taught in music theory, he is more comfortable writing a four-part instrumental fugue than he is writing a verse-chorus-bridge song. His favorite style of music went out of style at the end of the 18th century, but after discovering the likes of Weird Al, Dr. Horrible, and especially Jonathan Coulton, he realized that “omodern music” can be fun too. Now he is on a quest to update, expand, and diversify his musical knowledge and experience. In addition to singing, he plays a whole family of recorders, baroque flute, ukulele, melodica, pretends to play keyboard and guitar, and most recently, bass. He also uses virtual instruments because a real orchestra costs too much.
Official Website: refactoringmybrain.blogspot.com
Twitter: twitter.com/calebhinesROUND 1 SONG: “Water Cycle”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/caleb_hines-water_cycle.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliaphobia”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/caleb_hines-hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliaphobia.mp3]
BOFFO YUX DUDES
The Boffo Yux Dudes began in the 80’s and 90’s doing radio comedy, and promptly fell asleep for the next 15 years. Tom Giarrosso and Allan Morgan (Pop Machine) continue the tradition of trying to recreate their lost youth with exceedingly torturous music, instead of spending the money on therapy like normal people having a midlife crisis. Tom blames Mike Lombardo for showing him the Fu way of doing things, and now he has to listen to the voices and write songs instead of doing his actual day job.
Official Website: www.boffoyux.com
Twitter: twitter.com/boffoyuxdudes
ROUND 1 SONG: “Reign of the King”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/boffo_yux_dudes-reign_of_the_king.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “Al’s Blues”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/boffo_yux_dudes-als_blues.mp3]
DENISE HUDSON
Denise Hudson is a musician of non-determined hair-color from Austin, Texas who is married to an musicaphile Australian. She hopes that she typed up her bio correctly (alas, she cannot spell!); and additionally hopes she amuses you, but she is done apologizing now. 🙂 If she happens to make you slightly uncomfortable, she supposes there’s nothing to be done for it…
Official Website: denisehudson.bandcamp.comTwitter: twitter.com/RangerDenni
ROUND 1 SONG: “Rain”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/denise_hudson-rain.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “Something Very Horrible (Bluebeard’s Lament)”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/denise_hudson-something_very_horrible_bluebeards_lament.mp3]
“BUCKETHAT” BOBBY MATHESON
I’m “BucketHat” Bobby Matheson. I used to make cartoons for the internet, and sometimes still do, but mostly focus on my music right now. I write and record my songs solo, in my little make-shift studio, and when I play live, I often get some help from friends. Some of my music is funny, and some isn’t. More often than not, the humour is unintentional. My Influences range from Klezmer to folk, to punk and back again, which ends up sounding more like Zydeco than anything else (who’d have guessed?). I’ve been described as a “Cajun Buddy Holly” and an “Optimistic Elvis Costello”. It’s been said that I sound like “That guy from the Barenaked Ladies” and a “Nasaly Bob Dylan”. One of these days, I hope to have a description that is accurate.
Official Website: www.buckethatbobby.randomsociety.com
Twitter: twitter.com/BucketHatBobby
ROUND 1 SONG: “Forget About The Rain”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/buckethat_bobby_matheson-forget_about_the_rain.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “I’m Fine (Could Be Worse)”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/buckethat_bobby_matheson-im_fine_could_be_worse.mp3]
IAN “TWO SHADES” JOHNSON
Ian is a guitarist/singer/pianist/other-stuff-ist. He was a participant of Song-Fu #5, and is a member of Too Much Awesome. His songs have been described (by himself) as “probably not as funny as I think they are.”
Official Website: ianjohnson.bandcamp.com
ROUND 1 SONG: “Downpour”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/ian_two_shades_johnson-downpour.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “Two Words”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/ian_two_shades_johnson-two_words.mp3]
GORBZILLA
Gorbzilla is a musician/band teacher in Mid-Michigan. He has been in a few bands over the years, most notably as the bass player/vocalist for the band “Satin Jones” and the guitarist/vocalist for the band “Jimmy Likes Pie”. The proud father of two future rock maniacs, Gorbzilla has been writing music for the past twenty years, and is currently working on his first musical Beer ““ Finally a Musical for Men based on the Haiku by Patrick “Horkmeister” Sweet entitled, “I Think I Threw Up”. He has been happily married for eight years, and is looking forward to this competition.
Official Website: gorbzilla.blogspot.com
ROUND 1 SONG: “Freezing Rain”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/gorbzilla-freezing_rain.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “A Song About This Song”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/gorbzilla-a_song_about_this_song.mp3]
GOVERNING DYNAMICS
Governing Dynamics is the name of Travis Norris’s eternal sideproject, where all the stuff written by him goes when his current band (whatever it may be) refuses to play it. The music has been favorably compared to such bands as Eels, Radiohead, The White Stripes, and other bands that cool people like. It has been unfavorably compared to the tactics used by the FBI against the Branch Dividians at Waco. If he has to describe his music by genre (and refer to himself in third person) Travis calls it “alternative/shoegazer with a liberal dose of Midwestern rock”.
Official Website: governingdynamics.bandcamp.com
Twitter: twitter.com/travisnorris
ROUND 1 SONG: “Rain in Chicago”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/governing_dynamics-rain_in_chicago.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “Restrictions”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/governing_dynamics-restrictions.mp3]
ZER0GUY
Two brothers from the midwest return to Song Fu with their brand of eclectic musical ideas. They don’t like to stick to a genre, and sometimes they suffer from swarms of bees.
Official Website: www.myspace.com/zer0guyband
ROUND 1 SONG: “Thundercade”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/zer0guy-thundercade.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “Guitar Tonite”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/zer0guy-guitar_tonite.mp3]
JUTZE SCHULT
Johannes “Jutze” Schult (from Germany) likes to live in a dream world where there has been no Grunge and where he is a talented singer. Sometimes his little folky pop songs find their way into the real world. Here they suffer from his hoarse voice and the do-it-yourself home recording production, struggling to appeal off and on beaten musical paths.
Official Website: www.jutze.com
Twitter: twitter.com/schult
ROUND 1 SONG: “Kingdom Of Rain”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/jutze_schult-kingdom_of_rain.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “Communication Removal”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/jutze_schult-communication_removal.mp3]
LEIGH & HOOVER
Dave & William have been writing songs together for decades, yet have still managed to avoid finding a clever name for themselves. William writes the words; Dave the music… which is good because it doesn’t really work the other way ’round.
Official Website: www.cratchit.org/music
ROUND 1 SONG: “Summer Rain”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/leigh_and_hoover-summer_rain.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “We Do What We Do”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/leigh_and_hoover-we_do_what_we_do.mp3]
COMMON LISP
Common Lisp is the name for the music projects of yours truly, Paul R. Potts, and any collaborators I may be able to drag into participating. I am a middle-aged software engineer with four children, some home recording gear, and too many guitars. I have never written an original song. It’s about time, don’t you think?
Official Website: commonlisp.bandcamp.com
Twitter: twitter.com/paulrpotts
ROUND 1 SONG: “Polly Loves the Rain”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/common_lisp-polly_loves_the_rain.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “War Criminal”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/common_lisp-war_criminal.mp3]
GLEN RAPHAEL
Glen Raphael is a Manhattan-based software geek, circus performer, and guitarist/singer/songwriter who counts Jonathan Coulton and Paul & Storm as influences. He has recently written songs that featured killer robots, exploding pants, and the Statue of Liberty having a mid-life crisis. Though not all at once. Yet.
Official Website: youtube.com/glenra
ROUND 1 SONG: “Can’t See The Sky”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/glen_raphael-cant_see_the_sky.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “Song That Doesn’t Rhyme”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/glen_raphael-song_that_doesnt_rhyme.mp3]
INVERSE T. CLOWN
Inverse T. Clown is a jack of many entertainment trades, songwriting being one of his favorites. He has an album half-ready to be recorded, and is looking forward to garnering the patience to sit down and do it. Even more so, he’s looking forward to Song Fu 6. There is an ongoing series of internet covers of Inverse’s song “Today’s The Day” – and he loves them all – but it would nice to get some steam behind the endless REST of his genius, and Song Fu seems just the place to start it up. He’s funny, he’s clever, his music is synthetic, and he’s champing at the bit to throw everything he’s got to his clamoring fans. Stick around, and see why Salemites everywhere call this musical genius “The Future of Greatness”.
Official Website: toomuchawesome.ning.com/profile/InverseTClown
ROUND 1 SONG: “Sexy In The Rain”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/inverse_t_clown-sexy_in_the_rain.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “An Angry Rant”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/inverse_t_clown-an_angry_rant.mp3]
JEFF MacDOUGALL
Coming in at twice Mike Lombardo’s age, Jeff MacDougall is back and ready to throw some Fu! When asked about the competition, he had this to say: “Yeah. That’s right. I’m back. *coughs* *mumbles*” This will be a Song Fu for the ages!
Official Website: www.jeffmacdougall.com
Twitter: twitter.com/jeffmacdougall
ROUND 1 SONG: “Beautiful Day”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/jeff_macdougall-beautiful_day.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “Ken Plume Is To Blame”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/jeff_macdougall-ken_plume_is_to_blame.mp3]
TARYN MILLER
Taryn Miller is an 18-year-old, gluten-intolerant, crazy-hat-wearing guitarist (and other stuff too, but she’s played guitar longest). She hails from Winfield, Kansas – Home of Bluegrass.
Official Website: myspace.com/chellenesuperstar
ROUND 1 SONG: “Crowded And Clouded”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/taryn_miller-crowded_and_clouded.mp3]
To download a ZIP FILE containing all of the ROUND 2 songs, CLICK HERE.
To download a ZIP FILE containing all of the ROUND 1 songs, CLICK HERE.
ROUND 3 CHALLENGE
Write a song that involves a recipe for something.
This recipe can be for anything – not just food. Your song must run no shorter than 1 minute 30 seconds..
Your song must be submitted in mp3 form (128-192kbps) either via e-mail (to songfu @ asitecalledfred.com – remember to remove the spaces) or a file upload service (like RapidShare or YouSendIt). Deadline for submission is 11:59pm EST on Sunday, March 7th, 2010.
There will be a Round 3 Listening Party at 8:30pm EST on Monday, March 8th HERE. Voting on Round 3 submissions will commence immediately after the listening party.
If you want some inspiration, here’s a recipe song by Queen Ida…
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/queen_ida-zydeco_taco.mp3]
ROUND 2 VOTING
And now, it’s time for the voting. For this round, you can choose your TOP 5 FAVORITE Challenger songs. Be sure to choose carefully. VOTING CLOSES AT 11:59pm EST on SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27th. If you are having trouble voting, CLEAR YOUR BROWSER’S CACHE and try again. PLEASE NOTE: This voting system bases voting eligibility on your IP Address. If there are other computers on a home or business network that share the same IP address through a router, it may say you’ve already voted. Unfortunately, there is no way around this, and still be able to prevent ballot stuffing. It’s just the nature of the online voting beast.
ROUND 2 VOTING – THE CHALLENGERS
[poll id=”25″]
ROUND 1 VOTING RESULTS
[poll id=”24″]
SHADOW ENTRIES
JOE “COVENANT” LAMB
I’m Joe Covenant. I’m Scottish. And never have enough time to do everything I wanna! Been singing and perfoming for over 40 years… (yes, I am 46.)… and I’ve nearly learned a 6th chord! Everything I do. I do for Song Fu. (If not for this ‘contest’ I would have never met and collaborated with so many talented people.)
Official Website: joecovenant.bandcamp.com
Twitter: twitter.com/JoeCovenantROUND 1 SHADOW SONG: “Rain”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/shadow_song-joe_covenant_lamb-rain.mp3]
ROUND 2 SHADOW SONG: “The “Jay Is Awesome” Polka”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/shadow_song-joe_covenant_lamb-the_jay_is_awesome_polka.mp3]
If you triumph, not only will you win remarkable (and potentially off-putting) bragging rights and a clutch of fantastic mystery prizes, you will also become the proud owner of the magnificent, one-of-a-kind MASTER OF SONG FU TROPHY.
Good luck, and bring on the Fu.
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FREDagator: 2010-02-26
I do believe this is the best assessment of AVATAR so far…
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Trailer Park: Christopher McDonald Interview
I was able to sit down for a couple of years and pump out a book. It’s got little to do with movies. Download and read “Thank You, Goodnight” right HERE for free.
Check out my new column, This Week In Trailers, at SlashFilm.com and follow me on TWITTER under the name: Stipp
GREEN ZONE – SCREENING
Yes, United 93 made me a little ill. With all that shaky-cam movements he’s known for Paul Greengrass has tempered his need to put his cameras on paint shakers. Thank the heavens for that as I was able to enjoy the last Bourne film with much more interest.
His latest, GREEN ZONE, looks like it will be a thriller in the most classical of ways. Immediate, visceral, fast-moving, and starring the acting stylings Matt Damon this will be a film that ought to satisfy the action jones any guy must have with the lack of action at the box office as of late. I have your tickets to a screening on March 9th, at Tempe Marketplace, at 7:00 p.m.
Shoot me an e-mail at Christopher_Stipp@yahoo.com and I’ll make sure you get entered to get a pair of tickets
A film description:
Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum, United 93) re-team for their latest electrifying thriller in Green Zone, a film set in the chaotic early days of the Iraqi War when no one could be trusted and every decision could detonate unforeseen consequences.
During the U.S.-led occupation of Baghdad in 2003, Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller (Damon) and his team of Army inspectors were dispatched to find weapons of mass destruction believed to be stockpiled in the Iraqi desert. Rocketing from one booby-trapped and treacherous site to the next, the men search for deadly chemical agents but stumble instead upon an elaborate cover-up that inverts the purpose of their mission.
Spun by operatives with intersecting agendas, Miller must hunt through covert and faulty intelligence hidden on foreign soil for answers that will either clear a rogue regime or escalate a war in an unstable region. And at this blistering time and in this combustible place, he will find the most elusive weapon of all is the truth.
Christopher McDonald – Interview
It was Tappy Tibbons that really drew me into Christopher McDonald’s world. Sure, you could can talk all you like about the comedic life he pored into making Shooter McGavin such a despicable villain but it was Darren Aronofsky who saw something indelible in making McDonald a pivotal part of his dramatic fever dream.
McDonald has put in over thirty years making memorable roles that lesser actors would just as soon blend into the background playing. He’s made it his livelihood, his life’s work, playing parts that take on something special when he filters their essence through his sensibility. What that sensibility is, for the most part, are characters that you love to hate, but they are characters that make you feel something. I had a chance to talk to McDonald about his latest film, Splinterheads, which is now available to buy on DVD, but I was insanely curious to know more about the life of an actor that isn’t front and center with every production, how you make a life out of playing roles that people may or may not remember.
CHRISTOPHER STIPP:Â In preparing for this interview I thought it was interesting of how, as you were coming through the ranks, you had a Timex that was set to go off on a set schedule as a reminder, to you, to think about where your career was going.
MCDONALD: Where did you find that?
CS:Â It was in an interview you did but i thought the sentiment was genuinely resonant. Do you still have that Timex in your head? Do you always re-evaluate what you do?
MCDONALD: That’s a very good question and, to be honest with you, I think the ticking gets less loud once you reach a certain amount of success.
It’s not a complacency that you get, don’t get me wrong, I’m very focused on what I’m doing, but I know that I’m not that same guy that’s always looking for that reassurance from the business to make your way. It’s more like…I’m part of the club now, it’s really lovely to be involved…it’s a mutual respect thing when you see people and say, “Hey”¦Hey, McDonald get over here.” It’s all kind of great now, it’s more “How do you have more control so it gets in the world?” this year. I’m doing my first directorial project, I’ve got 4 or 5 movies coming out, I’m promoting this one which I loved shooting it and hope it makes a little bit of noise in the DVD and downloading world. So it’s like that. It’s something that beats not every hour but every day. I look for something to be sure I’m headed in the right way.
CS:Â You just directed your first feature?
MCDONALD: I’m in the process of casting it and directing it and won’t actually get under the cameras until this Fall so I’m leaving myself a lot of pre-production time. Takes place in the Fall over about 8-10 years.
CS:Â Why did it take you this long to say, “You know what, why don’t I make one of these things”?
MCDONALD: I think what it took me ““ there was just so much love for me out there in the acting world I hope that never goes away and have been offered so many great things and almost too busy to do it. But now when you think about it, it’s kind of like writing also, I’m also afraid to do it.
Not that I think I won’t be good at it but I think anything that detracts from what we were just talking about ““ what am I doing with my career as an actor in Hollywood, this guy who came from nothing out in the boonies in New York, to this town of broken dreams on Hollywood Blvd. It was a big step and everyone thought I’d be back in 8 months with my tail between my legs and, by hook or by crook, you keep going so I wanted to dance only with the girl I came with.
But then I thought how many times have I seen my work and the work of other people that I know been cut out because, when the baby is coming down the birth canal, and it’s just too long, the director has to make that decision so I wanted to make sure I was good enough to do the math in my head to say I know how long this movie’s going to be, I know what I need to shoot because I already edited it in my head so I won’t be wasting money, wasting time, and breaking some hearts down the line saying, “I hated to do it, I’m sorry, we cut those 2 to 3 scenes out so, sorry.” That’s a horrible thing. It’s happened to me, it’s happened to friends and it’s not fun but I wanted to be prepared.
CS:Â And now with Splinterheads, this is Brant Sersen’s first film writing and directing.
MCDONALD: Correct.
CS:Â Â Describe for me what it’s like with a first time director/writer on a film like this.
MCDONALD: I’ve had great success with first time director/writers. The smartest thing one can do, I have learned, is surround yourself with the best possible people. There are a couple of missteps, and are, in every movie, but other ones I’ve seen there have been bigger missteps where people were let go and another group hired to come in and save the day. Your right arm is your DP, because that’s where the time, and actual total and pictures of the movie take place. So you want to be with the guy who can deliver that and I thought that Brant did a brilliant job. Was a great DP and very smooth. There were a couple days where things went too long but for the most part it was very well run, it was run not on a dime but it was a cheaper production and all the money went up on the screen. And it was great to see Patchogue, Long Island really embrace this movie and stepped up and donated food and time and lots of good extras and didn’t cry that we were shutting down the streets, as some towns do but they really welcomed us with open arms and it was terrific.
CS: What did you see in the script? I read that you are always looking for reasons to say yes to a project. What made you say yes to this one?
MCDONALD: I have to say on this one it was particularly interesting because he rewrote it for me with the idea that I might be doing it. So when they offered me the part I was a) flattered and b) it was perfect timing. I always wanted to work in a town where”¦ I was born in Long Island and had my formative years there. Lea Thompson was involved and she’s a terrific old pal of mine and Frankie Faison. The only question mark was the director. I already loved the script and this Thomas Middleditch. This guy I never heard of. So they sent me a couple links to go find his work and I just found out immediately the guy is very funny and uniquely talented. And Rachel Taylor was a big boon when we got her to sign on because she is truly spectacularly beautiful and played the part really well I thought and she really embraced the material. But there are a lot of different things, if it’s not the director which I usually say yes to if it’s the director. It’s ultimately the material, director, co-stars…little things like money helps.
(Laughs)
Location helps as well. And you don’t want to keep repeating yourself all the time but you want to give it a different slant or flavor or an attack on a part that you haven’t done before and that’s what I got a chance to do with this Bruce Mancuso, the only cop in town.
CS: One of the things I was reminded of when I saw the film was that I’m constantly amazed at what you are able to do. You’re definitely a working man’s actor and you are not comfortable doing one thing here and one thing there ““ you constantly surround yourself with different projects. One of the most famous character, at least in my eyes, was Tappy Tibbons from Requiem For A Dream. What you did with Darren utterly blew me away. How do you find ways to reinvent a character or try to look at a character a different way and give it a life you haven’t before given because obviously looking your resume it’s filled up with all parts but they each feel different.
MCDONALD: Well, thank you for saying that, first of all. I think in that particular case with Darren Aronofsky a lot of it was improvisational where we actually worked around the streets of New York City. He had a camera in his hand and people would recognize me and I would respond to them as Tappy Tibbons. So that kind of got the juices flowing. They knew me but didn’t know my name or the ones who did know my name new me from Shooter McGavin or something like that. They wouldn’t use that in the coverage and would move on to someone else but would use the reactions and it was quite interesting. Or shooting on the rooftop of his little 5 floor walk-up in Hell’s Kitchen, which I think has changed now for some reason.
(Laugh)
But I think all that kind of improvisation helped me get on the sound stage that day at Tappy and just kind of let it rip. He just kind of let me go and play this game and get the audience going and then bring on Sara played brilliantly by Ellen Burstyn and it was something I was never really on sure ground so I knew it was sort of out there and I was pushing the envelope each time. Because I was sort of a drug. I was putting a drug in her mind. So how much is it really me and how much is it her interpretation of me? So I thought that was an interesting challenge and I’m glad it turned out as well as it did.
CS:Â Absolutely. Now, you’ve mentioned at one time that you are comfortable with being pigeonholed because that means you get to work…
MCDONALD: Yeah, pigeonhole me. It’s better working than not working.
CS: Obviously, pigeonholing connotes some bad things but how did you become so comfortable it or was it just as simple as, “You know what, I’m working. So who cares what other people think?”
MCDONALD: The whole thing in pigeonholing is when I see a movie I like to see someone like Daniel Day Lewis who is never the same in any part. That, to me, is tremendous chameleon character lead acting. Yes, when he has to play something that is close to himself, we’ve seen that before, but there is always a different spin on it. I thought there are other actors the audience won’t embrace in a different role. They wouldn’t embrace John Belushi, God rest his soul, as a guy that was trying to make a serious movie at times and no one went. So in my particular situation I try to do what I know the part calls for and if it’s left to me to add to it I am going to try something different or I’ll just try something more amped up if I think the scene needs it, or the movie needs it or the character needs it.
People seem to respond to that much more than playing it straight ahead ““ like Kevin Costner straight-ahead leading man guy you love, the movies that Gary Cooper and Clark Gable cut their teeth on. I’m much more of a character lead and I love dancing around the exterior ledge with one foot playing super real and another foot where you are going I can dance out here a little bit to make it more memorable, but it’s all dependent on the character.
CS: Right. And have you been offered roles where you are the lead and have to carry the film?
MCDONALD: Yes. I’ve had some success at things but they haven’t made the noise or, should I say, have the following that the other parts, the colorful parts, have. I did a wonderful movie written by the guy who wrote the Omen called the 18th Angel. We shot it in Italy. It was a terrific experience to play the lead guy who’s daughter had the devil come through her. Long story short, it was wonderful. Maximilian Schell was in the movie but it just was not promoted. When it’s out there in cable land it does quite well but I see something like that I just say, “I could have done it and kept on doing it.” I loved it. I was in almost every frame of the movie but parts like that don’t come my way that often. If it had become a big success it would have been a turn in my career but it wasn’t. I’ve done a couple other things like that on television shows. But people and ultimately employers really respond to how the audience responds to my character work.
CS: I find it very curious that you are out here stumping for a film that is now available on DVD. Why are you out here, again, stumping for a movie that has played and that now people might get the chance to see in the secondary market?
MCDONALD: I want more eyes on the prize. I think the movie is very funny and at the same time very true to life. There are kids like this ““ Thomas Middleditch who plays Justin ““ kids have no direction and takes this angel that comes to town to really kind of just kick him in gear. You see this guy in the formative time of his life.
I want people to see it. It’s just a fun movie. It’s won awards and accolades as far as audience awards and stuff like that. The reason I’m stumping for it is because I want more eyes on the prize. I would like people to check it out because I think they would have a good time.
CS: Being in the business for over three decades what’s the biggest change you see right now in terms of where you are right now versus where you started? Has the business changed from your perspective?
MCDONALD: The business has changed tremendously. There’s not as much work on television because of ““ even with all the new channels and things like that, the prime time gets all the attention ““ there are so many reality shows on.
They are cheap to make but it dumbs down the American people. If I want to watch the Kardashians who have all this money and watch people make all these dippy choices in their life, then a lot of it isn’t reality. “Would you be really angry at her please? Just try it out.” Kinda like walking on the Jerry Springer Show. You have to start a fight within a minute. That kind of stuff is manipulative and brings down the whole intelligence level of what defines entertainment. All the wonderful hours we used to do and comedies we used to do ““ there are so few left because of all the hours taken up by reality television. That said, it’s the most wonderful time in the world. If I was starting out now it would be completely different because of the ease of technology that makes everything ““ if I had a story to tell I would have started 13 years ago but back in my day videotape hadn’t really started yet.
Now you have a camcorder, tell a story, and cut it on your Mac and put music on it and you have a showcase. Fantastic. So that technology part is fantastic. The cable world is where I live when I watch television because I think they are breaking new ground.
Some of the greatest writing that’s done for television now is on cable and networks that are fighting for their hours. You pull Jay Leno down and that takes away 5 hours a night a week of programming? That’s massive. So it’s a very interesting time. A very scary time. Everything is going to be streaming ““ people will be going to their Blockbuster stores ““ saying, “What was that movie?” And boom, it’s on your phone right there. It’s movies now wherever you are which is fantastic because we’re always going to need good product and I would just love to ride the next wave which is going to be that whole streaming thing. I go to Sundance every year and watch the new developments in 3D ““ that’s what people are going to go to theaters for because they aren’t going to have 3D things in their house. It’s the whole communal thing of going to a movie and being blown away by 3D, Avatar, going, “Oh my god, that was an experience.” That stuff is exciting as hell. But for the most part I think it’s changed tremendously and I hope to grow with the process because I hope to be doing this until the day I die.
CS: If I could ask just one more question… I read that your family means a lot to you and the roles you choose are predicated on how close you can be to them. When you look at your career, is there any sort of hope that your family will think one way or the other about what you’ve done, your oeuvre of work? Any conscious choice to always put that at the forefront or is there sacrifice?
MCDONALD: There is always sacrifice. There are a lot of films that I don’t want my kids to see, Requiem for a Dream being one, until they are 21, and a lot of times I made the choice to do Disney movies. I would go after them so my kids could see what Daddy does.
And a lot of actors do this but the family becomes the most important thing once you hit a level of success. That’s what you really want. Want to share the whole thing. There are a lot of movies that take you away from that and when the kids were young the whole family went with me, like to Italy. It was a blessing. You can’t pull them out of soccer. You can’t pull them out of school. It’s pretty hard as they get older. But the best thing about technology is just Skype them or if you have a Mac, just iChat them and there you are sitting at the kitchen table. It’s a gift to look in their eyes that the generation before us just didn’t have. So as things change and life goes on you take the movies you really want to do and then sometimes take them because you need to pay the rent. But for the most part I’ve turned plenty of stuff down that I wouldn’t want my family to see but for the most part I try to find a way to make it palatable but you never know. Sometimes if it’s not on the page it’s not going to be on the stage.
Ken P. D. Snyde-Cast #136: 136 Skidoo
Adult Swim’s Dana Snyder and FRED’s Ken Plume set out to have a literate conversation between two pals, but inevitably devolve into a verbal, and funny, free-for-all full of bickering, infighting, and the special kind of male bonding that comes from conflict expressed through the podcast medium.
Actor/comedian/raconteur Dana Snyder, you’re certainly aware, is Aqua Teen Hunger Force’s Master Shake, Squidbillies‘ Granny, Minoriteam’s Dr. Wang, and The Venture Bros.‘ Alchemist. Available for weddings and bar mitzvahs (bat availability pending), you can keep tabs on him via his website, www.eyeofthesnyder.com.
Ken Plume is the editor-in-chief here at FRED. He is a friend of Dana’s, as well as his arch-nemesis.
VISIT THE SNYDECAST EXPERIENCE
KEN P.D. SNYDECAST #136: 136 Skidoo – Ken & Dana return with a pondering of the podcast’s future after a rather awkward start, but soon get back on the argumental horse.
[CONTENT WARNING]: This podcast may contain some foul language and horribly off-color jokes. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
DOWNLOAD: (right click to save)
Episode #136 (MP3 format)
[audio:http://traffic.libsyn.com/snydecast/ken_p_d_snyde_cast-136.mp3]
SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe to this Podcast via iTunes
Got something to say? E-mail Dana & Ken at the Snydecast mailbag.
CLICK HERE FOR THE SNYDECAST ARCHIVES
##
February 25, 2010
Comics in Context #234: Diary of a Wimpy Con Man
#234 (VOL. 2 #6): DIARY OF A WIMPY CON MAN
Most of us probably first saw Popeye in one of his hundreds of animated cartoons., but he originated in Elzie (E. C.) Segar’s newspaper comic strip Thimble Theatre in 1928. Although Thimble Theatre had been running for ten years when he made his debut, seemingly as a minor player for a single story arc, Popeye quickly became the lead in Segar’s large and colorful cast of characters. But only a handful of those characters made it to the screen in the animated cartoons produced by the Max Fleischer Studio in the 1930s and early 1940s, and by Paramount’s Famous Studios (the Fleischer Studio minus the Fleischers) in the 1940s and 1950s. Most of these cartoons followed a formula in which Popeye competed for Thimble Theatre leading lady Olive Oyl against his rival Bluto, who appeared relatively briefly in only a single storyline during Segar’s run on the strip. Popeye’s adopted baby Swee’pea, Poopdeck Pappy, Eugene the Jeep, and even, in one cartoon, the monstrous Goons also made it into some of the Fleischer cartoons.
But apart from the central Popeye-Olive-Bluto triangle, the Segar character who appeared most frequently onscreen was hamburger aficionado J. Wellington Wimpy. He even plays prominent roles in two of the Fleischers’ animated Popeye featurettes, Popeye Meets Sindbad the Sailor (1936) and Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba’s Forty Thieves (1937). This surely testifies to Wimpy’s popularity in the Popeye newspaper strip.
But Wimpy in the animated cartoons is only a superficial shadow of Segar’s great creation in the comic strip. Wimpy certainly acts in character in the Fleischer cartoons: he devours hamburgers when he has them, tries to mooch them when he doesn’t, using his trademark line “I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today,” and will even trail after a small bird in the hope of turning it into a meal. Basically the cartoons reduce Wimpy to the familiar stock comedy character of the glutton.
Recently Fantagraphics Books has been reprinting Segar’s Thimble Theatre from the storyline introducing Popeye in a handsome series of hardcover books, at the rate of one volume per year: they are now up to Volume Four. The cover of Volume Three features Wimpy himself, and I was surprised to discover that Wimpy dominates virtually all the Sunday strips included in this volume. Although Popeye is the lead character in the daily strips in this volume, he is more often than not Wimpy’s straight man in the Sunday strips in this collection. Indeed, it is clear that while Wimpy may be a minor supporting character in the animated cartoons. he is the second most important character in the Thimble Theatre newspaper strip, playing far more of a role than even Olive Oyl.
Wimpy is a variation on a character archetype that goes back to the ancient Roman comedies of Plautus and Terence: the parasite. This character type can be fixated on food and on trying to get food. But he does not turn to work to get his meal; rather, he lives off the charity of others, often deluging them with empty flattery to get what he wants.
One can see this aspect of Wimpy in the first Sunday in Fantagraphics’ Popeye Volume 3, from October 9, 1932. (As usual in these analytical essays, I issue a spoiler alert.) Popeye has been invited to Olive’s party, but realizes that he carries the odor from all the onions he has been eating. So Popeye sprays himself with perfume to compensate, but goes too far. At the party Olive and the guests are repelled by the overdose of perfume. Popeye leaves the party and retreats to his hangout, Rough-House’s restaurant, afflicted by melancholy: “I yam a misfit. I tries to do the right thing, but I yam always wrong.” This is an important part of Popeye’s appeal as a character. He may be the super-strong hero of the strip, but he is an outsider in society, ugly, uneducated, and maladroit at various social proprieties, with whom we can empathize. As a combination of proto-superhero and social misfit, Segar’s Popeye foreshadows the later Marvel superheroes.
In this moment of Popeye’s vulnerability, Wimpy showers him with praise. “My friend, you are heavenly,” Wimpy tells him, loudly sniffing his scent. “Your fragrance takes me back to childhood when I lay among the geraniums in my mother’s garden.” As Wimpy pours on the flowery flattery, he seemingly cannot help but reveal what is really on his mind, and what his true icon of beauty is: “Your most delightful perfume reminds me of blooming pastures wherein dwell cows, of which are made ground beef sandwiches.” And then Wimpy makes his pitch: “My friend, will you buy for me a hamburger?”
Popeye doesn’t fall for it: “No!” So Wimpy moves away from Popeye, takes a clothespin, affixes it on his nose to block the smell of Popeye’s perfume, and then looks over at Popeye with a deadpan expression on his face. Since Wimpy’s strategy didn’t work, he drops the flatterer’s mask. Popeye reacts in shock while Wimpy remains cool and quiet: if he can’t get a free hamburger out of Popeye he will take his revenge by letting Popeye know what he really thinks of his “heavenly” fragrance. And thus we see that Wimpy is no ordinary version of the comedy parasite.
Wimpy is also a variation on another comedy archetype that often turns up here in “Comics in Context,” and in the August 27, 1933 Sunday strip in this collection, he seems well aware of it. The strip opens with Popeye and Rough-House discussing how they are both fed up with Wimpy’s continual mooching. But soon they are instead puzzled as to why Wimpy hasn’t tried to mooch any burgers today. Wimpy explains that he injured his jaw and therefore can’t open his mouth wide enough to eat. Rather than feel sorry for him, Rough-House decides to take this opportunity to play “a mean trick” on Wimpy, and Popeye, Wimpy’s nemesis George W. Geezil (more about him later), and other patrons of Rough-House’s establishment gather to watch. Rough-House then presents Wimpy with “the finest hamburger I ever made,” a large burger indeed, for free. The other customers look on in amusement at the idea that Wimpy can see this burger but can’t eat it. With his usual deadpan expression, seemingly unwounded by this “mean trick,” Wimpy says he expected this from “my tricky friend.” Then he adds, “But as you can see, I too am quite tricky,” and he opens his mouth enormously wide, as if in a great, triumphant grin, and shoves the giant hamburger right in. J. Wellington Wimpy is, after all, one of the greatest trickster figures in comic and cartoon art.
In these early Sunday strips from 1932 and 1933 we can see Segar experimenting with Wimpy, developing the character, sometimes changing his mind about him, and experimenting with Popeye as well. Popeye has an ambivalent attitude towards Wimpy in these early strips, shifting back and forth, perhaps reflecting an ambivalence in Segar’s own attitude towards Wimpy.
In the October 20, 1932 strip Rough-House has grown so infuriated with Wimpy’s mooching that he pulls out a gun. But Popeye stops him, saying, “I sez ya ain’t gon’er shoot “˜im! He’s okay–it takes all kinds of people to make a world.” Nevertheless, there are already limits to Popeye’s tolerance. Rough-House’s restaurant is infested with flies as well as Wimpy (another kind of pest?). Popeye sprays Wimpy with sugar syrup, so the flies will swarm around him, lures Wimpy outside with a hamburger, but then puts the burger on the branch of a tree, out of Wimpy’s grasp. Back at Rough-House’s Popeye laughs at having rid Rough-House of both his problems.
But in the following Sunday, Nov. 6, 1932, Wimpy returns, with the flies still following him. One of Wimpy’s admirable qualities is his persistence; like Popeye, he (usually) doesn’t give up. Rough-House puts a hamburger in a basket attached to a dog, which then runs out of the restaurant, with Wimpy in pursuit. Popeye is displeased, apparently feeling that Rough-House has gone too far. But Popeye is amused when Wimpy returns with both the dog and the burger. “As a rule, gentlemen,” Wimpy declares, “I am an inactive man, but when there’s a sandwich at stake, I am both limber of leg and fleet of foot.”
Popeye seems to admire Wimpy’s triumph here. For one thing, Popeye tends to sympathize with underdogs, and for another, Popeye has much more of a sense of humor than Wimpy’s adversaries Rough-House and Geezil. Moreover, Wimpy has pulled off a feat of sorts here by catching up with the dog. In these strips Wimpy is repeatedly called a “loafer,” but as he himself observes, he is very willing to exert himself in pursuit of his goal, the hamburger. Wimpy has no regular job, but perhaps his true vocation is trickery: he certainly works to persuade people to feed him.
Something else notable about Wimpy is his sense of dignity. Notice his elegant use of language in that previous quotation. He is an unemployed man who is continually, in effect, begging for food. But there does not come off as an aggressive beggar who might repel the readers, nor does he seem pathetic. Even as he does undignified things he has a certain dignity in his manner and his speech, as if what he is doing is utterly respectable, as if his attempts to con people out of hamburgers is a job like any other. There are exceptions, as we shall see, when his hunger gets the better of him.
Significantly, in the January 15, 1933 strip, when, urged by Popeye, Rough-House offers Wimpy hamburgers and spinach for free, Wimpy protests, “I cannot accept charity, my friend. Charge this to my account.” Rough-House points out, “You ain’t got no account.” Wimpy proudly replies, “Then take it away,” before his hunger gets the better of him, and he ads, “Leave it here.” This suggests that Wimpy’s sense of dignity prevents him from admitting to being a beggar or a charity case. Hence, when Wimpy promises to pay somebody Tuesday for a hamburger today, he isn’t just conning someone: Wimpy is trying to maintain the fiction that he is not the desperately impoverished man he actually is. (As Rough-House notes at one point, Wimpy never shows up on Tuesdays.)
Though Wimpy does not actively seek out work, he is not opposed to employment. He regularly serves as the referee in Popeye’s boxing matches, and in these strips when someone offers Wimpy a job, he accepts. For example, in the Nov 27, 1932 strip Popeye suggests that Rough-House give Wimpy a job shooting the mice infesting the restaurant. (Rough-House’s diner is clearly not of the highest caliber.) Wimpy accepts but then keeps missing the mice when he shoots and fears he will never succeed. But then Wimpy finds a mouse caught in a mousetrap, shoots it, and turns it in to Rough-House in exchange for a hamburger. Wimpy continues to show Rough-House the sane mouse over and over, pretending it is a different one each time, and getting a burger each time. Popeye is about to tell Rough-House that Wimpy is cheating when Wimpy looks fixedly at Popeye and says emphatically, “My good friend–I am hungry–very hungry.” Popeye shuts up.
Reading this strip, I felt as if the comedian, Wimpy, had suddenly revealed the pain behind his comedy. Segar created Wimpy during the Great Depression; these strips were published in the early 1930s, when many people were indeed jobless and going hungry. Maybe this fact helps explain Wimpy’s popularity with newspaper strip readers of the 1930s: here is a penniless man who is a survivor, who lives by his wits, persists and retains his dignity, even though he is reduced to living on the charity of others. Wimpy’s mooching may make us smile, but it is something he must do to survive.
So in the next Sunday strip, December 4, 1932, when Rough-House complains that Wimpy is just a “loafer,” Popeye retorts, “Rough-House, ya got to take people for what they are–Wimpy is what he is–the same as I yam what I yam.” Wimpy may not pursue getting work, but Popeye, at this point, is not about to penalize Wimpy for that. Popeye recognizes that Wimpy is simply behaving according to his essential character, and wants Rough-House to be more tolerant of that, perhaps implying that Rough-House should indeed help feed him.
This strip too raises the curtain on the sadder aspect of Wimpy’s existence. Wimpy notes that he has “no friends, no pals.” Perhaps, then, when he elsewhere calls Popeye “my friend,” Wimpy isn’t just flattering him: he seems to long for friends to help him, indeed, for companionship. In this Sunday strip Wimpy even declares, perhaps alluding to the Depression, “It’s a cruel world. Better I should be dead–no longer can I stand my hunger.” Seeing Wimpy head for a pier, Popeye even fears that Wimpy will commit suicide. But instead he finds Wimpy simply fishing for food. Once again, this is a a source of Wimpy’s appeal: he doesn’t let this “cruel world” destroy him but keeps trying to survive in it, hoping for the best. Maybe he will catch a fish.
In the January 1, 1933 Sunday strip Rough-House complains that if he shoots Wimpy, he’ll be hanged. Again Popeye counsels tolerance, and perhaps having a sense of humor, telling Rough-House that he “takes life too serious.”
In this Sunday installment Wimpy discovers he has just inherited $25 from an uncle, a tiny sum that nonetheless seems huge in the context of this strip. Nos that Wimpy can actually afford to pay him, Rough-House plies him with food. But while Wimpy is eating, he is besieged by bill collectors, who claim all of his inheritance. And so when it comes time to pay for his dinner, Wimpy once again resorts to his trademark pledge of paying you next Tuesday. Rough-House seethes with angry frustration but Popeye is amused by the absurdity of it all. Wimpy, seemingly sincere, tries to comfort Rough-House by saying, “Cheer up, my friend–I have another uncle.” Again, Wimpy is characteristically optimistic: maybe someday he will get another inheritance.
In the October 30, 1932 strip, not only was Wimpy not bothered by the flies in Rough-House’s cafe, but he said that flies liked him: “That’s because I’m sympathetic to all dumb animals.” At the start of the January 8, 1933 Sunday strip, Popeye too feels sympathy for an animal when he sees a man kick a dog. “Poor little swab,” Popeye says, comforting the dog; then, outraged, he calls to the dog’s tormentor, addressing him as if he were the real animal–“Ahoy, ya beask!”–and then beating him up. Popeye then takes the dog to Rough-House’s to feed him hamburgers. Wimpy begins barking at the dog, who then brings the burgers to Wimpy. “Lissen, Wimpy, the first time was funny,” says Popeye in annoyance, “but now yer tryin’ to take advantage of a dumb animal.” Popeye has sympathy towards “dumb animals,” but it appears that Wimpy actually speaks the dog’s language. That implies that Wimpy is somehow closer to the world of nature than even Popeye is, though each is an outsider in his own way in the world of human society.
So there is a lot more to Wimpy’s character than first meets the eye, and we shall see still more in weeks to come.
–Copyright 2010 Peter Sanderson
Follow me on Twitter (@PeterJSanderson) and at Facebook Comic Con.
Musical MySpace Tour #6
There are occasions that I wonder if I do this column because I love MySpace or if I do it because I needed to find a use for MySpace.
It’s true when people say that the place is a waste-ground these days. Most people have migrated to Facebook. And yeah, Facebook is good and all but it’s still not designed for music. This is what MySpace is fantastic for. There is nothing out there that is designed as accessible for music as MySpace and in the end this is what I’m hoping to highlight here.
Little nobodies can have a page that looks and can be used as well as a professional’s page. Unfortunately they can also be disasters. Some people aren’t helping themselves out, for example dotdotdot (http://www.myspace.com/dotdotdotnz), who sent me a friend request. I click the link only to find a huge banner to say that the band will not be using this url anymore and have changed to a new one. They have, however, only tried to add me with this seemingly dead profile. No review for you.
It’s a shame that no-one this week had a video on their page to go along with their music play-lists. I find they can be a great help with getting to know a band/musician and connect with them a little bit. But as with my experience, a lot of folks think the music will speak for itself. When you’re dealing with MySpace bands though, maybe they’re better off staying quiet.
————————————————————————
KARL ELAND
www.myspace.com/karlelandireland
There is a section on MySpace band profiles that allows you to list your musical influences. It’s helpfully labelled “Influences”. It can often be interesting to see the type of music a musician listens to themselves. Unfortunately it can also have a massive downside because you instantly draw comparisons. Comparisons are fine when it’s “he writes songs with a similar theme to…” or “this particular drum beat can be likened to…” etc. It’s not fine, however, when you listen and think “he sounds exactly like…” and unfortunately this is the case for Karl Eland.
Karl, from Preston in England, is like mini-Springsteen. He’s not The Boss though, he’s just an assistant manager. I wouldn’t say Karl is doing an impression of Bruce Springsteen but when he lists him in his “Influences” section, he REALLY means it.
The songs aren’t bad though. In fact, Springsteen could probably add these to an album and nobody would blink. The main thing that holds Karl back, for me, is that his voice isn’t as strong as the songs he’s singing. A bit more power would add endlessly more conviction to what are essentially songs written about blue-collar rebellion. The sound is decent, especially considering how much production money I’m sure he has behind him. Overall, it’s hard to complain… if it wasn’t for the fact that I just can’t get the Springsteen comparisons out of my head. And unfortunately, when you’re being compared to such a legendary name in music you’re only going to come off poorly.
On a side note; I’ve noticed this a few times before. This is not Eland’s only MySpace page. He has them for different countries. Karlelandusa and just plain karleland also exist. What is the point of this? You’re just splitting up your hits. Surely this is a waste of time?
Presentation = 3/5
Content = Not a lot. 3 songs and not much else.
Music = 3/5
Friend Request = DENIED!
————————————————————————–
WASHINGTON’S CROSSING
www.myspace.com/washingtons2crossing
If the pictures are anything to go by, Washington’s Crossing have had a bit of a revolving line-up. That can be a worrying factor as it could indicate to something “not quite right” within the group but it could also keep things interesting musically if each new member has their own input into the songs.
The first song on the play-list is a little ditty called Who is the Antichrist which, I swear to Buddha, sounds just like a Spinal Tap song to me. I actually had to double check it wasn’t a cover. When I was looking at pictures of the band I thought that this sound didn’t match up with the image. Then the next song played called We’re all welcome here, a jangly, almost reggae, island number and I realised… none of this matches up! Not the band, not the music. It’s like a mix-tape of crap.
Either they’re a subtle, subversive parody band or they don’t get the joke. It’s hard to tell. I feel like if I saw this band play Don’t Say in the background of the bar in Cocktail neither I nor Tom Cruise would blink. Although that might just have something to do with the coke in Tom’s case. Allegedly.
I could go on about the possible religious angle to the band but it’s probably not worth starting that snowball. Needless to say “the devil is evil”, as a concept, is mentioned a lot. Rock on with your good selves.
I will say though, as a rare positive, whoever plays guitar on Not that I’m Crazy does a classy job. It’s even a catchy tune. So it’s not all bad.Presentation = 2/5
Content = Loads of pictures and enough songs but no video, which would have been welcomed.
Music = 2/5
Friend Request = DENIED!
————————————————————————
BACON MOON
www.myspace.com/baconmoon
Bacon Moon is a band I tried to review before (during the hard drive debacle of January 10) and I remember at the time being, for once, mildly positive. It’s nice to get a second chance. However, if memory serves me right, it seems that they have changed the songs on their play-list since then. So, I must start this review fresh and pretend like I wasn’t paying attention the first time because I really do take my time to review all these bands fairly and with no bias.
Honestly.
Stop looking at me like that.
This may surprise a lot of people, including the band, but there is a lot of stuff here that I like. Despite the sound being distinctly low-tech garage band, they have that feel from a golden age of rock (for me) which is the early 90s grunge era. I’m not saying that Bacon Moon sound like a grunge bad, not in the slightest, but they are definitely influenced by other bands from that period. Simple Life could be a Pavement song and Like To Try it could be taken from an IRS era R.E.M. album. It’s in Simple Life also where I think the lead singer does his best job and is the highlight of the play-list for me. I understand that each member contributes to the vocals and I appreciate that not every singer can have a Meatloaf range but I’m a firm believer in people knowing their range and working with it. In some songs such as Stuck his voice becomes a whine and it completely grates on you. I’m sure it’s a different person taking lead on each song but as a MySpace browser it’s hard to distinguish who from who so I’m going to assume that maybe someone should stick to back-up.
Overall it’s just hard to get a handle on Bacon Moon. There is a touch of everything in the songs and in the end it just adds up to something clustered and messy. I don’t know if this is because of a looseness in the instruments or just that maybe the band members aren’t taking themselves seriously enough. I get the impression that Nick, Jon and “db” might be just having fun. If so, kudos to them for enjoying themselves but I honestly believe that if they put their minds to it they could make a really good CD.
I think I’m going to dig out my copy of Murmur.
Presentation = 1/5
Content = Not a lot. A good few songs though.
Music = 3/5
Friend Request = DENIED!
————————————————————————–
THE TIRADES
www.myspace.com/tirades
Was this recorded on a phone? Dear god. It’s so tinny and just maxes out every five seconds.
I can’t review this as it’s murder on my ears. I might even have given them a good score, because what I could make out through all the noise seemed good but if you can’t get your act together and create a decent recording of it you’re not getting a good score from me.
This sort of thing is important, lads.There are some better recorded songs on the play-list but they seem to be credited to a different band, which is a previous incarnation.
No, this is all wrong.*runs for the exit*
Presentation = 0/5
Content = An “About Me” section… and noise.
Music = 1/5
Friend Request = DENIED!
– If you’d like to have your music reviewed (or at the very least made fun of) by Aaron on this column, just head over to www.myspace.com/aaronhbp and send him a friend request. He’ll then add you to his list of problems.
February 24, 2010
Paul Dini’s JINGLE BELLE: #04
Santa Claus gets along with every child except one ““ his own feisty teen-age daughter, JINGLE BELLE. Jingle’s creator Paul Dini (Batman: The Animated Series, Gotham City Sirens) and illustrator Stephanie Gladden (Hopster’s Tracks, Girls of Monster Paradise) present ALL NEW Jing strips here at FRED. Check in each Thursday for more arctic antics!
CLICK BELOW FOR THIS WEEK’S STRIP
Jingle Belle and all related characters ™ & ® 2010 Paul Dini all rights reserved
Contest Round-Up: 2010-02-24
Welcome to our weekly round-up of featured giveaways here at FRED. Every Wednesday, we’ll present a new clutch of DVDs, books, and other cool stuff you can take a shot at winning. All you have to do is click on the graphics below to be taken to their respective contest pages. And good luck!
In conjunction with Warner Bros. Home Video, we’re giving away six (6) copies of WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE on both Blu-Ray & DVD.
In conjunction with Fox Home Video, we’re giving away three (3) copies of COLD SOULS on DVD.
In conjunction with Shout Factory Home Video, we’re giving away five (5) copies of ELVIS on DVD.
In conjunction with Comedy Central Records, we’re giving away three (3) copies of SONGS OF THE SARAH SILVERMAN PROGRAM on CD.
In conjunction with Faber & Faber, we’re giving away four (4) copies of THE QI “G” ANNUAL.
In conjunction with Hasbro, we’re giving away a MARVEL UNIVERSE: IRON MAN Figure.
Win a MARVEL UNIVERSE: IRON MAN Figure!
In conjunction with Hasbro, we’re giving away a MARVEL UNIVERSE: IRON MAN Figure.
Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, March 17th.
CLOSED! THANKS FOR ENTERING!
Official Rules
No member of FRED Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.
No Purchase necessary to win.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
One entry per day, per person.
All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, March 17th.
The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.
Win THE QI “G” ANNUAL!
In conjunction with Faber & Faber, we’re giving away four (4) copies of THE QI “G” ANNUAL.
Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, March 17th.
CLOSED! THANKS FOR ENTERING!
Official Rules
No member of FRED Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.
No Purchase necessary to win.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
One entry per day, per person.
All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, March 17th.
The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.
Win SONGS OF THE SARAH SILVERMAN PROGRAM on CD!
In conjunction with Comedy Central Records, we’re giving away three (3) copies of SONGS OF THE SARAH SILVERMAN PROGRAM on CD.
Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, March 17th.
CLOSED! THANKS FOR ENTERING!
Official Rules
No member of FRED Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.
No Purchase necessary to win.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
One entry per day, per person.
All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, March 17th.
The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.
Win ELVIS on DVD!
In conjunction with Shout Factory Home Video, we’re giving away five (5) copies of ELVIS on DVD.
Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, March 17th.
Official Rules
No member of FRED Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.
No Purchase necessary to win.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
One entry per day, per person.
All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, March 17th.
The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.
Win COLD SOULS on DVD!
In conjunction with Fox Home Video, we’re giving away three (3) copies of COLD SOULS on DVD.
Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, March 17th.
Official Rules
No member of FRED Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.
No Purchase necessary to win.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
One entry per day, per person.
All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, March 17th.
The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.
Win WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE on Blu-Ray & DVD!
In conjunction with Warner Bros. Home Video, we’re giving away six (6) copies of WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE on both Blu-Ray & DVD.
Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, March 17th.
CLOSED! THANKS FOR ENTERING!
Official Rules
No member of FRED Entertainment or their immediate families may enter.
No Purchase necessary to win.
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
One entry per day, per person.
All submitted entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, March 17th.
The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.
Bagged & Boarded 48: “Well, slap my face and bury me in a cow!”
What happens when two young men let their love of movies, comic books, and all things “geek” take over their lives? They run away from their families, bringing only the most essential DVDs and comics to their secret, highly fortified underground bunker in sunny Southern California, where they start recording podcasts that will change the world.
Are they heroes?
No.
Are they geniuses?
Far from it.
Are they the future of this planet?
I sure hope not.
Simply put… Matt Cohen and Jesse Rivers are “Bagged and Boarded”.
BAGGED & BOARDED #48: “Well, slap my face and bury me in a cow!” – In which Matt and Jesse discuss the ongoing Winter Olympics, chat about the new game HEAVY RAIN, and jaw on one of the stranger hypotheticals the show has seen. Do it to it, like you love it.
[CONTENT WARNING]: This podcast may contain some foul language and horribly off-color jokes. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
DOWNLOAD: (right click to save)
Episode #48 (MP3 format)
[audio:http://traffic.libsyn.com/baggedboarded/bagged_boarded-48.mp3]
SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe to this Podcast via iTunes
Got something to say? E-mail Matt & Jesse at the B & B mailbag.
CLICK HERE FOR THE BAGGED & BOARDED ARCHIVES
##
FREDagator: 2010-02-24
Oh, Japan. CGI has finally caught up to your filmmaking crazy…
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February 22, 2010
Masters Of Song Fu #6: Round 2 Voting Begins
We here at FRED are true lovers of music, in all its forms. We’re also quite keen on the spirit of competition, and of spurring creativity through said competition.
To that end, we launched a unique form of creative combat.
In this age of manufactured and painfully earnest talent contests, we’ve decided to instead shine a light on the quirky, quixotic underworld of musicians that don’t get nearly the attention they deserve.
Ah, but I did mention that there was a competition involved…
Like a songwriting version of Iron Chef, the competitors will be presented with a very specific songwriting challenge. They’ll be given one week to complete their songs – however they see fit, within the parameters set forth – after which time the entries will be uploaded to FRED to be voted on by you, the audience.
At the end of the 3rd Challenge, the two Challengers with the most votes will face off, mano a mano for the title of…
MASTER OF SONG FU
However, there may yet be one final challenge for this newly crowned Master – for they very well might (if the stars align and schedules permit) face off against one of the LEGENDARY MASTERS – artists like Jonathan Coulton, Paul & Storm, Neil Innes, Doc Hammer, & The RiffTones. Think of them as the iron chefs of Song Fu – one of which may or may not be revealed as your ultimate challenge. Only the wheel of uncertainty can predict (and even then, not).
So what was the first Challenge?
ROUND 1 CHALLENGE
Write a song that is about (or at least has key to the central narrative) RAIN (the meteorological phenomena). At some point (or throughout) the song, you must utilize an instrument (or vocals) that represent the rain. You are free to write your song in any style that you choose.
That’s it. The only other directive is that your song must run no shorter than 1 minute 30 seconds.
And then our Challengers were given their Round 2 Challenge…
ROUND 2 CHALLENGE
Write a song that does not rhyme.
CLARIFICATION: Your song can be in any style, but must not contain any rhymes of 2 dissimilar words within a traditional verse structure. Exact repetition of a phrase or word is permitted. Your song must run no shorter than 1 minute 30 seconds..
If you want some inspiration, here’s a number song from The Muppets…
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/rhymingsong.mp3]
You’ll find the Round 1 and Round 2 songs from each of our Challengers below, as well as the results of the Round 1 voting. More importantly, though, you’ll find the voting form for the Round 2 Challenge tunes!
THE CHALLENGERS
MIKE LOMBARDO
Official Website: www.mikelombardomusic.com
Twitter: twitter.com/mikelombardo
ROUND 1 SONG: “Sit And Watch The Rain”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/mike_lombardo-sit_and_watch_the_rain.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “I Found You”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/mike_lombardo-i_found_you.mp3]
EDRIC HALEEN
Official Website: happinessboard.com/Edric_Haleen.html
ROUND 1 SONG: “In The Rain”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/edric_haleen-in_the_rain.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “This Song Doesn’t Rhyme”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/edric_haleen-this_song_doesnt_rhyme.mp3]
GODZ POODLZ
Official Website: godzpoodlz.bandcamp.com
ROUND 1 SONG: “Rain Is Pouring Down”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/godz_poodlz-rain_is_pouring_down.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “Blue Sky Thinking”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/godz_poodlz-blue_sky_thinking.mp3]
SPENCER SOKOL
Official Website: www.spencersokol.com
Twitter: twitter.com/spencersokol
ROUND 1 SONG: “Reservations”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/spencer_sokol-reservations.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “Minus”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/spencer_sokol-minus.mp3]
KYLIE PETTO
Official Website: NONE
Twitter: twitter.com/KyliePettoROUND 1 SONG: “Robby”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/kylie_petto-robby.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “All These Knives”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/kylie_petto-all_these_knives.mp3]
CALEB HINES
Official Website: refactoringmybrain.blogspot.com
Twitter: twitter.com/calebhinesROUND 1 SONG: “Water Cycle”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/caleb_hines-water_cycle.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliaphobia”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/caleb_hines-hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliaphobia.mp3]
BOFFO YUX DUDES
Official Website: www.boffoyux.com
Twitter: twitter.com/boffoyuxdudes
ROUND 1 SONG: “Reign of the King”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/boffo_yux_dudes-reign_of_the_king.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “Al’s Blues”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/boffo_yux_dudes-als_blues.mp3]
DENISE HUDSON
Official Website: denisehudson.bandcamp.comTwitter: twitter.com/RangerDenni
ROUND 1 SONG: “Rain”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/denise_hudson-rain.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “Something Very Horrible (Bluebeard’s Lament)”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/denise_hudson-something_very_horrible_bluebeards_lament.mp3]
“BUCKETHAT” BOBBY MATHESON
Official Website: www.buckethatbobby.randomsociety.com
Twitter: twitter.com/BucketHatBobby
ROUND 1 SONG: “Forget About The Rain”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/buckethat_bobby_matheson-forget_about_the_rain.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “I’m Fine (Could Be Worse)”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/buckethat_bobby_matheson-im_fine_could_be_worse.mp3]
IAN “TWO SHADES” JOHNSON
Official Website: ianjohnson.bandcamp.com
ROUND 1 SONG: “Downpour”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/ian_two_shades_johnson-downpour.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “Two Words”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/ian_two_shades_johnson-two_words.mp3]
GORBZILLA
Official Website: gorbzilla.blogspot.com
ROUND 1 SONG: “Freezing Rain”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/gorbzilla-freezing_rain.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “A Song About This Song”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/gorbzilla-a_song_about_this_song.mp3]
GOVERNING DYNAMICS
Official Website: governingdynamics.bandcamp.com
Twitter: twitter.com/travisnorris
ROUND 1 SONG: “Rain in Chicago”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/governing_dynamics-rain_in_chicago.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “Restrictions”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/governing_dynamics-restrictions.mp3]
ZER0GUY
Official Website: www.myspace.com/zer0guyband
ROUND 1 SONG: “Thundercade”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/zer0guy-thundercade.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “Guitar Tonite”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/zer0guy-guitar_tonite.mp3]
JUTZE SCHULT
Official Website: www.jutze.com
Twitter: twitter.com/schult
ROUND 1 SONG: “Kingdom Of Rain”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/jutze_schult-kingdom_of_rain.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “Communication Removal”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/jutze_schult-communication_removal.mp3]
LEIGH & HOOVER
Official Website: www.cratchit.org/music
ROUND 1 SONG: “Summer Rain”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/leigh_and_hoover-summer_rain.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “We Do What We Do”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/leigh_and_hoover-we_do_what_we_do.mp3]
COMMON LISP
Official Website: commonlisp.bandcamp.com
Twitter: twitter.com/paulrpotts
ROUND 1 SONG: “Polly Loves the Rain”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/common_lisp-polly_loves_the_rain.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “War Criminal”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/common_lisp-war_criminal.mp3]
GLEN RAPHAEL
Official Website: youtube.com/glenra
ROUND 1 SONG: “Can’t See The Sky”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/glen_raphael-cant_see_the_sky.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “Song That Doesn’t Rhyme”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/glen_raphael-song_that_doesnt_rhyme.mp3]
INVERSE T. CLOWN
Official Website: toomuchawesome.ning.com/profile/InverseTClown
ROUND 1 SONG: “Sexy In The Rain”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/inverse_t_clown-sexy_in_the_rain.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “An Angry Rant”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/inverse_t_clown-an_angry_rant.mp3]
JEFF MacDOUGALL
Official Website: www.jeffmacdougall.com
Twitter: twitter.com/jeffmacdougall
ROUND 1 SONG: “Beautiful Day”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/jeff_macdougall-beautiful_day.mp3]
ROUND 2 SONG: “Ken Plume Is To Blame”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/jeff_macdougall-ken_plume_is_to_blame.mp3]
TARYN MILLER
Official Website: myspace.com/chellenesuperstar
ROUND 1 SONG: “Crowded And Clouded”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/taryn_miller-crowded_and_clouded.mp3]
To download a ZIP FILE containing all of the ROUND 2 songs, CLICK HERE.
To download a ZIP FILE containing all of the ROUND 1 songs, CLICK HERE.
ROUND 2 VOTING
And now, it’s time for the voting. For this round, you can choose your TOP 5 FAVORITE Challenger songs. Be sure to choose carefully. VOTING CLOSES AT 11:59pm EST on SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27th, and THE NEXT CHALLENGE WILL BE REVEALED ON FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26th. If you are having trouble voting, CLEAR YOUR BROWSER’S CACHE and try again. PLEASE NOTE: This voting system bases voting eligibility on your IP Address. If there are other computers on a home or business network that share the same IP address through a router, it may say you’ve already voted. Unfortunately, there is no way around this, and still be able to prevent ballot stuffing. It’s just the nature of the online voting beast.
ROUND 2 VOTING – THE CHALLENGERS
[poll id=”25″]
ROUND 1 VOTING RESULTS
[poll id=”24″]
SHADOW ENTRIES
JOE “COVENANT” LAMB
Official Website: joecovenant.bandcamp.com
Twitter: twitter.com/JoeCovenantROUND 1 SHADOW SONG: “Rain”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song1/shadow_song-joe_covenant_lamb-rain.mp3]
ROUND 2 SHADOW SONG: “The “Jay Is Awesome” Polka”
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/06song2/shadow_song-joe_covenant_lamb-the_jay_is_awesome_polka.mp3]
If you triumph, not only will you win remarkable (and potentially off-putting) bragging rights and a clutch of fantastic mystery prizes, you will also become the proud owner of the magnificent, one-of-a-kind MASTER OF SONG FU TROPHY.
Good luck, and bring on the Fu.
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TV Or Not TV: 2/22 – 2/28
Welcome back, folks, to another pathetic and useless week of television.
That’s a nice cheerful intro, right? I know, I guess I’m a little bit grouchy this week because I have no interest in watcing the Olympics and most of the channels out there are barely even trying to compete. This sets me in a bad mood especially when I have to, in a few paragraphs, start writing about what to watch this week.
I suppose I’m also in a bad mood because something that premiered last week was something I was looking forward to but was let down. If you’ve never heard of THE RICKY GERVAIS SHOW than you were the target audience for the premiere of a new animated show of the same name last Friday night on HBO. The TV show is the repurposing of the podcast that took the Internet by storm in 2005 (if memory serves, sorry…. I’m just too lazy to look it up and confirm). In concept I think the idea is great and in some cases I’ve see it work very well.
When it comes to the animated version of THE RICKY GERVAIS SHOW I must be biased because I’ve already heard a lot of the content. I also wasn’t fond of the animation itself and I found that it didn’t add very much to the discussions. Yes it helped to bring elements of the story to the visual medium but Gervais himself is already such an animated person to watch that I found his Fred Flintstone-without-personality animated character to be a bit of a distraction.
Another show that premiered this past Friday on HBO was the FUNNY OR DIEÂ but I am somewhat hesitant to recommend it. The premiere episode had a decent gem with the Drunken History sketch. The others sketches (or short comedy bits or whatever you want to call them) left me wanting to vote more int he Die category but on my TV there was no way to vote.
Now that I’ve given these two glowing reviews let’s move on to the other weak choices that we have available this week.
MONDAY
FOX – 9:00 PM: Last week on 24 stuff started hitting the fan and this week they are looking for scape goats. Yeah, that’s some actions.
TNT – 10:00 PM: Men of a Certain Age has it’s season finale tonight. Haven’t watched a single episode. I’m a great TV critic aren’t I?
ABC – 10:00 PM: Yes I’d happily take a repeat of CASTLE over most of the other crap that’s on this week.
ABC FAMILY – 10:00 PM: Yes I watch GREEK and they just got picked up for another season. Good on them.
TUESDAY
ABC – 9:00 PM: Last week on LOST we learned something about why these people are on the ISLAND. This week we learn more. Oh yeah, CLAIRE is also back. I also don’t give a crap about anything else on TV tonight.
WEDNESDAY
ABC – 11:00 AM: OCTOMOM drops in on THE VIEW. Unless WHOOPI asks her, “BITCH ARE YOU CRAZY?!?” this just can’t go the way I want.
ABC – 2:00 PM: I don’t watch ONE LIFE TO LIVEÂ but a guest appearance by SNOOP DOGG could get me to tune in. When he’s on is it One Lifel to Double LIZAL?
USA – 10:00 PM: On PSYCH GUS and SHAWN join a group trying to stopy a tycoon from getting murdered by thinking up the perfect murder. Naw, that can’t back fire at all. Wasn’t this also a plot on ALIAS?
THURSDAY
CBS – 8:00 PM: I am really enjoying SURVIVOR: HEROES VS. VILLAINS even though no one is wearing spandex.
FOX – 8:00 PM: Tonight the dream of four hopefullys will be crushed on live television in the first national vote results show for AMERICAN IDOL.
FRIDAY
FOX – 8:00 PM: I’m sure I lose credibility in admitting that I like BLADES OF GLORY but at least I’ll be watching some type of Winter Olympic sport, even if it is totally fake and awkward.
THE CW – 8:00 PM: Apparently the KANDORIANS revived a dead physician and he thanks them by trying to convince the world that it’s being invaded by aliens on SMALLVILLE. OK, even this description confuses me.
SATURDAY
ABC – 8:00 PM: Another Saturday night with the Alphabet airing a boy wizard movie as they roll out HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX.
AMC – 8:00 PM: Remember when FORREST GUMP was leading edge film making technology? Those crazy blue cat people mock Gump now, but it was something back in the day.
A&E – 8:00 PM: Another guilty pleasaure film that I never have admitted here (I don’t think, again too lazy to verify) is GONE IN 60 SECONDS.
SUNDAY
ABC – 9:00 PM: I think the producers of DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES are trying to make sure they get more of a male demographic: the former stripper is now living with KATHERINEÂ and they’ve got the hots for one another.
NBC – 10:30 PM: We’ve heard a lot about THE MARRIAGE REF and tonight we get our first glimpse of it. Some random guy and a celebrity panel help people’s marriages. I admit I’m curious.
– WILL WILINS will try to be a bit perkier next week.
February 21, 2010
FREDagator: 2010-02-21
Rufus Hound performs ‘Fight For This Love’ – Let’s Dance for Sport Relief
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February 19, 2010
Ken P. D. Snyde-Cast #135: A Low-Key What If
Adult Swim’s Dana Snyder and FRED’s Ken Plume set out to have a literate conversation between two pals, but inevitably devolve into a verbal, and funny, free-for-all full of bickering, infighting, and the special kind of male bonding that comes from conflict expressed through the podcast medium.
Actor/comedian/raconteur Dana Snyder, you’re certainly aware, is Aqua Teen Hunger Force’s Master Shake, Squidbillies‘ Granny, Minoriteam’s Dr. Wang, and The Venture Bros.‘ Alchemist. Available for weddings and bar mitzvahs (bat availability pending), you can keep tabs on him via his website, www.eyeofthesnyder.com.
Ken Plume is the editor-in-chief here at FRED. He is a friend of Dana’s, as well as his arch-nemesis.
VISIT THE SNYDECAST EXPERIENCE
KEN P.D. SNYDECAST #135: A Low-Key What If – Ken & Dana return with a laryngital cast that aims to be mellow, but blows up into a dessert debate and just goes downhill from there.
[CONTENT WARNING]: This podcast may contain some foul language and horribly off-color jokes. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
DOWNLOAD: (right click to save)
Episode #135 (MP3 format)
[audio:http://traffic.libsyn.com/snydecast/ken_p_d_snyde_cast-135.mp3]
SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe to this Podcast via iTunes
Got something to say? E-mail Dana & Ken at the Snydecast mailbag.
CLICK HERE FOR THE SNYDECAST ARCHIVES
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Cabin Fever 87: To Kill A Leprechaun
Oh no! Just when you thought it was safe to hang out at the FRED…
Cabin Fever (hosted by the twisted souls Brian Fitzpatrick and Aaron Poole) is the result of having too much time on your hands and access to your local community radio station.
Over the course of an hour, they manage to trawl the depths of good taste, plus throw some music in. How much more could you want from a podcast?… Quality? Oh… we didn’t think of that.
Enjoy! And we hope our cross Atlantic friends can understand the Irish accent 😉
Hugs and Kisses,
Aaron P. + Rev. Fitzy
CABIN FEVER #87: To Kill A Leprechaun – This week, Brian and Aaron are joined by the puppet master Ken Plume. He manages to pull the strings and direct conversation through fairy museums, movies, and harmonica dueling. Music is provided by the sexiest band on earth, Le Sexoflex, and the most illegal Los Fahina.
[CONTENT WARNING]: Explicit contents! We say every naughty word you can think of. You have been warned!
DOWNLOAD: (right click to save)
Episode #87 (MP3 format)
[audio:http://traffic.libsyn.com/cabinfever/cabin_fever_87.mp3]
SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe to this Podcast via iTunes
Got something to say? E-mail Aaron & Brian at the Cabin Fever mailbag.
CLICK HERE FOR THE CABIN FEVER ARCHIVES
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