FRED Entertainment

November 18, 2009

Bagged & Boarded Go Commentatin’: Beetlejuice

Filed under: Bagged & Boarded — Tags: , , , , — UncaScroogeMcD @ 3:15 am

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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”.

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BAGGED & BOARDED GO COMMENTATIN’: Beetlejuice – In which Matt and Jesse take a break from annoying each other to annoy each other while BEETLEJUICE plays in the background.

[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 Stand By Me (MP3 format) ““ 86.87 MB

[audio:http://traffic.libsyn.com/baggedboarded/bagged_boarded-beetlejuice.mp3]

SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe to this Podcast via iTunes

Got something to say? E-mail Matt & Jesse at the B & B mailbag.

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CLICK HERE FOR THE BAGGED & BOARDED ARCHIVES

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November 17, 2009

Masters Of Song Fu #5: Round 1 Challenge Voting Begins!

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We here at Quick Stop Entertainment 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 here at the Stop.

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 Quick Stop to be voted on by you, the audience.

Oh, and what do we call this competition?

MASTERS OF SONG FU

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Let us not forget the very special Masters of MASTERS OF SONG FU. Think of them as the iron chefs of Song Fu – one of which will be revealed as your ultimate challenger in THE FINAL CHALLENGE. Past Masters have included Jonathan Coulton, Paul & Storm, Neil Innes, The RiffTones, and Garfunkel & Oates. Any one of them could be your final Challenge – or perhaps it could be a brand new Master. Only the Challenger who garners the most cumulative votes in all of the Challenges will move on to the Final and face that Master, mano a mano.

So what was the first Challenge?

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ROUND 1 CHALLENGE

This is a bit of a fun one. Your first task is based upon the work of Friend-of-the-Stop John Hodgman – specifically, the “700 MOLE MEN” listed in his second book, More Information Than You Require. You’ll find the full list of “700 Mole Men” – and their descriptions – HERE. Your task is to choose one (1) and write a song about that Mole Man, based on the description provided by Hodgman. The title of your song will be the name of the Mole Man you’ve chosen, and its corresponding number on the list. 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.

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THE CHALLENGERS

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:#288 Polly The Exhumer
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/governing_dynamics-288-polly_the_exhumer.mp3]

JASON MORRIS

songfu-jasonmorris.jpgI suppose I am what you could call a “Multi-Instrumentalist”. That is a nice way of saying “Jack-of-all-trades, Master-of-none”. I began playing drums as a teenager and spent a great deal of energy during my 20’s trying to “make it” in the music biz. As a drummer, I have had the opportunity to play with some pretty incredible musicians, garnering literally DOZENS of fans over the years. In 2004 I joined the band Celestial Static, and spent several years melting some face with good friends Jeremy and Julie Elzerman. Once that ran its course, I decided to spend more time locked away in my studio, writing my own songs and learning to play guitar, bass and sing. It doesn’t pay the bills, but I have a good time doing it.
Official Website: www.jason-morris.net
Twitter: twitter.com/JasonLMorris
ROUND 1 SONG:#019 Thomas Ashley Innersun
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/jason_morris-019-thomas_ashley_innersun.mp3]

EDRIC HALEEN

songfu-edrichaleen.jpgEdric 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:#138 Sir Isaac Quickmud
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/edric_haleen-138-sir_isaac_quickmud.mp3]

“BUCKETHAT” BOBBY MATHESON

songfu-buckethatbobby.jpgI’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:#139 Mr. Genuine Hissfurther
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/buckethat_bobby_matheson-139-mr_genuine_hissfurther.mp3]

TYLER MASSEY

Tyler Massey is an uncomplicated person. He likes to sip Cristal and polish his yacht collection. He enjoys the simple things in life, like stepping on snails barefoot and nude origami. He wishes that he had a proper Hobo Name, and is open to suggestions.
Official Website: www.tylermassey.co.uk
Twitter: twitter.com/tylermassey
ROUND 1 SONG:#429 Mr Roughfingers and his ‘Louse’-estra
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/tyler_massey-429-mr_roughfingers.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: www.myspace.com/godzpoodlz
ROUND 1 SONG:#381 Captain Dane Frostline
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/godz_poodlz-381-captain_dane_frostline.mp3]

BRAM TANT

songfu-bramtant.pngBram Tant is a Belgian coputer science student with a distinct love for music. Ever since going to music school as a kid, he’s enjoyed singing and playing the guitar, and has been writing songs for some years now. While he’s still learning to play the guitar, sing and write songs better, he improves with each attempt, and he makes up for it (and the lack of proper recording equipment) with his passion and enthusiasm. He would like to become a professional musician someday, but for now he’s satisfied with writing and performing for friends, family, and strangers on the internet.
Official Website: studwww.ugent.be/~btant/

Twitter: twitter.com/dantesxx
ROUND 1 SONG:#666 Tommy Dickfish
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/bram_tant-666-tommy_dickfish.mp3]

STEVE CHATTERTON

songfu-stevechatterton.pngHi, my name is Steve Chatterton, the quintessential one-man-band singer/songwriter net-based recording project. Mom always said I marched to the sound of a different drummer, but she never mentioned which one. Dad had a fondness for bagpipes. Fortunately, neither of them have any direct influence on my music. Specializing in quirky little guitar-oriented pop songs about bugs, the Scooby gang, pirates, palindromes, superheroes, old movies, infectious diseases, imaginary friends and sideshow freaks, I guess you could say I pretty much write love songs. I’m a cheesy bastard at heart. I’m a stay-at-home dad who’s looking to find more time in the studio when my youngest starts school in September. I have an ever-expanding back catalog (at least 3 albums worth & counting) I’m dying to share with the world one download at a time.
Official Website: www.stevechatterton.com
Twitter: twitter.com/SteveChatterton
ROUND 1 SONG:#042 Miss Claudia Inward Burrowdown
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/steve_chatteron-042-miss_claudia_inward_burrowdown.mp3]

MANTICESS

Manitcess are Susanne Wolff (Lupa) on vocals and Johannes Schult (Jutze) on guitar. The duo plays melodic song somewhere between pop, folk and rock. Melodies are more important than trends. The band has already played various gigs in Germany and Switzerland and is eager to entertain – or better to enchant their audience with their musical tales.
Official Website: www.myspace.com/manticess
Twitter: twitter.com/schult
ROUND 1 SONG:#423 Red
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/manticess-423-red.mp3]

JARRETT HEATHER

Although he has no formal training, Jarrett is an accomplished pianist who has been composing music for nearly twenty years. A relative newcomer to the world of online amateur competitive songwriting, he burst onto the scene earlier this year when he filled out an entry form just before the deadline. While earning his living as a graphic artist and website developer, Jarrett secretly dreams of leaving behind the glamor and prestige of internet publishing so he can focus on composing music for songwriting contests full-time.
Official Website: www.spaceparanoids.net
Twitter: twitter.com/SpaceParanoids
ROUND 1 SONG:#042 Miss Claudia Inward Burrowdown
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/jarrett_heather-042-miss_claudia_inward_burrowdown.mp3]

AUDIOMOHEL

Forged in the furnace of irony, molded with the hammer of satire, flattened on the anvil of righteousness, and cooled in the water of awesomeness, AudioMohel was thrust upon the world. Named from the lost audio transcripts of ’09, AudioMohel serves as a public-service backlash against the anti-circumcision trend sweeping the so-called “enlightened parents” crowd, AudioMohel urges their more devoted and impressionable fans to undergo the snip two or even three times. AudioMohel enjoys experimenting with new breakthrough genres like speed blues and death classical even though most of AudioMohel’s tunes reside firmly in the ethereal realm of vapor-ware.
Official Website: www.AudioMohel.com
Twitter: twitter.com/AudioMohel
ROUND 1 SONG:#471 Mr. Armskin
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/audiomohel-471-mr_armskin.mp3]

JALAPENO HABANEROS

In the far off land of Chandler, Arizona, where the rivers flow with sand and cacti, our leader and master, the Lord of Our Lady Gwynyth, guitar and microphone in hand, called for the greatest musicians in the land to assemble a rock and roll group like none other. Unfortunately, they were cut off on the road, and the Jalapeño Habañeros made it there first. With The Rogue Bohemian on saxophone and The Boxcar Bassist on bass and keyboards, the Lord was pleased. Now, they roam the streets of Chandler, playing epic songs and rocking faces, much like Bon Jovi. Unfortunately they are paid in change, and often get thrown into the street, also like Bon Jovi. Their lives have intertwined, and the era of the Jalapeño Habañeros has begun. Be prepared.
Official Website: jalapenojabaneros.blogspot.com
ROUND 1 SONG:#604 Suction-Cupped Jonny
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/jalapeno_habaneros-604-suction-cupped_jonny.mp3]

TIMOTHY RUSH

Hi, my name is Timothy. I like me. I like my school, I like my friends. I like to play the music. I very much enjoy the peoples. Thank you.
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Official Website: www.myspace.com/tweed234
Twitter: twitter.com/TimmyVendetta
ROUND 1 SONG:#006 Sir Stinson Maggotwrangle
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/timothy_rush-006-sir_stinson_maggotwrangle.mp3]

JUBILEE JEWS

They are not some traveling country hillbilly act. They are celebrating the year of Jubilee in the form of ukulele based indie pop. They are Akiva Misto and Eliana Bartimeus and they are prepared to rock your yarmulkes!
Official Website: NONE
ROUND 1 SONG:#487 Lady Antonia Oddpolyps
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/jubilee_jews-487-lady_antonia_oddpolyps.mp3]

GORBZILLA

songfu-gorbzilla.pngGorbzilla 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:#414 Nick Nolte
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/gorbzilla-414-nick_nolte.mp3]

PETER BENEDICT

Peter is a person of sorts. Since his birth he has consistently occupied himself with a variety of time consuming and completely un-noteworthy activities. Despite this breadth of experience he remains untalented in the ways of writing all encompassing 600 word essays. He does, however, greatly enjoy the rare treat that is writing about oneself in the third person, especially when such a gift should be presented to him at the wonderful time of 4AM. Peter now supposes that since this a musical competition he is entering, he might want to include something about that in his bio. At the way too old age of 18, Peter first attempted to play music. His guitar teacher warned him that he was much to old to begin training, and that he would probably be an emotionally unstable musician that would eventually turn to the dark side. Peter took no heed to this warning, and indeed dropped out of guitar lessons fairly quickly, realizing that he enjoyed learning much more when done alone. In the year and a half since then, Peter has been on a steady rise and will no doubt be taking the musical world by storm in the coming year. Perhaps his greatest musical moment came in December of 2008, when his Christmas caroling band, The Sizzle, took his small hick town by storm with a door to door tour through the suburbs, melting the figurative face of listeners with a funk/rap cover of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. In 2009 Peter has become active in the youtube community, known not for his music but for his notorious use of stop-motion eating scenes and a DIY laugh track. Hoping to hone his barely existing musical skills through the pressure of competition, Peter joins Round 5 of Song Fu. He sincerely hopes that rewriting this bio at a later date will be an option. The Peter Is Competing.
Official Website: www.youtube.com/user/thepeteris
Twitter: twitter.com/thepeteris
ROUND 1 SONG:#315 Mr. Dennimore Evercrouch
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/peter_benedict-315-mr_dennimore_evercrouch.mp3]

CRAIG RICHIE

At the ripe age of 19, this strapping young lad has been song writing for two years now. With his mates Meredith and Cornelius (guitar and ukulele, respectively), Craig Richie is prepared to join the ranks of the Song Fu warriors. Finding strong influences from former masters JoCo and Molly Lewis, as well as pinches of Kimya Dawson and Elvis Costello, this boy’s got a perspective on the world to share.
Official Website: www.youtube.com/user/craigtotherichie
ROUND 1 SONG:#275 Mr. Owen Daylight
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/craig_richie-275-mr_owen_daylight.mp3]

JOSH HOLOBER-WARD

Josh was born in Canada, which probably explains more about him than anything else he could put in a bio. He plays the accordion, is self-taught on the piano, and highly enjoys playing and writing for both – though he rarely finishes anything without a deadline. With this grueling contest, he hopes to push himself to unleash the best Fu he possibly can… and hell, maybe even some he impossibly can. YARRR!
Official Website: www.youtube.com/user/PossessedRaccoon
ROUND 1 SONG:#422 Mokey
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/josh_holober-ward-422-mokey.mp3]

AARON Z

Many folks say that Aaron Z is a pretty cool guy. He plays too many instruments, but mostly piano & guitar. He wastes too much of his free time writing and performing music, which has been known to make people laugh, tough men cry, and ladies melt in his arms. His current projects include Orange Box: The Musical! and A Tribute to the Letter E. He likes food cooked with mushrooms and his favorite ice-creams are vanilla-based, not chocolate-based. Check out his music, including his previously-weekly but now faux-weekly music project on his website, plus his other cool music.
Official Website: aaronz.bandcamp.com
ROUND 1 SONG:#590 Harvey Rupert Elder
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/aaron_z-590-harvey_rupert_elder.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:#298 Mr. Deadend
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/spencer_sokol-298-mr_deadend.mp3]

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/JoeCovenant
ROUND 1 SONG:#297 Mr. Tom Furby
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/joe_covenant_lamb-297-mr_tom_furby.mp3]

LEX VADER

Lex Vader was born to a single mother who worked as silicon tycoon’s personal assistant. When she died of poor hygiene, Lex was sent to an orphanage where he showed interest in organizing races and laser fencing. After being recruited into a religious order, he spent the next few years between several of their private schools. In his final year, Lex lost his hand in an argument with a professor over Kryptochlorians. Despite this, Lex was able to achieve a successful business career and even a knighthood. Tragedy struck, however, when a former classmate’s arctic home caught fire during a business lunch, scarring half of Lex’s face. At this point, Lex’s behavior became erratic. When he managed to buy SithCo, the cult that schooled him, he was shunned by the corporate world. No longer taken seriously, Lex started an evil empire and now moonlights with his evil emotronic alternapop band.
Official Website: lexvaderssecretjournal.wordpress.com
Twitter: twitter.com/LexVader
ROUND 1 SONG:#153 Permanent Unsex
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/lex_vader-153-permanent_unsex.mp3]

CALEB HINES

Caleb became a software engineer instead of a musician because the type of music he likes best went out of style at the end of the 18th century. Self-taught in music theory, he is more comfortable writing a four-part instrumental fugue than he is writing a verse-chorus-bridge song. After discovering the likes of Weird Al, Dr. Horrible, and especially Jonathan Coulton, he realized that “modern 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 most recently, guitar. He also uses virtual MIDI instruments because a real orchestra costs too much.
Official Website: refactoringmybrain.blogspot.com
Twitter: twitter.com/calebhines
ROUND 1 SONG:#490 Mr. Nehemiah Bloodwormer
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/caleb_hines-490-mr_nehemiah_bloodwormer.mp3]

IAN “TWO SHADES” JOHNSON

Ian Johnson was born atop Mount Everest, was attacked by a troop of ninjas on his way out of the womb, then rode a grizzly bear down the mountain and punched Hitler’s ghost on the way down. Then he ate some mashed peas. Seriously though. Ian played piano for about six years before taking a break in music. Then he decided to play guitar, because as we all know, piano don’t get chicks. He started playing guitar about a year and a half ago. His music has been described (by himself) as garage-punk ska-esque acoustic altern-rock with just a little ukulele thrown in for good measure.
Official Website: ianjohnson.bandcamp.com
ROUND 1 SONG:#145 Mandibular-Jaw Johnny
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/ian_johnson-145-mandibular-jaw_johnny.mp3]

ZER0GUY

Sometimes two people get together who are destined to make history. Sometimes they are born into the same family. zer0guy is the musical/life-partnership of Jon and Dan Kelly, long time musicians looking forward to placing notes in your head.
Official Website: www.myspace.com/zer0guyband
ROUND 1 SONG:#237 Dirtbag Dan
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/zer0guy-237-dirtbag_dan.mp3]

JONATHAN MANN

My current project is writing A Song a Day (Rock Cookie Bottom), and my former projects include The Last Nympho Leprechaun, a rock opera, The Mario Opera, a rock opera, GameJew, a web show, and The Mushroom Singdom, singing old school video game reviews.
Official Website: www.rockcookiebottom.com
ROUND 1 SONG:#612 Mr. Barry Screwskull
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/jonathan_mann-612-mr_barry_screwskull.mp3]

SARA PARSONS

Sara Parsons is a twenty-year-old music composition student from northern California. She participated in Masters of Song Fu #4 and had a blast and met a ton of great people. She hopes she’s better at writing songs than she is at writing her own biography.
Official Website: www.youtube.com/user/sargeantketchup
ROUND 1 SONG:#573 Miss Miriam Poisonblisters
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/sara_parsons-573-miss_miriam_poisonblisters.mp3]

CHAS LILLY

Chas Lilly is a man that needs introduction. He is geeky but hopefully without being boring. He has been known to write songs about Pluto, Tim Allen, funerals, and everything in between. People often describe his music as “music”.
Official Website: www.youtube.com/friendswobenefits
Twitter: twitter.com/foldsaholic
ROUND 1 SONG:#567 Mr. Angelo Openjaw
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/chas_lilly-567-mr_angelo_openjaw.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. I’d like to use Masters of Song Fu to really challenge myself, and hopefully grow as a musical artist.
Official Website: NONE
Twitter: twitter.com/KyliePetto
ROUND 1 SONG:#141 Devil Anse Doubledirt
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/kylie_petto-141-devil-anse-doubledirt.mp3]

JEFF FARDINK

Jeff began playing guitar in 2003. He wrote his first comedy song in early 2004, and later that year, he wrote a song that was actually funny and in key, unlike his earlier works. He began playing shows after accidentally opening for a local band while passing through a bar. He continues to play because nobody has told him to stop.
Official Website: www.JeffFardink.com
ROUND 1 SONG:#623 Jenna Frogtalker
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/jeff_fardink-623-jenna_frogtalker.mp3]

ALEX TAYLOR

I am a young musician who plays trombone, guitar, ukulele, piano, melodica, and a little bit of harmonica. I play everything from rock songs with distortion pedals on ukulele, to rap medleys on piano, to sappy love songs and songs about the internet crashing on guitar. This is my first time in Song Fu.
Official Website: NONE
ROUND 1 SONG:#604 Suction-Cupped Jonny
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/alex_taylor-604-suction-cupped_jonny.mp3]

GIFTED GEAR

I’m just a kid with a guitar. Sometimes I even play it.
Official Website: NONE
ROUND 1 SONG:#580 Old Man Hades
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/gifted_gear-580-old_man_hades.mp3]

BOB WESTFALL

Bob Westfall (guitar, mandolin, vocals, songwriting) has studied and worked with some of the top acoustic players in the country – Darol Anger, Mike Marshall, John Hartford, and Alex DeGrassi. But, while these influences are certainly evident, Westfall’s songwriting and lyrics are uniquely his own. An award-winning mandolinist, Bob grew up in Texas and Minnesota, and his style incorporates the best elements of composing with a hybrid jazz/pop/worldbeat/bluegrass feel.
Official Website: www.sonicbids.com/thebobwestfallband
ROUND 1 SONG:#023 Miss Annabelle Tunnelsmell
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/bobby_westfall-023-miss_annabelle_tunnelsmell.mp3]

JUSTIN VEGA

Did you ever wonder what it would be like to mix Ravishing Rick Rude and the Beatles together? Me too. Man that would be awesome. Justin Vega is a songwriter/sort of singer from Las Vegas, NV. Justin Vega thinks writing in third person is awesome.
Official Website: NONE
ROUND 1 SONG:#077 Dr. Hieronymous Sandpuppy
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/justin_vega-077-dr_hieronymous_sandpuppy.mp3]

SIMMBIOSIS

Simmbiosis – three part band. Defies the usual type or brand. A combo bred, in this strange head. The obscene voice the unseen hand. Terpsichore and muse imbued. Perverse perhaps a little rude. Music composed, a life exposed. Giving you all I can exude. Studio C where I compose. Club Bed where I take my repose. Iniquity, safe haven for me. The rest you’ll just have to suppose. To be among this crowd, auspicious. An honor bordering on delicious. Thanks to View Askew, I’ll whip out my Song Fu. And work not to be repetitious, repetitious, repetitious.
Official Website: www.myspace.com/simmbiosis
ROUND 1 SONG:#646 Hydrostatic Charlie
[audio:http://asitecalledfred.com/songfu/05song1/simmbiosis-646-hydrostatic_charlie.mp3]

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To download a ZIP FILE containing all of the ROUND 1 songs, CLICK HERE.

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ROUND 1 VOTING

And now, it’s time for that all important 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 SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22nd. 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.

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ROUND 1 VOTING – THE CHALLENGERS

[poll id=”21″]

View Results

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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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November 13, 2009

Weekend Shopping Guide 11/13/09: KNOWLEDGE!

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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 Quick Stop Weekend Shopping Guide – your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…

(Please support Quick Stop by using the links below to make any impulse purchases – it helps to keep us going…)

As dense as a diamond and just as exquisite, the second volume of world knowledge written by the world’s FOREMOST EXPERT on ALL THAT IS KNOWABLE (if not factual) and the possessor of soft hands and a baby’s face (the former per our handshake, the latter per Ricky Gervais), John Hodgman, is now available for purchase from your favorite book emporium IN SOFTCOVER. More Information Than You Require (Riverhead Books, $15.00 SRP) picks up where The Areas Of My Expertise left off – literally – and presents the reader (us) with learned knowings rare, surreal, useful, and useless, as well as 700 Mole Men (one of which bears a familiar name) and CHARTS! Lots and lots of CHARTS! How can you not want this book? THERE ARE CHARTS! “But what if I’m too lazy to read, and the clarion call of CHARTS is no attraction to me?” I hear some of you cry. Well, there is now More Information Than You Require: The Audio Book (Penguin Audio, $34.95 SRP), which finds Hodgman joined by his scruffy troubadourial sidekick, Jonathan Coulton, and a galaxy of guest stars (including DICK CAVETT!). Did you hear that parenthetical, people?!? DICK CAVETT! Get the audio book. And the book. And some candles. You can never have enough candles.

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I admit it – I was skeptical of Up (Walt Disney, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$45.99 SRP) when I saw the first teaser, ages ago. How would Pixar pull of what seemed to be a film starring an old man living in a house held aloft by balloons? Well, I should really learn to doubt Pixar less, because once again they pull off an unorthodox premise with style, wit, and a breathtaking amount of real, genuine emotion as we follow the story of elderly Carl Fredrickson as his plans to fulfil a lifelong dream get turned upside down by an unlikely stowaway in the form of an 8-year-old Wilderness Explorer, Russell. Just see the film, particularly in high definition, which comes bundled with a standard DVD as well. Bonus features include a brand new short starring Dug the dog, behind-the-scenes documentaries, an integrated making-of, and more.

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It’s been a long wait, but another classic Pixar flick makes it into the realm of high-definition with the arrival of Monsters, Inc. (Walt Disney, Rated G, Blu-Ray-$40.99 SRP). The 4-disc set contains both Blu-Ray & standard discs, while the Blu-Ray side of the fence ports over all of the bonus materials from the original DVD release, plus a new behind-the-scenes look at the building of the Monsters, Inc. ride at Tokyo Disneyland, a filmmaker’s roundtable, and audio commentary, banished concepts, a Pixar Fun Factory tour, and more.

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I was a fan of the Timm/Dini animated adventures of Batman, Superman, and even Batman Beyond, and while it doesn’t have the brilliant noir of the Dark Knight’s series or the rah-rah of the Man of Steel, I greatly enjoyed Timm’s take on the Justice League. What could have been a mess of too many characters, evolved into a brilliantly executed multi-season arc that puts shows like Lost and Heroes to shame. If you haven’t seen it, you can partake of the entire run via Justice League: The Complete Series (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$99.98 SRP). The 15-disc set contains all 91 episodes comprising both Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, with the 15th disc being a brand new exclusive documentary Unlimited Reserve: Exploring The Depths Of The DC Universe.

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It’s the holiday season, and what that means in the UK (and for comedy fans around the globe) is that comics are dropping their stand-up DVDs just in time to help audiences pass the long winter with a bit of a laugh. First up is the latest from Russell Brand, Scandalous: Live At The O2 (Channel 4, Not Rated, DVD-£19.99 SRP), which finds him largely building a show around the fallout from the Andrew Sachs debacle and the MTV VMAs. Jimmy Carr: Telling Jokes (Channel 4, Not Rated, DVD-£19.99 SRP) is Carr at his most comfortable and offensive, pushing the limits of the joke form in an almost clinical – but still funny – fashion. Last up is the sophomore effort from Mock The Week regular Russell Howard, Dingledodies (Channel 4, Not Rated, DVD-£19.99 SRP). All are packed with bonus material, and all are worth picking up.

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The folks at Rifftrax have stepped in – just when we all feared there would be a comedy lull – with a new pair of ace DVD releases that are as equally must-have as all of the previous ones (which SHOULD all be on your shelf). So what should you be picking up? Well, there’s the baffling astronauts on pathetic dinosaur planet named, appropriately, Planet of Dinosaurs and one of the many low-rent, sad entries in John Carradine’s career, Voodoo Man (Legend Films, Not Rated, DVD-$9.95 each). Go. Get ’em.

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If you haven’t been able to find your way there in four decades, you might want to refresh your memory with the celebratory Sesame Street: 40 Years Of Sunny Days (Genius, Not Rated, DVD-$29.93 SRP), a 4-disc overview of the show’s long and storied history. Granted, the last 15 years are a bit of a dud compared to the original genius, but hey – no reason to avoid the good stuff contained within the set.

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And while you’re at it, pick up Sesame Street: A Celebration Of 40 Years Of Life On The Street (Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, $40.00 SRP) – a lavishly illustrated, truly massive tome that gives a wonderful, highly visual look at the folks behind the show and the production of the show itself – from both an entertainment and educational perspective. It’s loving walk down memory lane that’s a perfect companion to the recent Street Gang: The Complete History Of Sesame Street.

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Warner’s wonderful Archive Collection strikes again, delivering unto comedy fans the long-requested Gilda Live (Warner Bros., Rated R, DVD-$14.96) – the theatrically released recording of Gilda Radner’s post-SNL Broadway show. It’ll make you miss her even more. Get this.

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I love a premise that is instantly brilliant and then brilliantly realized, and such is the case with Charlie Brooker’s Dead Set (Channel 4, Not Rated, DVD-£19.99 SRP), which explores the question, “What would happen to the sequestered housemates of Big Brother if a zombie outbreak swept over Britain?” And the resultant story is a fun bit of pop culture smash up. The special edition features interviews, behind-the-scenes featurettes, and deleted/extended scenes.

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Time marches on, which means a brand new release starring everyone’s favorite sqaurepanted sponge, Spongebob Squarepants: Truth Or Square (Nickelodeon, Not Rated, DVD-$16.99 SRP). The titular episode is presented in expanded form with celebrity appearances, along with 4 additional episodes, a behind-the-scenes featurette on the show’s opening, and karaoke music videos.

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What started off as a gimmicky show has evolved into one of the few procedurals I’ll actually watch, and I attribute it almost entirely to the onscreen chemistry of David Krumholtz, Rob Morrow, and the always wonderful Judd Hirsch (oh, and Peter MacNicol). See for yourself in the 5th season of Numbers (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$60.90 SRP). The 6-disc set features all 23 episodes, plus audio commentaries, deleted scenes, featurettes, and a gag reel.

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Ah, Peep Show. If you’re a fan of The Office – or just offbeat British comedy in general (you know, the smart people) – you’ll probably dig Peep Show (Channel 4, Not Rated, DVD-£19.99 SRP). Gosh, how do I describe such a unique premise… In the show, you see the lives of roommates Jeremy & Mark through their eyes – and inner monologues. Jeremy is a wannabe pop star, Mark is an obsessive loser, and their thoughts and actions are truly hilarious. Think of it as a small-screen take on Being John Malkovich, without all the arty pretension. Series 6 is now available in Region 2, containing featurettes, bonus scenes, outtakes, and more. Check it out. Now. NOW!

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Warner has opened up the vaults to release a trio of high-def catalogue releases – two if which are decent flicks, but the third of which is a genre classic. The first two are Heat & The Negotiator (Warner Bros., Rated R, Blu-Ray-$28.99 SRP each), with Negotiator featuring a pair of featurettes and Heat being loaded with documentaries, additional scenes, and an audio commentary. The third flick is Logan’s Run (Warner Bros., Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$28.99 SRP), looking quite good and featuring an audio commentary, a vintage featurette, and the theatrical trailer.

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Long before Spenser could be hired, Robert Urich starred as private eye Dan Tanna in the TV series Vegas (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$36.98 SRP) – and the first volume of the premiere season is now on DVD. Urich knew how to hold a frame, even if the series is your standard edition 70’s drama. The 3-disc set features the first 11 episodes., plus episode promos.

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Gah! Has it really been 20 years since Cameron Crowe’s now legendary tale of awkward teenage love and proper boombox woo-ery? Well, it must be, since there’s now a 20th anniversary edition of Say Anything (Fox, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$34.99 SRP). Bonus materials include a new audio commentary, retrospective featurettes, and interview with Crowe, alternate/deleted/extended scenes, TV spots, trailers, and more.

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Timed to capitalize on the release of Say Anything in that kind of “Do we have anything else vaguely similar we can drop on the same date?” kind of way comes a pair of Fox catalogue releases new-to-Blu-Ray – James Toback’s Two Girls And A Guy (Fox, Rated R/NC-17, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP), starring Robert Downey, Jr. as a man stuck in an apartment, and Hayden Pantierre in I Love You, Beth Cooper (Fox, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP).

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Can’t get enough of Pierce Brosnan’s golden throat? Or ABBA? Know someone who can’t get enough of either? Well, perhaps the Mamma Mia!: Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! More Giftset (Universal, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$49.98 SRP) is for you, as it contains not only the high-def special edition of the film, but also a CD full of ABBA tunes and a collectible book.

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Oh, Hawaii Five-O (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$49.99 SRP) – even after all the years since watching reruns, you’re still a nice load of fun, right down to Danno booking the perps. The seventh season contains all 24 episodes and episode promos, but not a single bonus bubble.

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Have an 80’s flashback (kind of like an ice cream headache) with a pair of releases from old school MTV staples Duran Duran. First up is a deluxe special edition of their hit album Rio (EMI, $26.98 SRP), featuring demos, b-sides, singles, alternate takes, and more. Also getting kicked out the gate is Duran Duran: Hammersmith ’82 (EMI, Not Rated, DVD-$ SRP), which contains a DVD of the concert plus an audio CD.

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Mike Conners is back in the 3rd cooler-than-cool season of Mannix (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$49.99 SRP), starring as the titular SoCal gumshoe whose cases always prompt action aplenty. The 6-disc set contains all 25 episodes.

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Yeah, Xavier: Renegade Angel (Adult Swim, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP) is another one of those Adult Swim shows that just leaves me cold. I’m not sure how well its bizarre, graphically violent, new age, CG mishmash was, but it must have been popular enough to warrant this DVD release of seasons 1 & 2.

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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

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Trailer Park: Peter Rodger

By Christopher Stipp

The Archives, Right Here

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

Who Is KK Downey? – DVD Review

kk-downey-3d-largeThere is such a need to become famous nowadays.

When you break it down, fame isn’t really a commodity that can be stored away, saved for later, or preserved. It’s fleeting when and if it happens and it is gone just as quickly. What makes this movie such a delight is its meditation on the nature of fame but it does so with the kind of obnoxiousness that requires a humorist’s touch.

Made by the folks of Kidnapper Films, the movie takes a look at the lives of Terrance Permenstein, and, yes, that’s his real name, Theo Huxtable as they toil in their lives of obscurity until writer Terrance writes a piece of fiction so far afield of reality that he assumes the character he creates as a real individual and uses this ruse in order to get his fame. Fame, you see, in order to try and woo a lady Terrance used to be with and things from here just spiral out of control. From bizarre set-ups to comedy that is well above the kind that we’re getting out of our usual comedy cohorts the movie takes you on a journey of deception and hilarity. Sure, not everything works but what’s exciting about this film is that there are more hits than misses. For a young upstart crew like this to be giving more laughs per 90 minutes than your average Saturday Night Live show it speaks highly of these performers’ ability to bring the funny in a way that just feels fresh, new.

More than just your usual movie about a couple of bums who are looking to grab the brass ring in order to gain some notoriety, the movie showcases the talent of this trio and they demonstrate why you ought to keep an eye on these three.

A description of the movie:

In the tradition of SCTV and Kids In The Hall comes WHO IS KK DOWNEY ?, the feature-length debut from Canada ‘s latest comedy geniuses at Kidnapper Films. An Official Selection at the Philadelphia Film Festival, Winner of the Best Feature award at the Boston Underground Film Festival and the New Vision Award at Cinequest, WHO IS KK DOWNEY? opened with the highest per screen average in Canada . And now, IndiePix® Films delivers this hilarious examination of media hype and hipster ideology inspired by recent, real-life literary hoaxes to U.S. audiences on DVD. Available on November 3, this soon-to-be cult-classic comes to stores in an extras-laden edition, featuring deleted scenes, outtakes, audio commentary and more!

Over the last ten years, Kidnapper Films — troupe members Darren Curtis, Matt Silver and Pat Kiely ““ have diligently and creatively worked out of their hometown of Montreal , producing a series of short, comedic films. “We decided enough with the short films. Let’s step up to the table and produce a feature,” says Kiely. “After James Frey, and J.T. LeRoy, and all those others hoaxes, we thought “˜why not make a really dumb, fun comedy about literary hoaxes.’ So that’s what we did.”

WHO IS KK DOWNEY ? follows the story of two wannabes who decided they were sick and tired of trying to make a name for themselves the old-fashioned way. Terrance is trying to make it as a rock star, while Theo dreams of getting his first book published: “˜Truck Stop Hustler,’ a racy look at life on the streets as a junkie prostitute. After a string of humiliations by both publishers and music critics, the two hatch a plan to turn Theo’s fictional book into an autobiography by having Terrance dress up as the story’s protagonist, KK Downey, and claim all the events as having happened to him. All of a sudden the book nobody wanted becomes an overnight literary sensation, and the duo has realized their dreams of fame and fortune. But at what price?

Moonshot – Blu-ray Review

moonI love this kind of thing.

You can take your Apollo 13 and your Space Cowboys, your Armageddon, I have always been more of a realistic kind of guy. From learning about how things began with just an idea to actually shoving many human bodies beyond any point they’ve ever physically gone presentation is everything. You can’t just slap something together in an EPK and expect that people will appreciate the scope of the information they’re given.

Thankfully, you’ve not only got one of the most definitive documentaries about how we went from thought to the eagle landing but it’s done in a way that is entertaining and exciting to watch. To say nothing of the historical value of having footage in Blu-ray smacking you in the face, the story is delicately told through a series of reflections and footage of this time. Engineers were the ones who ultimately did it but it’s the filmmakers here who distilled the real story and put this together which really brings everything together. Yes, the final product dramatizes the events leading up to the eventual moon landing but in between this you have a fascinating look into the space race that hurtled events into motion at such a rapid speed you wonder if anything else that will come after this will ever spur our country to do something so quickly.

This disc will be perfect for dad, for grandpa, for anyone with a passing interest in the program that people nowadays wonder if it is doing any sort of real good. There was a time when people were transfixed to the events that put men on the moon and Moonshot will absolutely deliver on the promise of taking this time in our history and making it relevant again.

A little product description:

Relive the breathtaking story of Apollo 11 and the first manned landing on the Moon as HISTORY takes viewers aboard the rocket and on its eight-day round trip to outer space for a close-up look at one of the most stunning and courageous personal and technological achievements of man. Interlaced with original NASA footage transferred to high definition, Moonshot covers the crew s earliest days at NASA to the moment when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin step on the Moon. From home life and families, to the argument over who would be the first to walk on the lunar surface, this is the remarkable story of one of the most chronicled events in history. Using a script based on transcripts from the mission, contemporary documents, books and interviews, Moonshot incorporates news footage from around the world, including that of the iconic CBS anchor Walter Cronkite. Together, the drama and original material present a vivid yet intimate glimpse at one of the defining moments of modern history.

Doomsday 2012: The End of Days – Review

doomI’m not a huge fan of Ronald Emmerich.

From his obnoxious filmmaking that tries to use global disasters and mass destruction as his palate upon which to throw his dystopic vision to his horrible stretching of any valid truth I just don’t get it. What I do appreciate, however, is this special about 2012.

For those who don’t know or have any inclination this program helps you understand why 2012 is such a trigger with more than a few civilizations. The Mayans believed the world will be torn asunder when winter hits in ought 12,  and the added documentary Mayan Doomsday Prophecy is like a delicious footnote that gives this group a little extra screen time, there are many computers scouring the Internet to compile mounds of data which point to this year being one filled with destruction, and the oracle of the Chinese, the I Ching, all peg this year being catastrophic for the earth.

I loved all the crazies they wheel out to talk about prophecy, of predictions for things that are pointing to the fact this may all be a warning, and I certainly had to smile when we were treated with a matching up of the factual events in the history and the many divinations of oracles from history past. Yes, this could all be chalked up to convenient interpretation but this is a program that is at, the very least, a welcome diversion. To hear those who want to debunk the convenient predictions just aren’t as fun as thinking there is something here to what’s being talked about. Could the earth end in 2012? While I don’t think any of this is believable this is nonetheless worth the effort to watch and be amazed by what could be one of the biggest predictions no one hopes comes true. It certainly deserves your money more than Ronald Emmerich does and I think I was more entertained in the process.

BEFORE THE COMING END OF DAYS, JOIN HISTORYâ„¢ FOR THE TRUTH BEHIND THE UPCOMING BLOCKBUSTER 2012

It is a doomsday that is foretold in the Mayan calendar, the Chinese oracle of the I Ching…even in an Internet-based prophetic software program: December 21st, 2012. Is there any truth to the prophecy that the world will end on that specific date? And why do so many oracles throughout history seem to point to that same dreaded doomsday? Prior to the premiere of Roland Emmerich’s upcoming mega budget, mega-disaster movie 2012 (bowing on 11/13), join HISTORYâ„¢ for this fascinating special which cuts through the myths and offers a fact-based examination of the Doomsday prophecy.

Also included is a bonus documentary: MAYAN DOOMSDAY PROPHECY which delves even deeper into meaning behind the Mayans and their apocalyptic calendar.

Peter Rodger – Interview

Dare I say that, looking at all we’ve been given by him in the last 12 months, this is the most honest performance from Hugh Jackman? It is.

For those who were left wanting after seeing Bill Maher’s Religulous there weren’t too many options, as viewer, to examine the intricacies of God. Be it religion or the belief in a higher power there are multitudes of people who think they have it right while everyone else is wrong. The curious extension of this idea is that maybe someone does have it right, one of the hundreds of organized belief systems out there, but what does it say about everyone else who is on the wrong side of the faith war?

You can see where all the strife and battling of wills between those who believe one thing against those who believe something else is going but the one point here is that how many documentaries have dealt with the idea of faith, of belief, in a way that’s meaningful? The answer is no one, as Maher was too busy being snarky and arrogant and making his subjects look bad that it missed an opportunity to examine what it means to believe in God, or not to believe in God. Documentary filmmaker Peter Rodger stepped in to fill that void and has crafted a movie that you never knew could be so genuine and devoid of an invisible hand guiding the narrative. You have a spectrum of faces you know, Hugh Jackman, Bob Geldof, David Copperfield, Ringo Starr, Seal, and a fistfuls of those you haven’t. What’s remarkable about the latter is Rodger captures wide vistas from 23 countries and he simply has people talk about their feelings, their ideas, of God itself.

As a practicing agnostic I found myself moved by what Rodger has put on the screen. Instead of stuffy rooms where the interviews have no context, the film captures the sense of place in a world where we all tend to think locally not globally and the result is one of the best documentaries I’ve seen this year. A life affirming story that is moving and has one constant but dozens of beliefs.

Oh My God is opening this weekend in NY and LA. For theaters where it’s appearing near you visit his website and pull up showtimes.

oh_my_godCHRISTOPHER STIPP:  Peter, nice to talk to you.

PETER RODGER: Chris, how are you doing?

CS:  I’m doing fine.  I got to watch you movie last night and I am just amazed by it.

RODGER: Thank you!

CS:  It was nothing that I was expecting and that’s in a very good way.  In researching what I was going to talk to you about, I saw in a lot of interviews, this really was sort of born out of the fruit the idea of the school yard mentality of kid thing.  Essentially that my God is better than your God.

RODGER: Not of kids, but a childish mentality.

CS:  Exactly.  Adults who want to be childish about it and it kind of amplifies itself in the amount of wars that have been taken out in God’s name.  What really made you think that you had to do a feature length movie about this idea?

RODGER: The whole point is this ““ it is ridiculous in this age of communication of internet, the world is a very small place.  Human beings are on a big rock and it’s a little bit distressful that those in one club are better than those in another club.  It becomes even more distressful when they use God’s name to validate their club against somebody elses and I find that a very childish mentality.  I think that now we are in a very good position because of the smallness of the world and the ability to get on the phone or the internet or talk or whatever to really understand that we are more united that we are divided and this is really the motivating factor for me to go around the world and ask people what does the name of God mean to them and perhaps we can learn something, learn other cultures and realize that we are a little more united than divided.  And stop this particularly distasteful bigotry that seems to manifest itself and was under the microscope of 9/11.  That’s what started this polarity going on and I think it’s just a futile concept that now we have to push people away when we should be getting together.

CS:  You visited so many countries and I have to give compliments and kudos to the camera work.  I think one of the things I was struck with was the way you captured the idea of place, of time.  It was absolutely gorgeous.  Obviously you weren’t satisfied to just visit the U.S., Jerusalem, the Middle East ““ you visited, what, more than 20 countries?

RODGER:
Yes.  Actually we shot in 23 countries.  I think there are 20 in the film.  Some countries I had to take out because it was getting a little bit too long and it was repetitive.  The point is that it is such a worldly universal question ““ as Hugh Jackman says in the film, it’s a question that probably can’t be answered.  And the point is, you don’t have to answer but by asking it, you open yourself up to other people’s ideas and those other ideas can create discussions and those discussions can lead to learning and that learning can lead to tolerance.  I really wanted to go around as much of the world as I possibly could in a 90 minute movie and you can’t make a movie about what you think God is without going as you said, the Holy Land and places like that.  But also you need to get into indigenous cultures and into people who have been practicing their belief systems for thousands of years, like the Aborigines and the Native American Indians.  And then you can’t make a film about what people think God is without embracing religions, Hinduism, philosophies like Buddhism, etc.  So that dictated that I had to go to those countries to be able to put across those ideas into the film to make it as grounded as possible and also to allow the film to be as objective as possible.

CS:  Did you find yourself changed by the end of this process?  Did you discover something within yourself that you weren’t expecting to come out?

RODGER: Yes, I rather enjoyed the immense sense of humanity I found from people on a base level that there is a wonderful spark of deliciousness about human beings and that was very reassuring in a world where our information is garnered from news which is filtered and edited, which is quite different from the real world out there.  And so that made me have a lot more faith in humanity than I did previously.

CS:   I think one of the more interesting things was Ringo Starr ““ and it was John Lennon that said any “ism”, in his opinion, isn’t good.  Do you have a better perspective of the “isms” of the world and what they mean to people and whether or not there is a chance for people to co-exist under one?

peterRODGER: I think the only way that we are going to co-exist under one is if we have a common enemy.  That common enemy could be aliens invading the planet (laugh) or it could be global warming.  It is about time that we human beings learned how to unite.  We are not a barbaric society anymore.  We’ve got education to dispel those differences.  We’ve had amazing advancements in technology in the last 100 years.  It’s growing at an exponential rate.  We really need to get over our little club bigotry ideologies.  We’ve got to learn to be extremely generous to other human beings and learn to live together.  I think the economic crisis in the last year, 18 months, has made people rethink that themselves and not take life for granted.  That we do have responsibilities on every single level and that mom and dad losing their IRA’s and ponzi schemes and people being worried about their jobs, desperate to hold on to something, means we’ve got to work at this together instead of saying that my club is better than yours and if you don’t believe in what I believe in you are not worthy, goodbye.  In fact, I’m going to punch you in the nose.  I think it’s just terrible.  To unite, we need to discuss.  We need to sit around the table and graciously talk about what we feel and I think out of that argument, out of that discussion, one, if they are open to it, can realize that we are all the same.

CS:  Do you have hope that that can happen after visiting all these countries or do you see that the conflicts that we have in the Middle East, the conflicts we have here in America, in your opinion, do you think that’s ever possible or do you think we are on this path for many more hundreds of years before any change will happen?

RODGER: You can’t change the human way of thinking ““ the human condition.  These conflicts have been going on ever since human beings walked the planet.  But I do believe that we are evolving and I think that’s what our mission is in life.  That if each of us did one good act to somebody each day, the world would be a better place and I think it starts at home.  It’s a little bit like changing your light bulb, it’s very warming.  And if all of us start shifting and thinking not because of our fears and insecurities that we’re going to insult that person or tread over him or steal his money or say that he has to be condemned because he doesn’t believe what I believe ““ if we can shift that collectively then there is a chance and there is hope.

I have had the most wonderful ability to go around the world and make a film that I hope a lot of people are going to see.  And if lots of people go and see the film it’s only preaching (but not preaching at all) ““ instilling an idea that if we talk to each other instead of fighting with each other and do something in our own way each day individually is baby steps.  There is a hope and you can relate that to the philosophies of Obama if you like ““ using diplomacy in wonderful ways and will hopefully save lots of lives one day.  So, I think that we as individuals have responsibilities that were dictated by the prophets from early religions but they need to be put into practice now.

CS:  That’s the rub.  I think preparing for the interview and oddly enough this week was an election week across our country here ““ one of the things that struck me was the gay marriage debate and how that got voted down in Maine and it’s frustrating on my part in that I don’t live in Maine ““ don’t live anywhere near Maine but I feel isolated in that a majority of people think that because their bible tells them that gay marriage is an abomination people shouldn’t be able to marry and I feel like sometimes I feel marginalized because I don’t know what I can do to help overcome that.  And it’s frustrating because people do take the name of their religion as a compass for the morality of all.  I’m interested in getting your opinion about whether you talked to people around the world who feel marginalized themselves and that they are trying to do good but there is an overriding religious decree that they feel they can’t overcome their own space because religion has taken such a strong foothold?

RODGER: Yes, we have a long way to go.  First of all, let’s take it bit by bit.  The United States of America is an amazing country because we have the right of free speech.  I thought the question under the Bush administration, homeland security and all that, you’re not patriotic.  That was a bit of a problem.  Now let’s talk about the gay marriage thing – because it was written in the bible?  Well, who wrote the bible?

CS:  Man.

RODGER: Yeah.  When did they write the bible?

CS:  Two thousand years ago.

RODGER: Actually it was less than that ““ probably 400 years after Jesus Christ was crucified.  The bible as we know it now.  I don’t know what the exact figure is.  You are talking about man who took the words of a very enlightened human being, Jesus Christ, who some pertain to be the Son of God.  Now that’s a different subject, but these people at that particular point in time and that particular point in history were making a political, basically a political book using the prophet, which was probably doing, some would argue bad at the time but most would argue it was good because it gave a way of life to a lot of people and in that was a great fear of homosexuality.  Homosexuality was absolutely accepted earlier ““ Greek, Roman times, etc. etc.

I think that it’s all a distortion with what’s man has done with it.  The whole point is to discuss it and the thing is that Christians, who are saying this, and the point is that Jesus Christ said you should never look down on anybody and embrace everybody like your brother and treat your neighbors like yourself.  So, I think that’s a distortion between what the prophet was saying and how it was politicized and written down on paper by man.  That’s the problem ““ that people relate to that as the gospel truth and they can’t be swayed.  But then it’s not right for those who feel that way and want to share their world and have the same kind of economic benefits that married people have.  So, round and round and round it goes.  But I don’t know what the answer to this question is but I mean, let’s just look at it from another point of view in history.  It wasn’t that long ago that a black man in the southern states had to sit in a different part of a theatre than a white man.  Now they can sit all together so there is progress.  Your other question of hope ““ yes.  We have a lot of hope.  Hope and discussion.  Talk about it.  All people will come out of the woodwork to talk about these people that voted it down.  The next time around it might get voted through.  It’s a very human thing.  It’s about human rights and segregation.  Let’s look at the positive things that came out in the last couple of weeks.  The hate bill was signed my Obama in the Rose Garden.  Fantastic.  There is hope.

329319-o-my-god-webCS:  There is and your movie gives that hope.  I think it was everything I was hoping Religulous was going to be a couple of years ago and failed to live up to that idea.  I think you do what a documentary should do and that’s to be as objective as possible and let the subjects be the focus of the piece and I think you do that effortlessly.

RODGER: Thank you.

CS:  How did you get the celebrities that show up?  Hugh Jackman.  I looked at your resume and apart from the movie you are working on now, there really isn’t anything there besides this film.  How did you convince them to go on camera and talk about God?

RODGER: I went away for three months and self financed and shot for 73 days and came back and cut a full minute trailer of what I had asking all the questions that looked a million dollars and I put that on my website and sent it around to all my friends and said I need celebrities, anybody who knew a celebrity please come back to me.  And some of them did and that’s how I got them.

The trailer showed what I was doing and then they kindly agreed and some came to me.  David Copperfield came to me for example.  I was driving in Idaho and my phone rang and it was David Copperfield and he said, listen, someone told me you were doing this movie about what people think God is and it’s a very interesting subject to me.  I am an illusionist and the first religious leaders were illusionists because, in parenthesis, they could prove the existence of God.  And I am a believer and I am an illusionist and I would love to talk about this on camera.  And he does and it’s a great segment.

CS:  It is.   As he is telling the story in the beginning you don’t know quite where he is going with it but then it all pulls together fascinatingly.  One of the other things I found amusing or at least interesting, is that the movie that you shot you brought all your footage back and started editing and you said you found the movie’s structure in the editing room.  Can you talk about what happened when you got to the editing room?  What did you find when you got there?

RODGER: It was tough because we had a lot of footage.  John Hoyt, my editor, started while I was on the road.  I would send him footage back.  He was viewing all the footage and pasteurizing it and then he came from New York to LA and we cut there after I basically finished filming.  We had all these ideas about structure.  At first we made it like a little bit of a travel log because there were different countries and then I drew a graph which was based upon all the books you could ever read and I also write movie scripts so I know that structure is everything.  So I drew a graph which had a first act, a second act, and a third act.  A question.  A confrontation.  A semi-kind of resolution where the resolution in this film is actually up to the audience rather than me giving the divine answer.  And I drew another structure that was like a two act structure ““ like a pyramid, which goes up right to the middle of the film, it changes course.

So I laid that structure over the other structure and then I wrote down the minutes of instruction, the question, next act, need to try here, need to resolve it here, and I said that is our blueprint.  We have to engage this as our bible.  So then it was a matter of filling in the pieces bit by bit.  John was fantastic.  Really really good.  He’s objective, very smart, intelligent editor.  And so we laid it out roughly and that was a matter of taking the transcripts and working out ““ there is a thread ““ it’s very subtle through it all but wanted to build up to what we called the tennis match which is sort of the confrontation that polarizes the world between Christianity and Islam and also the Islamists being hijacked by a group of loud mouthed fundamentalists.

And then where do we put the Holy Land?

oh1The Israelis and the Palestinians conflict into this because we have to.  And then it sort of gelled from there.  And then it didn’t work and changed it a bit and stuff stayed the same and then once we had that structure down we started cutting.  Finding images that told the story underneath what the people were saying so that you’re not looking at faces all the time.  There was something going on visually that supported.  When you look at the film again, no body has the time to look at it in slow motion or whatever, or just look at it again, every time somebody is talking about something there is subliminal presentation about what they are saying in the shots.  And that is something that is not meant to be conscious in the first viewing but it just creeps up throughout the movie.  And that’s how we did it.

CS:   Really? As an independent feature ““ were you doing this by yourself?  Were you living on credit cards?

(Laughs)

RODGER: I’m still living on credit cards.  Thank God for American Express.

After being quite successful in the advertising world, it was quite a shock.  What happened was I paid for the first bit and sort of mortgaged the house actually.  Then got the trailer and used that first trailer that I explained before to get financier help and I teamed up with Horacio Altamirano who is a South American producer who loved the concept, loved the idea, and knew he could recruit in South America.  You need to go to the end users, the guys who know how to get there and invest.  He became my partner and paid for the first production and put up the P&A for the release of the movie and I am deeply grateful to him and also gave me the artistic license to make my film.

CS:  That’s amazing.  And I know I have only about two minutes left so my last question would be were there any surprises in this whole process of anything you discovered about either yourself or the way you think about this subject or did you go along for the ride and put a camera there and let the people do the talking?

RODGER: I went around with a camera and let people do the talking but I was surprised and could sum up the surprise at the cancer hospital at the end of the movie which was the most moving part for me.  I live in Los Angeles and having been across 23 countries I was with ““ I think if you want to find God then look into a child’s eye ““ mainly because they aren’t tainted when they are born and as toddlers they don’t differentiate between someone who is disabled, male or female, black or white, yellow or green or whatever.  They just accept life for what it is and unfortunately they grow up to be adults that get tainted by mommy and daddy’s point of view and perhaps other people at school and other things come into play.  And also, some DNA kicks in.  The point is, if you really want to see some unbelievable purity, do look into a child’s eye.  I would like to take that a step further and look into a child’s eye that is facing death.

And so I went to the cancer hospital and there was one little boy there who I am very happy to say survived a bone marrow transplant and is still with us but at the time I found him it was very edgy if it was going to happen.  His name is Christian Fernandas and I asked Christian a question in the film and his answer blew me away but you have to go see the film.

Ken P. D. Snyde-Cast #121: Can You Hear Me Now?

Filed under: Ken P.D. Snydecast — Tags: , , , , , , , — UncaScroogeMcD @ 1:43 am

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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

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KEN P.D. SNYDECAST #121: Can You Hear Me Now? – Ken & Dana return with a wee bit of a diatribe against the cell phone industry, then wonder if you can be too thin for Broadway, before contemplating the importance of kazoos in live performance.

[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 #121 (MP3 format)

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SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe to this Podcast via iTunes

Got something to say? E-mail Dana & Ken at the Snydecast mailbag.

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CLICK HERE FOR THE SNYDECAST ARCHIVES

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November 12, 2009

Contest Round-Up: 2009-11-11

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Welcome to our weekly round-up of featured giveaways here at Quick Stop. 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 IDW, we’re giving away a copy of THE BLOOM COUNTY LIBRARY: VOLUME 1.

In conjunction with Universal Home Video, we’re giving away five (5) copies of BRUNO on DVD.

In conjunction with Fox Home Video, we’re giving away three (3) copies of IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA: A VERY SUNNY CHRISTMAS on DVD.

In conjunction with Fox Home Video, we’re giving away three (3) copies of FIGHT CLUB on Blu-Ray.

In conjunction with New Line Home Video, we’re giving away five (5) copies of SHORTS on DVD.

In conjunction with New Line Home Video, we’re giving away five (5) copies of FOUR CHRISTMASES on DVD.

In conjunction with Warner Bros. Home Video, we’re giving away three (3) copies each of MY SISTER’S KEEPER on both Blu-ray & DVD.

In conjunction with Hear Music, we’re giving away two (2) copies of PAUL McCARTNEY: GOOD EVENING NEW YORK CITY on CD/DVD.

In conjunction with Dial, we’re giving away two (2) prize packs featuring copies of THE LOOKING GLASS WARS: ARCHENEMY & HATTER M: VOLUME 2 – MAD WITH WONDER.

In conjunction with Docurama Home Video, we’re giving away five (5) copies of SKILLS LIKE THIS on DVD.

In conjunction with Klutz, we’re giving away five (5) copies of DRAW STAR WARS: CLONE WARS on DVD.

Win DRAW STAR WARS: CLONE WARS!

Filed under: Contests — Tags: , , , , — UncaScroogeMcD @ 2:32 am

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In conjunction with Klutz, we’re giving away five (5) copies of DRAW STAR WARS: CLONE WARS.

Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December 2nd.

CLOSED! THANKS FOR ENTERING!

Official Rules

No member of Quick Stop 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, December, 2nd.

The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.

Win SKILLS LIKE THIS on DVD!

Filed under: Contests — Tags: , , , , — UncaScroogeMcD @ 2:24 am

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In conjunction with New Video NYC, we’re giving away five (5) copies of SKILLS LIKE THIS on DVD.

Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December 2nd.

CLOSED! THANKS FOR ENTERING!

Official Rules

No member of Quick Stop 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, December, 2nd.

The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.

Win THE LOOKING GLASS WARS: ARCHENEMY & HATTER M: VOLUME 2 – MAD WITH WONDER prize packs!

Filed under: Contests — Tags: , , , , — UncaScroogeMcD @ 2:17 am

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In conjunction with Dial, we’re giving away two (2) prize packs featuring copies of THE LOOKING GLASS WARS: ARCHENEMY & HATTER M: VOLUME 2 – MAD WITH WONDER.

Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December, 2nd.

The Looking Glass Wars online game:
http://www.cardsoldierwars.com

The Looking Glass Wars official site:
http://www.lookingglasswars.com

CLOSED! THANKS FOR ENTERING!

Official Rules

No member of Quick Stop 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, December, 2nd.

The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.

Win PAUL McCARTNEY: GOOD EVENING NEW YORK CITY on CD/DVD!

Filed under: Contests — Tags: , , , , , — UncaScroogeMcD @ 1:18 am

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In conjunction with Hear Music, we’re giving away two (2) copies of PAUL McCARTNEY: GOOD EVENING NEW YORK CITY on CD/DVD.

Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December, 2nd.

CLOSED! THANKS FOR ENTERING!

Official Rules

No member of Quick Stop 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, December, 2nd.

The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.

Win MY SISTER’S KEEPER on DVD & Blu-Ray!

Filed under: Contests — Tags: , , , , , — UncaScroogeMcD @ 1:05 am

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In conjunction with Warner Bros. Home Video, we’re giving away three (3) copies each of MY SISTER’S KEEPER on both Blu-ray & DVD.

Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December, 2nd.

CLOSED! THANKS FOR ENTERING!

Official Rules

No member of Quick Stop 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, December, 2nd.

The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.

Win FOUR CHRISTMASES on DVD!

Filed under: Contests — Tags: , , , , — UncaScroogeMcD @ 12:50 am

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In conjunction with New Line Home Video, we’re giving away five (5) copies of FOUR CHRISTMASES on DVD.

Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December, 2nd.

CLOSED! THANKS FOR ENTERING!

Official Rules

No member of Quick Stop 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, December, 2nd.

The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.

Win SHORTS on DVD!

Filed under: Contests — Tags: , , , , — UncaScroogeMcD @ 12:43 am

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In conjunction with New Line Home Video, we’re giving away five (5) copies of SHORTS on DVD.

Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December, 2nd.

CLOSED! THANKS FOR ENTERING!

Official Rules

No member of Quick Stop 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, December, 2nd.

The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.

Win FIGHT CLUB on Blu-Ray!

Filed under: Contests — Tags: , , , , — UncaScroogeMcD @ 12:09 am

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In conjunction with Fox Home Video, we’re giving away three (3) copies of FIGHT CLUB on Blu-Ray.

Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December, 2nd.

CLOSED! THANKS FOR ENTERING!

Official Rules

No member of Quick Stop 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, December, 2nd.

The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.

November 11, 2009

Win IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA: A VERY SUNNY CHRISTMAS on DVD!

Filed under: Contests — Tags: , , , , — UncaScroogeMcD @ 11:58 pm

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In conjunction with Fox Home Video, we’re giving away three (3) copies of IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA: A VERY SUNNY CHRISTMAS on DVD.

Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December, 2nd.

CLOSED! THANKS FOR ENTERING!

Official Rules

No member of Quick Stop 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, December, 2nd.

The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.

Win BRUNO on DVD!

Filed under: Contests — Tags: , , , , — UncaScroogeMcD @ 11:51 pm

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In conjunction with Universal Home Video, we’re giving away five (5) copies of BRUNO on DVD.

Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December, 2nd.

Clip: Bruno Prnaks Pete Rose

CLOSED! THANKS FOR ENTERING!

Official Rules

No member of Quick Stop 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, December, 2nd.

The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.

Win THE BLOOM COUNTY LIBRARY: VOLUME 1!

Filed under: Contests — Tags: , , , , , — UncaScroogeMcD @ 11:41 pm

contestheader.jpg

In conjunction with IDW, we’re giving away a copy of THE BLOOM COUNTY LIBRARY: VOLUME 1.

Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, December 2nd.

CLOSED! THANKS FOR ENTERING!

Official Rules

No member of Quick Stop 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, December 2nd.

The winner must allow 4-6 weeks after notification of win to receive the product.

Cabin Fever Commentary: FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF

Filed under: Cabin Fever — Tags: , , , , , , — UncaScroogeMcD @ 11:08 pm

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cabin.jpgOh no! Just when you thought it was safe to hang out at the Quick Stop…

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

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CABIN FEVER COMMENTARY: FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF – Cabin Fever’s Aaron Poole and Brian Fitzpatrick take a slightly skewed look at FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF, and ask the important questions such as “Was Ferris a Crip or Blood?” and “what’s the deal with Jeanie Beuller?”.

[CONTENT WARNING]: Explicit contents! We say every naughty word you can think of. You have been warned!

DOWNLOAD: (right click to save)
Cabin Fever Commentary: FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF (MP3 format)

[audio:http://traffic.libsyn.com/cabinfever/cabin_fever_commentay_ferris.mp3]

SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe to this Podcast via iTunes

Got something to say? E-mail Aaron & Brian at the Cabin Fever mailbag.

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CLICK HERE FOR THE CABIN FEVER ARCHIVES

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Toy Box: Batman Black and White – Ed McGuinness

Filed under: Toy Box — Tags: , , — admin @ 4:06 am

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The Batman: Black and White series of statues remains one of DC Direct’s most popular series. It says something about the lasting power of the character as well as the overall beauty of grayscale, when done properly.

The latest release in the series is based on the art work of Ed McGuinness. He’s been popular lately, with the Public Enemies cartoon drawing heavily from his unique style as well. His characters tend to be bulky with exaggerated musculature, and a shorter, stockier appearance. DC Direct had great success with several waves of action figures based on the style, and have now translated it into their popular line of statues.

If you have any comments, drop me a line at mwctoys@mwctoys.com, or visit my site at Michael’s Review of the Week – Captain Toy. On to the review!

Batman: Black and White – Ed McGuinness

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While the art style is all McGuinness, the sculpting work was handled by James Shoop this time around. As always, it’s a ‘limited’ edition, although with 4000 statues produced, it’s treating the definition of limited like a fat woman treats lycra – stretching the Hell out of it.

Packaging – ***
It comes in a box, like most statues of this type. Bats himself is not permanently attached to the base, so there are two pieces inside the styrofoam insert. There’s no window to see the quality of the paint on the shelf, which is always a negative, but at least the box is easy to store for MIBers, keeps the contents very safe, and can be reused when necessary.

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And in case you were wondering, there’s no Certificate of Authenticity, although the edition size and number are both on the bottom of the box and on the base of the statue.

Sculpting – ***
If you’re a huge fan of McGuinness’ original Public Enemies style Batman, then you’re probably going to like this quite a bit. It stays true to that style, and my only issues are really with the style combined with this pose.

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There’s plenty of sharp detail in the sculpt, perhaps too much at least for me. From the waist up, I love the look – the extended claw-like hands in back, the short cape flowing between, and the cat-like landing pose all look terrific. My only real issue is that the very large, highly detailed, extremely muscled thighs are exaggerated even further in this particular pose. Maybe it was just that blind date back in college with the West German female Olympic weight lifter that went places I’d rather forget, but the large thighs throw off the overall look for me.

The scale is creeping up on some of these statues too. Originally they were all very much in a six inch scale, but this statue (along with a couple of the other recent releases) is getting much closer to a 7″ scale. DC Direct has always had issues keeping scale clean within a series…Hell, within a single wave.

Paint – ***1/2
While there’s nothing exceptional about the paint ops here, the quaility is solid and in line with your expectations considering the price point. Cut lines are clean and neat, there’s a good use of high gloss finish on several of the black areas, and the large bat symbol is centered and even.

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Design – ***1/2
As I mentioned in the sculpting section, I really do like the basic concept of the design, with Batman landing on the ball of one foot. The back stretched arms and talon-like fingers really add to the dynamic nature of the pose, and it’s unique enough in a sea of black and white Batman statues to add some pop to the display.

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I deducted more for the thunder thighs in the Sculpt section, but because I think the basic design concept is solid, I gave the higher marks here. Don’t get me wrong – I realize that the large thighs are very much a part of the McGuinness style. It’s just that in this particular pose, they are a bit too obvious and eye catching for my tastes. Your mileage may vary.

Things to Watch Out For –
Don’t forget that this guy isn’t attached to the base (like I did) and pick him up willy-nilly. You’ll be mighty sad if the base falls free (like mine *almost* did) and you end up with pieces on the floor.

Value – **1/2
The reality – and a bit of a sad one it is – is that statues in this 6 – 7″ scale are running $50 – $70 now. In fact, plastic statues of simlar style are running just as much, like the new Marvel Bishojo series by Kotobukiya. Here you’re getting the heavier poly resin, and extra weight always adds an impression of value, whether it’s right or wrong.

Overall – ***
This is another solid entry in the overall series, fitting in the middle of the pack. Fans of the McGuinness art style will enjoy it quite a bit, and my only real quibbles are how the thighs are front and center, and the slight increase in scale.

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Where to Buy –
Online options include:

Urban Collector has him at just $60.

Alter Ego Comics has him for $68.

Big Bad Toy Store has it for $70.

– or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links –
Other Batman Black and White reviews include:

Dave Mazzucchelli, the Penguin, Gotham Knight 2 version, the Bruce Timm version, the Ethan Van Sciver version, the Aparo, the Neal Adams and George Perez versions, the Gotham Knight, Bob
Kane
, Frank Miller, Jim Lee, Matt Wagner, Mike Mignola, and Kelley Jones.

Musical MySpace Tour #1

Filed under: Musical Myspace Tour — Tags: , , , — UncaScroogeMcD @ 3:53 am

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Hello, and welcome to the first of what will hopefully be a regular-ish column. My name is Aaron Poole, and you may (but mostly likely may not) recognise that name from a podcast called Cabin Fever on this very site. You also may have read some of my articles on NeedCoffee.com. But most importantly, you may recognise me from www.myspace.com/aaronhbp.

If you’re a musician or in a band and have tried to add me as a friend, you have inspired this column.

Whether you think MySpace is an out of date social networking site or think it’s the Daddy of them all, you can’t argue with the sheer volume of music available on the behemoth.

Over the years I have been constantly inundated with spam requests from people, and in a lot of ways it has been an adventure. I have found some gems who I now spend money to see and hear – and also some duds which had me nearly break my mouse clicking the ignore button. In fact, it’s been such a journey that I have now decided to share it with the rest of you.

So I am going to fully review every band that sends me a friend request. For better or for worse (and let’s face it, they’re going to be mostly shite) they’re going to get a moment in the spotlight. Some will sweat under the pressure and others may shine.

The following are the friend requests I received in the month of September.

MySpace is dead, long live MySpace.
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myspace-01-01NCCO1
www.myspace.com/ncco1

Wow, I don’t know where to begin with this one. I’m still not sure this really is classed as music. He (and this is the fault of one man) classes his stuff as “Experimental / Classical / Electronica”. At the very least, he got the experimental bit right, emphasis on the mental.

Everything sounds like it’s the background music in one of those artsy plays that your friend keeps inviting you to but you’re running out of excuses for not attending. Sounds of sand being brushed and chattering teeth are played over the long, so long, out-of-tune notes that some drugged up hippy is playing on an oboe.

l Satiro Danzante is the closest thing to a melody the guy presents in the 10 offerings on his page. It has a full and rich sound and can be both tense and impressive in parts but at 11 minutes and 23 seconds you’d be forgiven for not caring by the end of it

While obviously gifted (it’s hard to make such a racket without actually having skill), this is not accessible stuff.

Now, it would be harsh of me to pan this man completely, as he’s not trying to play to the common denominator. A perusal of the page shows that this is all meant for art exhibitions. Never has the word “installation” been used so much on a myspace page (thankfully, the page is easy to read and laid out well). So at the very least I will accept that this just isn’t for me. May be for you… but I doubt it.

Presentation = 3/5
Content = Lots!
Music = 1/5
Friend Request = DENIED!

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myspace-01-02TIME IS A THIEF
www.myspace.com/timeisathiefband

College bands are fun, aren’t they? They always have a decent melody, some rolling guitar riffs, and plenty of opportunities to shout in synchronicity and marvel at how young and bloody awesome they all are. How stupid are old people, right? Conforming? Not for us, sir!

Problem is, I’m not in college anymore, and have grown past that age of needing to be in that clique, so I can judge this stuff in a fair and balanced way…

The first thing that pisses me off about this shite is the blandness of it all. Sure, there is an attitude there, but that attitude has been watered down by years of commercialized pandering to the masses, controlled by recording contracts and music execs. To a certain extent I have no qualms with that when it comes to signed bands. They knew what they were getting into when they signed that dotted line. They’re driving home in their shiny cars and are comfortable with the decisions they made. What irks me, however, is the fact that the music trickles down and influences new generations of musicians and kids in garages to rock in a very controlled and styled way; making it lack any sort of sincerity in hopes of sounding “polished” and “professional”.

This is not rock and roll. No matter what the myspace label may say.
On a personal level, and my biggest stumbling block with Time Is A Thief, is that they don’t sound Irish. The band, half of which used to play in a Rage Against The Machine tribute band, hails from Cork, Ireland. It’s not just the fact that the lead singer (Adam Carroll) sings with an American accent. It’s more about how both lyrically and musically there is nothing in these songs which speaks from a local perspective. They have a song called “Juror No. 3” which offers nothing other than the plot-line of an episode for Law and Order. There is little in the way of heartfelt emotions in here – and if there is, TIAT is having major problems conveying them.

Unfortunately, at the end of the day, Time Is A Thief spend too much time trying to sound cool like their favourite bands instead of concentrating on creating that oh so out of reach wonder – namely music with soul.

Presentation = 4/5
Content = A couple of songs and links to other social networking sites of theirs.
Music = 2/5
Friend Request = DENIED!

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myspace-01-03The Frequency
www.myspace.com/thfrequency

LAME.

Seriously? You’ve been a member of myspace since 06/05/08 and you still haven’t gotten yourself a background picture? More than two songs? More than 282 profile views? More than 3 pictures?

Christ, I have more than that and I’m not in a band. Maybe I should be. I could write better crap than this too.

AVOID.

Presentation = 0/5
Content = You’d get more from the back of a postcard
Music = 1/5
Friend Request = DENIED!

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myspace-01-04BriBry Is Sky High
www.myspace.com/bribryisskyhigh

Admittedly not a Friend Request, but I received an invite to an event from this stranger, and in the wonderful world of the internet and myspace this means he is now on my radar.

The Dublin native Brian O’Reilly plays with a bunch of friends under the title BriBry Is Sky High, and is releasing some material on iTunes on September 26th, it appears. And you know what?, I wouldn’t mind catching this guy live.

Young and leaning towards the oh-so-fashionable London indie troopers has not faded the message, this kid has charm.

“A Poem I’ll Sing Out Loud” is the highlight of his output offered here. In fact, I think it would do well as a mainstream single. Provoking memories of THAT song by Plain White T’s but not nearly as sickly, there is real heart played out in the lullaby-esque melody.

The only complaint I have is that the 4 songs available for listening are not enough. They have given me a taste for what this kid can offer, but I’d be fascinated to hear more so my opinion can become fleshed out.

I’m really impressed by “Astronauts”, too. A cold, torn song bleeding out with frustration. As chilling as it is bittersweet.

A perusal of the videos offered remind me instantly of Fionn Regan. Now, I’m not for a second comparing the talent of such a genius to BriBry Is Sky High, but if he’s not an influence of this kid then I’ll personally let BriBry Is Sky High come slap me in the face.

I think I’m smitten.

Presentation = 3/5
Content = Average, a couple of songs and a couple of videos
Music = 4/5
Friend Request = ACCEPTED!

Bagged & Boarded 38: The Matt Cohen Show

Filed under: Bagged & Boarded — Tags: , , , , — UncaScroogeMcD @ 2:52 am

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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”.

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BAGGED & BOARDED #38: Bagged and Cluckin’ – In which Jesse reveals a game-changing bombshell, the boys cope, and Matt comes up with a new direction for the podcast. Warning: This one gets serious.

[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 #38 (MP3 format)

[audio:http://traffic.libsyn.com/baggedboarded/bagged_boarded-38.mp3]

SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe to this Podcast via iTunes

Got something to say? E-mail Matt & Jesse at the B & B mailbag.

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CLICK HERE FOR THE BAGGED & BOARDED ARCHIVES

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November 10, 2009

TV Or Not TV: 11/10 – 11/15

Filed under: TV Or Not TV — Tags: — admin @ 4:55 am

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Welcome to another edition of TV or Not TV where I’m mad as heck and I’m not going to…. wait, I’m sorry, that one’s been used before.

After last week’s dissertation over the ABC show FASTFORWARD I have to admit that last week’s episode gave me new hope for the future of this show. When you look at what the characters were having to go through it gets kind of depressing to think that all of these characters were locked into the future that they saw. It was also a bit of a bummer to think that JOHN CHO’s character is completely and utterly doomed come March 15th. With last week’s episode we know that the future seen is not truly set in stone and now that the characters have glimpsed the future they do still appear to have some degree of free choice.

Another offering ABC gave us last week was the one hour premiere of the re-imagined V. I admit that the idea of a re-imagining of a somewhat hokey 80’s TV mini-series and show had me casting some doubts, even in light of the great run that BATTLESTAR GALACTICA had on SYFY. The mini-series was OK, the TV show fell flat, however, because the premise didn’t really stretch out real well.

After seeing the first episode of V I think that the only real complaint that I had about it was that I think they were limited by having to force everything into one 44 minute episode. Laying the groundwork for this show could have done with a bit more narrative that an additional 44 minutes would have given it. The show’s driving force, the conflict that is forthcoming, gets pushed into what feels like the last 10 minutes of the show.

Other than this one minor shortcoming of time I found the show to be well done for the retreading of this concept. I’ll be looking forward to the weeks to come to see how they unravel this story. I only hope that, when the time surely comes, the first V / human child isn’t as lame as the one we saw two over two decades ago.

One final note: HEROES, I know that we’ve been seeing each other for a long time. It’s been a rocky relationship, it’s had it’s ups and downs. I hope you understand though that I think it’s over between us. I’m sorry, really I am, things were so good in the beginning and we had lots of great times together but let’s face it, things have changed. Unlike what you usually here it’s not me, it’s you. It’s all you. You’ve just lost direction, you seem to go on and on without really getting anywhere and I just can’t hang out any more. You’re kind of emberassing to be seen with. OK? Thanks.

Now that the World Series is over let’s see what remaining days of the week have to offer.

TUESDAY

ABC – 8:00 PM: The pilot was good, let’s see what they did in the second episode of V.

NBC – 8:00 PM: It’s double elimination night on THE BIGGEST LOSER.

G4 – 11:00 PM: I admit freely that I am completey jonesing for the last season of LOST and tonight one of the better episodes of last season, LaFluer, airs on G4.  

WEDNESDAY

FOX – 9:00 PM: Rachel and Kurt compete for who gets to perform “Defying Gravity” from WICKED on this week’s Glee. This show is really starting to challenge my sexuality.

ABC – 8:00 PM: Get out your big hat and bigger belt buckle for the 43rd Annual CMA Awards.

THURSDAY

AMC – 8:00 PM: I don’t know what it is about DEMOLITION MAN that I get a kick out of (maybe it’s the three shells) but it’s on tonight and I’m considering it.

FOX – 9:00 PM: The ratings this season have been a challenge for FRINGE so let’s see what they come out of their sports induced hiatus with.

FRIDAY

USA – 9:00 PM: Monk is the Captain’s best man. I can’t wait to see how he sanitizes the strippers for the bachelor party.

CBS – 9:00 PM: It really has to be tough being one of ALLISON’s kids on Medium. So far she’s already been worried that ARIEL was a cold blooded killer and now she’s afraid the same is true of her boyfriend. Wow, and I thought I’d be judgemental about the guys who try to date my daugther.

SATURDAY

AMC – 8:00 PM: Enjoy the progression of confusion and dissapointment as we take the journey through the Matrix trilogy.

ABC FAMILY – 8:00 PM: See the greatest tribute to MICHAEL JACKSON committed to film in DEPP’s performance as WILLIE WONKA in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

BRAVO – 9:00 PM: I still am completely captivated by GOODFELLAS.

SUNDAY

FOX – 8:00 PM: Marge goes where no television cartoon has gone before as she poses in the nude on THE SIMPSONS.

ABC – 8:00 PM: DAVID DUCHOVNY makes a drop in on EXTRAME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION. I tried for 20 minutes to make an X-File joke here, but it didn’t pan out.

AMC – 8:00 PM: The art of re-imagining continues as AMC takes on the late 60’s classic Brittish TV show THE PRISONER. I’m sure if that’s not enough to peak your interest than knowing it’s got IAN MCKELLEN and JIM CAVIEZEL would.

Will Wilkins wuz here.

Masters Of Song Fu #5: Round 1 Challengers and Challenge Revealed

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CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO & VOTE FOR ROUND 1 ENTRIES

We here at Quick Stop Entertainment 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 here at the Stop.

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 Quick Stop to be voted on by you, the audience.

Oh, and what do we call this competition?

MASTERS OF SONG FU

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Let us not forget the very special Masters of MASTERS OF SONG FU. Think of them as the iron chefs of Song Fu – one of which will be revealed as your ultimate challenger in THE FINAL CHALLENGE. Past Masters have included Jonathan Coulton, Paul & Storm, Neil Innes, The RiffTones, and Garfunkel & Oates. Any one of them could be your final Challenge – or perhaps it could be a brand new Master. Only the Challenger who garners the most cumulative votes in all of the Challenges will move on to the Final and face that Master, mano a mano.

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In a moment, you’ll discover the details of the first challenge. First, though, here’s the list of challengers:

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THE CHALLENGERS

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

JASON MORRIS

songfu-jasonmorris.jpgI suppose I am what you could call a “Multi-Instrumentalist”. That is a nice way of saying “Jack-of-all-trades, Master-of-none”. I began playing drums as a teenager and spent a great deal of energy during my 20’s trying to “make it” in the music biz. As a drummer, I have had the opportunity to play with some pretty incredible musicians, garnering literally DOZENS of fans over the years. In 2004 I joined the band Celestial Static, and spent several years melting some face with good friends Jeremy and Julie Elzerman. Once that ran its course, I decided to spend more time locked away in my studio, writing my own songs and learning to play guitar, bass and sing. It doesn’t pay the bills, but I have a good time doing it.

Official Website: www.jason-morris.com
Twitter: twitter.com/JasonLMorris

EDRIC HALEEN

songfu-edrichaleen.jpgEdric 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

“BUCKETHAT” BOBBY MATHESON

songfu-buckethatbobby.jpgI’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

TYLER MASSEY

Tyler Massey is an uncomplicated person. He likes to sip Cristal and polish his yacht collection. He enjoys the simple things in life, like stepping on snails barefoot and nude origami. He wishes that he had a proper Hobo Name, and is open to suggestions.

Official Website: www.tylermassey.co.uk
Twitter: twitter.com/tylermassey

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: www.myspace.com/godzpoodlz

BRAM TANT

songfu-bramtant.pngBram Tant is a Belgian coputer science student with a distinct love for music. Ever since going to music school as a kid, he’s enjoyed singing and playing the guitar, and has been writing songs for some years now. While he’s still learning to play the guitar, sing and write songs better, he improves with each attempt, and he makes up for it (and the lack of proper recording equipment) with his passion and enthusiasm. He would like to become a professional musician someday, but for now he’s satisfied with writing and performing for friends, family, and strangers on the internet.

Official Website: studwww.ugent.be/~btant/

Twitter: twitter.com/dantesxx

STEVE CHATTERTON

songfu-stevechatterton.pngHi, my name is Steve Chatterton, the quintessential one-man-band singer/songwriter net-based recording project. Mom always said I marched to the sound of a different drummer, but she never mentioned which one. Dad had a fondness for bagpipes. Fortunately, neither of them have any direct influence on my music. Specializing in quirky little guitar-oriented pop songs about bugs, the Scooby gang, pirates, palindromes, superheroes, old movies, infectious diseases, imaginary friends and sideshow freaks, I guess you could say I pretty much write love songs. I’m a cheesy bastard at heart. I’m a stay-at-home dad who’s looking to find more time in the studio when my youngest starts school in September. I have an ever-expanding back catalog (at least 3 albums worth & counting) I’m dying to share with the world one download at a time.

Official Website: www.stevechatterton.com
Twitter: twitter.com/SteveChatterton

MANTICESS

Manitcess are Susanne Wolff (Lupa) on vocals and Johannes Schult (Jutze) on guitar. The duo plays melodic song somewhere between pop, folk and rock. Melodies are more important than trends. The band has already played various gigs in Germany and Switzerland and is eager to entertain – or better to enchant their audience with their musical tales.

Official Website: www.myspace.com/manticess
Twitter: twitter.com/schult

JARRETT HEATHER

Although he has no formal training, Jarrett is an accomplished pianist who has been composing music for nearly twenty years. A relative newcomer to the world of online amateur competitive songwriting, he burst onto the scene earlier this year when he filled out an entry form just before the deadline. While earning his living as a graphic artist and website developer, Jarrett secretly dreams of leaving behind the glamor and prestige of internet publishing so he can focus on composing music for songwriting contests full-time.

Official Website: www.spaceparanoids.net
Twitter: twitter.com/SpaceParanoids

AUDIOMOHEL

Forged in the furnace of irony, molded with the hammer of satire, flattened on the anvil of righteousness, and cooled in the water of awesomeness, AudioMohel was thrust upon the world. Named from the lost audio transcripts of ’09, AudioMohel serves as a public-service backlash against the anti-circumcision trend sweeping the so-called “enlightened parents” crowd, AudioMohel urges their more devoted and impressionable fans to undergo the snip two or even three times. AudioMohel enjoys experimenting with new breakthrough genres like speed blues and death classical even though most of AudioMohel’s tunes reside firmly in the ethereal realm of vapor-ware.

Official Website: www.AudioMohel.com
Twitter: twitter.com/AudioMohel

JALEPENO HABANEROS

In the far off land of Chandler, Arizona, where the rivers flow with sand and cacti, our leader and master, the Lord of Our Lady Gwynyth, guitar and microphone in hand, called for the greatest musicians in the land to assemble a rock and roll group like none other. Unfortunately, they were cut off on the road, and the Jalapeño Habañeros made it there first. With The Rogue Bohemian on saxophone and The Boxcar Bassist on bass and keyboards, the Lord was pleased. Now, they roam the streets of Chandler, playing epic songs and rocking faces, much like Bon Jovi. Unfortunately they are paid in change, and often get thrown into the street, also like Bon Jovi. Their lives have intertwined, and the era of the Jalapeño Habañeros has begun. Be prepared.

Official Website: jalapenojabaneros.blogspot.com

TIMOTHY RUSH

Hi, my name is Timothy. I like me. I like my school, I like my friends. I like to play the music. I very much enjoy the peoples. Thank you.

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Official Website: www.myspace.com/tweed234
Twitter: twitter.com/TimmyVendetta

JUBILEE JEWS

They are not some traveling country hillbilly act. They are celebrating the year of Jubilee in the form of ukulele based indie pop. They are Akiva Misto and Eliana Bartimeus and they are prepared to rock your yarmulkes!

Official Website: NONE

GORBZILLA

songfu-gorbzilla.pngGorbzilla 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

PETER BENEDICT

Peter is a person of sorts. Since his birth he has consistently occupied himself with a variety of time consuming and completely un-noteworthy activities. Despite this breadth of experience he remains untalented in the ways of writing all encompassing 600 word essays. He does, however, greatly enjoy the rare treat that is writing about oneself in the third person, especially when such a gift should be presented to him at the wonderful time of 4AM. Peter now supposes that since this a musical competition he is entering, he might want to include something about that in his bio. At the way too old age of 18, Peter first attempted to play music. His guitar teacher warned him that he was much to old to begin training, and that he would probably be an emotionally unstable musician that would eventually turn to the dark side. Peter took no heed to this warning, and indeed dropped out of guitar lessons fairly quickly, realizing that he enjoyed learning much more when done alone. In the year and a half since then, Peter has been on a steady rise and will no doubt be taking the musical world by storm in the coming year. Perhaps his greatest musical moment came in December of 2008, when his Christmas caroling band, The Sizzle, took his small hick town by storm with a door to door tour through the suburbs, melting the figurative face of listeners with a funk/rap cover of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. In 2009 Peter has become active in the youtube community, known not for his music but for his notorious use of stop-motion eating scenes and a DIY laugh track. Hoping to hone his barely existing musical skills through the pressure of competition, Peter joins Round 5 of Song Fu. He sincerely hopes that rewriting this bio at a later date will be an option. The Peter Is Competing.

Official Website: www.youtube.com/user/thepeteris
Twitter: twitter.com/thepeteris

CRAIG RICHIE

At the ripe age of 19, this strapping young lad has been song writing for two years now. With his mates Meredith and Cornelius (guitar and ukulele, respectively), Craig Richie is prepared to join the ranks of the Song Fu warriors. Finding strong influences from former masters JoCo and Molly Lewis, as well as pinches of Kimya Dawson and Elvis Costello, this boy’s got a perspective on the world to share.

Official Website: www.youtube.com/user/craigtotherichie

JOSH HOLOBER-WARD

Josh was born in Canada, which probably explains more about him than anything else he could put in a bio. He plays the accordion, is self-taught on the piano, and highly enjoys playing and writing for both – though he rarely finishes anything without a deadline. With this grueling contest, he hopes to push himself to unleash the best Fu he possibly can… and hell, maybe even some he impossibly can. YARRR!

Official Website: www.youtube.com/user/PossessedRaccoon

AARON Z

Many folks say that Aaron Z is a pretty cool guy. He plays too many instruments, but mostly piano & guitar. He wastes too much of his free time writing and performing music, which has been known to make people laugh, tough men cry, and ladies melt in his arms. His current projects include Orange Box: The Musical! and A Tribute to the Letter E. He likes food cooked with mushrooms and his favorite ice-creams are vanilla-based, not chocolate-based. Check out his music, including his previously-weekly but now faux-weekly music project on his website, plus his other cool music.

Official Website: aaronz.bandcamp.com

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

DENISE HUDSON

Denise Hudson is doing Song Fu again because last time the contest gave her a rush that she’d never had before. She is thinking this contest will help her further her career in the frightening world, the scary internet (ack!), and in Austin – a city in which there are many Live Music Capitalists of the World. She’s hoping to avoid mixdown mixups, to master her mastering, and hopefully… not become a twittasaurus rex. She’d like to thank her friends – local, national, international, intergalactic, and those from the beyond. Peace, Love, and Grapenuts.

Official Website: www.myspace.com/denisehudson

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/JoeCovenant

LEX VADER

Lex Vader was born to a single mother who worked as silicon tycoon’s personal assistant. When she died of poor hygiene, Lex was sent to an orphanage where he showed interest in organizing races and laser fencing. After being recruited into a religious order, he spent the next few years between several of their private schools. In his final year, Lex lost his hand in an argument with a professor over Kryptochlorians. Despite this, Lex was able to achieve a successful business career and even a knighthood. Tragedy struck, however, when a former classmate’s arctic home caught fire during a business lunch, scarring half of Lex’s face. At this point, Lex’s behavior became erratic. When he managed to buy SithCo, the cult that schooled him, he was shunned by the corporate world. No longer taken seriously, Lex started an evil empire and now moonlights with his evil emotronic alternapop band.

Official Website: lexvaderssecretjournal.wordpress.com
Twitter: twitter.com/LexVader

BOB WESTFALL

Bob Westfall (guitar, mandolin, vocals, songwriting) has studied and worked with some of the top acoustic players in the country – Darol Anger, Mike Marshall, John Hartford, and Alex DeGrassi. But, while these influences are certainly evident, Westfall’s songwriting and lyrics are uniquely his own. An award-winning mandolinist, Bob grew up in Texas and Minnesota, and his style incorporates the best elements of composing with a hybrid jazz/pop/worldbeat/bluegrass feel.

Official Website: www.sonicbids.com/thebobwestfallband

CALEB HINES

Caleb became a software engineer instead of a musician because the type of music he likes best went out of style at the end of the 18th century. Self-taught in music theory, he is more comfortable writing a four-part instrumental fugue than he is writing a verse-chorus-bridge song. After discovering the likes of Weird Al, Dr. Horrible, and especially Jonathan Coulton, he realized that “modern 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 most recently, guitar. He also uses virtual MIDI instruments because a real orchestra costs too much.

Official Website: refactoringmybrain.blogspot.com

JUSTIN VEGA

Did you ever wonder what it would be like to mix Ravishing Rick Rude and the Beatles together? Me too. Man that would be awesome. Justin Vega is a songwriter/sort of singer from Las Vegas, NV. Justin Vega thinks writing in third person is awesome.

Official Website: NONE

IAN JOHNSON

Ian Johnson was born atop Mount Everest, was attacked by a troop of ninjas on his way out of the womb, then rode a grizzly bear down the mountain and punched Hitler’s ghost on the way down. Then he ate some mashed peas. Seriously though. Ian played piano for about six years before taking a break in music. Then he decided to play guitar, because as we all know, piano don’t get chicks. He started playing guitar about a year and a half ago. His music has been described (by himself) as garage-punk ska-esque acoustic altern-rock with just a little ukulele thrown in for good measure.

Official Website: ianjohnson.bandcamp.com

ZER0GUY

Sometimes two people get together who are destined to make history. Sometimes they are born into the same family. zer0guy is the musical/life-partnership of Jon and Dan Kelly, long time musicians looking forward to placing notes in your head.

Official Website: www.myspace.com/zer0guyband

JONATHAN MANN

My current project is writing A Song a Day (Rock Cookie Bottom), and my former projects include The Last Nympho Leprechaun, a rock opera, The Mario Opera, a rock opera, GameJew, a web show, and The Mushroom Singdom, singing old school video game reviews.

Official Website: www.rockcookiebottom.com

SARA PARSONS

Sara Parsons is a twenty-year-old music composition student from northern California. She participated in Masters of Song Fu #4 and had a blast and met a ton of great people. She hopes she’s better at writing songs than she is at writing her own biography.

Official Website: www.youtube.com/user/sargeantketchup

SIMMBIOSIS

Simmbiosis – three part band. Defies the usual type or brand. A combo bred, in this strange head. The obscene voice the unseen hand. Terpsichore and muse imbued. Perverse perhaps a little rude. Music composed, a life exposed. Giving you all I can exude. Studio C where I compose. Club Bed where I take my repose. Iniquity, safe haven for me. The rest you’ll just have to suppose. To be among this crowd, auspicious. An honor bordering on delicious. Thanks to View Askew, I’ll whip out my Song Fu. And work not to be repetitious, repetitious, repetitious.

Official Website: www.myspace.com/simmbiosis

CHAS LILLY

Chas Lilly is a man that needs introduction. He is geeky but hopefully without being boring. He has been known to write songs about Pluto, Tim Allen, funerals, and everything in between. People often describe his music as “music”.

Official Website: www.youtube.com/friendswobenefits
Twitter: twitter.com/foldsaholic

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. I’d like to use Masters of Song Fu to really challenge myself, and hopefully grow as a musical artist.

Official Website: NONE
Twitter: twitter.com/KyliePetto

JEFF FARDINK

Jeff began playing guitar in 2003. He wrote his first comedy song in early 2004, and later that year, he wrote a song that was actually funny and in key, unlike his earlier works. He began playing shows after accidentally opening for a local band while passing through a bar. He continues to play because nobody has told him to stop.

Official Website: www.JeffFardink.com

ALEX TAYLOR

I am a young musician who plays trombone, guitar, ukulele, piano, melodica, and a little bit of harmonica. I play everything from rock songs with distortion pedals on ukulele, to rap medleys on piano, to sappy love songs and songs about the internet crashing on guitar. This is my first time in Song Fu.

Official Website: NONE

BRYCE JENSEN

Bryce Jensen has been writing songs off and on for well over twenty years, but he has rarely shared any of them beyond his friends and family. His styles range from a capella to heavy metal with a lot of wimpy finger picking stuff in between. Bryce took part in the recent Holiday Special edition of the Song Fu and found the constraints and deadline to be quite a rush. He also learned that sharing his work with the world can be very rewarding. Back for this competition because he is hooked and needs another fix, Bryce is looking forward to whatever crazy challenges lie ahead.

Official Website: www.brycejensen.com
Twitter: twitter.com/psychobman

THE MATT LEES BAND

An independent rock/blues band from Ontario, Canada. Currently in studio recording a debut album to be released soon. They have been described as Hall and Oats meets Guns N Roses or John Mayer Vs Jeff Healey Vs Dave Matthews – Now that’s a triple threat match! The MLB looks forward to welcoming you to their world.

Official Website: legendinmysparetimepodcast.podbean.com

GIFTED GEAR

I’m just a kid with a guitar. Sometimes I even play it.

Official Website: NONE

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ROUND 1 CHALLENGE

This is a bit of a fun one. Your first task is based upon the work of Friend-of-the-Stop John Hodgman – specifically, the “700 MOLE MEN” listed in his second book, More Information Than You Require. You’ll find the full list of “700 Mole Men” – and their descriptions – HERE. Your task is to choose one (1) and write a song about that Mole Man, based on the description provided by Hodgman. The title of your song will be the name of the Mole Man you’ve chosen, and its corresponding number on the list. 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. 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, November 15th, 2009.

Voting on Round 1 submissions will commence on Tuesday, November 17th, 2009.

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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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November 9, 2009

SModcast 98

Filed under: SModcast — Tags: , , , , , , — UncaScroogeMcD @ 12:44 am

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Your TextSModcast is the meandering palaver of a pair of dudes whose voices are so dull, they don’t deserve to be on the radio (and, hence, aren’t). Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier are SModcast.The best thing about SModcast? It don’t cost nothing.

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SModcast 98: JMJ –

In which the voiceless finally speak.

[CONTENT WARNING] SModcast features harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Listener discretion is advised.

DOWNLOAD:

SModcast 98 (MP3 format)

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SUBSCRIBE

Subscribe to this Podcast via iTunes

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Wanna add your two cents? Spend it here, in the SModcast mailbag.

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CLICK HERE FOR THE SMODCAST ARCHIVES

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November 6, 2009

Weekend Shopping Guide 11/6/09: Billy & The Boingers

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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 Quick Stop Weekend Shopping Guide – your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…

(Please support Quick Stop by using the links below to make any impulse purchases – it helps to keep us going…)

When I interviewed Berke Breathed a few years back, I asked him if there would finally by a comprehensive Bloom County collection like the recently available Calvin & Hobbes and Peanuts volumes. Breathed was dismissive of the idea, claiming that no one wanted to read the strip, that it was no longer relevant, and it just wasn’t going to happen. Well, a few years have gone by, someone talked a bit of sense into him, so we have the first, glorious volume of The Bloom County Library (IDW, $39.99 SRP), collecting the first two years. Granted, those first two years bear more resemblance to Doonesbury than the Bloom County we know and love, but the strip quickly evolves and finds its way, so by the end of the volume, we’re into familiar territory. Breathed also provides commentary, which places the strips into their historical context. Overall, the presentation is exactly what fans have been waiting for, and volume 2 can’t come fast enough.

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Ever wish you had the ability to switch something on and off with a regular ol’ wall switch? Like a lamp, or a game system? But without having to have the switch be on the wall? And have it be wireless? Well, now you can, with the Instant Switch ($24.95), which allows you to do just that. Ain’t technology grand? AIN’T IT?!?!

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I’m often baffled by their selection process, but the one thing the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame manages to impress with on a rather consistent basis is the musical performances of the inductees – and tributes from other artists who perform their work. With a roster that includes everyone from Paul McCartney and The Doors to John Lee Hooker and Little Richard, it’s an eclectic bunch, to be sure. For those who’ve never caught the ceremonies in the past – or just want to relive the music – Time Life has delivered an incredible collection across 9 volumes – Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame + Museum: Live (Time Life, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP), featuring literally dozens of artists in an equal amount of unique, memorable performances from these ceremonies. Get it.

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Hitchcock’s classic North By Northwest (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$24.82 SRP) will be delighted by just how stunning the restored picture and sound looks and sounds, as the film has never, ever looked this good (even during its theatrical run). The 2-disc set includes a pair of brand new documentaries, plus carries over the audio commentary, featurettes, galleries, and TV spots from the previous special edition release. It’s also available in a Blu-Ray edition ($34.99), which – as you can imagine – looks just that much better.

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Another strip which IDW has begun collecting is Bil Keane’s precocious kids via the Family Circus Library: Volume 1 (IDW, $39.99 SRP). Every bit as high quality as their other deluxe releases, hardbound and premium, the premiere volume contains the first year of the strip, running from 1960-1961. Is it worth it? Yes, it’s worth it.

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A very close second to the original cross-country trek of the Griswold clan, I’m a big fan of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$49.99 SRP). It still holds up as a comic joy and a true holiday perennial, and it’s been given the deluxe special edition treatment just in time for this holiday. The film itself has been given a high-definition release with an audio commentary and the theatrical trailer, and the collectible tin comes packed with a Wally the Moose Santa Hat, miniature replica of the Wally mug, fake snow, and a badge.

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It’s the holidays, which means some classic perennials are getting an upgrade and re-release just in time for seasonal viewing. Getting the high definition treatment is Frank Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life (Paramount, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP), which lands as a quite spiffy looking 2-disc set containing both the must-see black & white and best to avoid colorized versions, plus the making-of documentary and original theatrical trailer found on the original standard DVD special edition. Sadly not in HD (it would have been quite a visual feast) is the new 2-disc anniversary edition of White Christmas (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$ SRP), which sports an audio commentary with Rosemary Clooney, a half-dozen featurettes, and a pair of theatrical trailers.

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There are unique minds, and then there are uber-unique minds… Minds which create their own sphere of reality, daring others to step within the range of its influence and be swept away. One of those minds is Tony Millionaire, whose work has been given a must-have hardcover tome in The Art Of Tony Millionaire (Dark Horse Books, $39.95 SRP). Packed with art and anecdotes, this volume should be on your shelf. Right next to that Michael Kupperman book. You know the one… Yeah, that one. So just get it.

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Long, long after the release of the penultimate 3rd season and a poorly-packaged complete series box set, everything is made right with the release of Fraggle Rock: The Complete Final Season (Lionsgate, Not Rated, DVD-$28.98 SRP), containing interviews and featurettes galore. Also getting a re-release is a more intelligently packaged Fraggle Rock: The Complete Series (Lionsgate, Not Rated, DVD-$99.98 SRP) and a holiday-centric Fraggle Rock: A Merry Fraggle Holiday (Lionsgate, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP), containing a trio of festive episodes, an episode of the animated series, an Emmet Otter sing-along, and a look at The Christmas Toy.

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More so even that ET, Forrest Gump (Paramount, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$38.98 SRP) is a completely manipulative, exquisitely crafted piece of Hollywood feel good prize-pumping cinema. And yes, I did enjoy it when I first saw it in the theater, way back in 1994 – it pushes buttons quite well, thank you, and it pushed mine, even if I have felt dirty about it ever since. Well, it’s now gotten a release in high def via Paramount’s new deluxe Sapphire Series as a 2-disc special edition featuring a pair of audio commentaries, a featurette on the soundtrack, 9 behind-the-scenes featurettes, and screen tests. I feel so dirty, AND I want a box of chocolates.

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By its 3rd season, Spin City (Shout! Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$39.99 SRP) was a well-oiled machine, with the entire cast on equal footing with star Michael J. Fox (particularly the dynamic between Alan Ruck and Michael Boatman). The 4-disc set contains all 26 episodes, but sadly no bonus features.

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Whereas the live action film was a mess, I thought that GI Joe: Resolute (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP) was a faithful, entertaining update of the GI Joe cartoon I loved as a child, and was able to introduce a more adult approach without coming off as a violent, wrongheaded attempt at being “adult”. Don’t believe me? Check out the disc for yourself, which features additional scenes, behind-the-scenes interviews, storyboards, and the teaser.

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You know that great Saturday Night Live book from a few years back – the one by Tom Shales that features dozens of interviews telling the tale of the show’s history in a remarkably candid way? Well, Author Mike Thomas has done the same thing for the legendary improvisational group which spawned many an SNL castmember – and comedy icon – with The Second City Unscripted (Villard Books, $26.00 SRP). Every comedy fan should get this. Now.

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While it’s not the educational films I would have liked to have seen in the series (or Song Of The South), I welcome the Walt Disney Treasures release of both Zorro: The Complete First Season & Zorro: The Complete Second Season (Walt Disney, Not Rated, DVD-$59.99 SRP each). The show looks better than it ever did in the long ago Disney Channel reruns, and both sets contains intros from Leonard Maltin. The sets also feature the Walt Disney Presents episodes and newly-produced featurettes (even a collectible pin). As always, the Walt Disney Treasures series delivers a treat. Here’s to more…

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I’m not exactly sure what the concept is behind Adult Swim In A Box (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$69.98 SRP). In a nutshell, it’s a big ol’ boxset containing a mix of various Adult Swim shows. The odd thing is it’s different seasons of the shows, with no real logic behind their inclusion. Was the boxset just a way to unload a bunch of sets that were sitting around in inventory? Included in the set are Sealab 2021: Season 2, Metalocalypse: Season 1, Robot Chicken: Season 2, Space Ghost Coast To Coast: Season 3, Moral Orel: Season 1, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Volume 2. So what’s the incentive to buy the set? The clever inclusion of an exclusive bonus disc, containing a handful of pilots – The Best Of Totally For Teens, Cheyenne Cinnamon And The Fantabulous Unicorn Of Sugar Town Candy Fudge, Korgoth Of Barbaria, Perfect Hair Forever, and Welcome To Eltingville. Clever bastards.

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Bit by bit, we’re getting DVD releases of all of the various Saturday morning animated iterations of the DC superheroes, and the latest to get its time on plastic is the short-lived Ruby-Spears Superman (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$26.98 SRP), which was the pre-Dini/Timm but post-Crisis version of the Man of Steel, that actually used reorchestrated versions of John Williams’ theatrical theme. The 2-disc set contains all 13 episodes, plus a featurette on Lexcorp.

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There’s nothing quite so electrifying as Muhammad Ali in interviews, even those when he was in the early years of his decline, and you’ll find plenty of them in Champions Forever: The Definitive Edition – Muhammad Ali the Lost Interviews (Image, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP), which contains unused footage shot in 1990 for the Champions Forever documentary.

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Really – it seems like there are an unlimited number of classic Doctor Who adventures. Are we even close to getting them all on DVD? They just keep coming and coming. Latest is an arc from the Peter Davison years – Doctor Who: The Black Guardian Trilogy (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$59.98 SRP), a 3-disc set containing Mawdryn Undead, Terminus, and Enlightenment. Bonus materials are the usual Who potpourri of commentaries, featurettes, galleries, and more.

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I know I should be swept up in its formulaic, rom-comminess, but there’s an unavoidable charm to Richard Curtis’s Love Actually (Universal, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$26.98 SRP). The film has just found its way to high definition, with an audio commentary, featurettes, and music videos.

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It may not be a very well-written or executed superhero cartoon, but I have find childhood memories of the episodes contained in Plastic Man: The Complete Collection (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$44.98 SRP). The 4-disc set contains all 36 episodes of the pliable one’s adventures, plus a retrospective featurette and the original pilot episode.

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It may not be as polished as the films of Pixar, but there’s a lot of charm and energy in the Ice Age series, and I was surprised to find out that there was still some steam in Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs (Fox, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP), which finds our heroes discovering a lost world and interacting with dinosaurs – I mean, it was inevitable they’d find a way to bring them in to the mix. Does it work? Yeah, it does. Fox has taken a cue from Disney and have crafted a Blu-Ray/DVD combo package, with bonus features including an audio commentary, behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, Scrat shorts, and more.

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How do you make sure the DVD re-release of Mickey’s Magical Christmas: Snowed In At The House Of Mouse (Walt Disney, Not Rated, DVD-$26.99 SRP) sells? Make sure the cover has a trio of Disney Princesses (Snow White, Cinderella, and Ariel) joining Mickey, Donald, and the gang. Crass? Sure, which is a shame, since it’s actually a pretty decent holiday special. Bonus features include the premiere episode of House of Mouse, a featurette on sound effects, and sing-along songs.

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It’s certainly not the holidays without penguins, right? Right. Which makes The March Of The Penguins: Limited Edition Giftset (Warner Bros., Rated G, DVD-$39.98 SRP) a nice gift, as it comes with not only the titular documentary, but also a new documentary about warm-weather penguins and a plush penguin toy.

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In the vein of goofy babysitter flicks of the 80’s like Batteries Not Included and Spaced Invaders comes the kids & extraterrestrials romp Aliens In The Attic (Fox, Rated PG, DVD-$29.99 SRP). Can you guess there are aliens in the aforementioned upstairs area? Bonus features include featurettes, deleted scenes, an alternate ending, a bonus animated short, and a gag reel. A Blu-Ray edition ($39.99 SRP) is also available with identical bonus materials.

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It’s not the sharpest, most clever of political commentary, but there’s a certain closure to Will Ferrell’s Broadway outing You’re Welcome America: A Final Night With George W Bush (HBO, Not Rated, DVD-$19.97 SRP). The show had a limited run on the Great White Way, and found Ferrell performing the impression formed during his SNL days, summarizing the man behind two Presidential terms. Bonus features include a pair of featurettes and a game.

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The TV show releases are wrapped, which brings us to the first volume of The Rockford Files: Movie Collection (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$26.98 SRP), which finds James Garner back on the case in a quartet of TV movies.

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As a tour guide into the work of Charles Darwin and his landmark theory of evolution, one couldn’t hope for a better, more engaging host than Sir David Attenborough, who takes by the hand on Charles Darwin And The Tree Of Life (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP).

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I admit, there was a schlocky appeal to the first Wrong Turn, and it’s always worth watching Eliza Dusku (well, except in Dollhouse – there’s nothing about that worth watching. But with Eliza long gone, there’s very little to Wrong Turn 3: Left For Dead (Fox, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP) worth watching, as it becomes just another of those direct-to-video franchises. A franchise! Whoda thunk it?

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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

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