Howdy Inter-Webbers. I’m Matt Cohen, and I dig THE WACKNESS.
Ah, the summer of 94. I was a precocious ten years old, living in suburban Long Island and making that all too important transition from elementary school to middle school. In a lot of ways, that is the summer I became a teen. I got my first CD (Dr. Dre’s THE CHRONIC), had my first dalliance with the opposite sex; It was a formative time for me. Of course, if a film were to be made about my “coming of age” it would be at around seventeen or so, but that would be in 2001 and that was like seven years ago; too soon for nostalgia. And though 1994 was a big year for me, I cannot tell my story set against its backdrop. Luckily, writer director Jonathan Levine can. Levine graduated high school in that fateful summer and fortunately for us, he has decided to tell his tale (or a lot of it) in a fresh, smart and extremely funny new film, THE WACKNESS.
Set in the three summer months of 1994, in the hot and familiar (to myself) streets in New York City, THE WACKNESS is the story of 16 year old Luke Shapiro (TV’s Josh Peck), a pot dealer and social misfit who strives to be popular and get the girl but winds up spending most of his time with a drug addicted psychologist played by Oscar winner Sir. Ben Kingsley. Though Lucas isn’t necessarily picked on, he is far from popular in school, most kids only associating with him due to his profession. Aptly put by the teen himself “I’m the most popular unpopular kid in school”. Couple all this popularity induced insecurity with a raging unfulfilled sex drive and a family life quickly collapsing around him, and you’ve got one pretty messed up kid. I say messed up not in the sense that anything is wrong with him, rather like most teens, Luke’s life is a seemingly random series of catastrophes and set backs, all of which he thinks he is helpless to avoid. His one friend, the madcap and clinically depressed Dr. Squires is almost In the same boat as Luke. Squire’s in a loveless and often tumultuous marriage, he is depressed and unsatisfied at work and he trades therapy sessions with sixteen year olds for marijuana. Class act. To make things even worse, the city they love and call their own is quickly morphing into a homogenized theme park of a town, thanks to Mayor Rudolph Guliani. Luke graduates high school unceremoniously and the summer seems to be shaping up to be just as miserable as all the others. Add in the fact that Luke’s parents fight all the time (and for good reason, Luke’s father loses his job and the family is in danger of being evicted). Stephanie, the girl he likes, who happens to be Dr. Squire’s stepdaughter (played excellently by relative newcomer Olivia Thirlby) is either unaware or unresponsive to Luke’s desires – rather, she seems to like Luke as a friend. Life couldn’t be worse for young Luke Shapiro.
And then one day, his various worlds seem to collide. With most of the school class out of the country on a trip (to which Luke was not invited), Stephanie and Luke spend a chance day together, selling pot in the parks of the Upper West Side. Sparks fly, obviously on Luke’s part and surprisingly on Stephanie’s, and Luke – for the first time in a long time – has a reason for life. As this affair is blossoming, Luke and Dr. Squires attempt to reinvigorate each other’s lives in other, more spiritual (yeah right) pursuits. What follows is one of the truest and funniest coming of age films I have seen in a long time.
“I’m pretty sure thats not ices in there…”
I don’t want to spoil things, as this is a film I feel people should really go out of their way to try and see. So as to not go into much more plot, I like to break my feelings about the film into a list style type deal. Y’all with me? All right, then let’s roll out.
THE PLOT: This movie may not affect everyone as it did me, or ring as true to people’s lives and memories as it did mine, but one can’t help feel a twang of happiness, regardless of age or background, at the pure saturation of the year 1994 in this film. The movie breathes that summer. The music, the sights around NYC, the language; this film is in many ways a time capsule of 1994, a seminal time in my own life and a generation of fellow film fans. Though the actual story is nothing groundbreaking, it is so real that it is hard to not be instantly drawn into it. Anyone will relate with a moment in this film, if not many of them. In its own way, this is a film to remind people of who they were, where they’ve come from and what they’ve learnt along the way. Yes, it runs a tad too long at 110 minutes and yes, some of the dialogue will not be accessible to those not familiar with the time period (I, on the other hand used to really talk like this) and yes, it does have the now infamous Ben Kingsley/Mary Kate Olsen make out session, but I really think THE WACKNESS is a standout piece, and one of the most realistic and funny independent films I have seen in a while.
THE VISUALS: This movie is gorgeous”¦ And I don’t say that lightly. Cinematographer Petra Korner has created a palate for her first feature film that is both gritty and luscious at the same time. The streets of New York City are represented in their full, real life splendor. Nothing is cleaned up here for our sake. This is New York as seen through the haze of memories gone – things are a bit distorted, sometimes washed out, always dreamlike and always true to the city that I love. With a flair for the creative and sometimes shocking, Petra manages to remind the viewer of Darren Arronosfky’s masterpiece REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, and that is one of the highest honors I can bestow upon someone.
THE ACTING: Possibly the strongest suit this film has going for it. In particular, Josh Peck turns in a true star making performance in the lead role of Luke. For those unfamiliar, Peck can be seen as the costar of the wildly popular children’s television show JOSH AND DRAKE and a few years back stole the show in the fantastic indie film MEAN CREEK. In his first starring role, there was a real chance for a young actor to get lost amongst the high concepts of the piece and the more veteran cast, but Peck not only doesn’t falter, he is a breathe of fresh air. Not for one moment in the film did I feel like he was acting, rather Luke exists for the two hours he is on film. This is a real kid, or rather, we know a real kid very much like Luke. He is both a characterization and a accurate portrayal of a teenager lost to angst, and Josh Peck does an amazing job of keeping that element apparent and also prominent in every scene he inhabits. Truly a wonderful and memorable performance and what looks to be the start of a very promising career.
Sir Kingsley is no slouch either as he paints a zany and compelling Dr. Squires for the audience. Yes, sometimes he can veer a bit into the lunacy scale, but for the character he is playing it seems to fit, if not add to the overall performance. It’s a high compliment to the man that I hardly recognized him in the film, and once the movie gets rolling I almost forgot that it was an actor playing the role – instead, it felt like Dr. Squires had agreed to play himself. It is definitely an unconventional character, and due to that Sir Ben’s portrayal may irk some viewers, or come off as a caricature, but this isn’t the “real” world as we know it – It’s Levine’s memories seen through the idealistic future of time. Things don’t have to be 100 percent “True” to make this universe exude reality.
Olivia Thribly – who most of you will know as Juno’s best friend in, wait for it, JUNO -Â plays Stephanie, the goal (and occasional destroyer) of Luke’s affections, and she does a surprisingly mature and adept job of the role. I say surprising, not because I doubt her talent, rather at such a young age I am always surprised and impressed when an actor or actress can bring such a sense of depth and realism to a role. I know girls like Stephanie. You know girls like Stephanie. It is a great credit to Thirbly that one doesn’t wind up despising her character, but instead empathize and almost appreciate her instead, due in the most part to a combination of Thirlby’s grounded and eerily real life performance, and her obvious beauty and charm. She plays a very functional role in the growth of Luke, and her almost preternatural understanding of that is what makes the character intriguing and somehow tragic, rather then mean.
The rest of the cast is fleshed out with what is for the most part strong and mainly unknown (or at least unfamiliar) character actors. The few notable exceptions are Mary Kate Olsen playing a Phish tour dropout, Famke Janssen as Dr. Squire’s distant and troubled trophy wife and Method Man as Luke’s pot supplier, each of who turn in a solid if not unremarkable performance. Actually, Method Man was better then that, though only given a few scenes, I really enjoyed his whole Rasta character and thought it was nice to see him playing a role rather then himself, as he usually does.
THE MUSIC: Other then the acting, this is what THE WACKNESS has going for it. Rap may not be everyone’s cup of tea, and if you are an adamant anti-rap person, the following statement will not apply to you, but this film has one of the best soundtracks in recent years. It may be because I bought my first CD in 94, or that my first exposure to music was the very artists and songs featured in the film. Or, it could be that this is just really great hip-hop at its truest root. I like to think it’s a combination of all three. 94 was a golden age for rap music, and all the heavy hitters of that summer are represented on the soundtrack, everyone from Tribe Called Quest and Wu-Tang to Nas and most prominently Biggie (who at this point had not even released his debut album READY TO DIE and was being circulated around the city on mix tapes). If you are 20 years old and above, this music should ring familiar to you even if you weren’t a fan of it originally. Levine, again, does a remarkable job of capturing a particular moment in time, and the music and feeling that went along with it.
Overall. THE WACKNESS is a fresh, compelling and very real film that manages to faithfully capture an important time in my life, and for that reason alone I give it the highest praise. The fact that it is a well-executed and extremely well acted piece only adds to its lasting appeal. Check it out when it comes to a theater near you”¦.
And be all about the dopeness.
Sadly, our time is through friends and neighbors. Check back next week where we kick this puppy back into Comic Book mode with a look at Wednesday’s standout releases. Keep em’ fresh, keep em’ funky, and as always,
“Keep em’ bagged and boarded”.
Matt Cohen is fresher then fresh, yo.
Even though they’ve done just about everything possible (including throwing the kitchen sink at it) to tear down the beloved characters and stories of their relaunch, time and unfortunate editorial machinations have only made the Keith Giffen/J.M. DeMatteis/Kevin Maguire run of Justice League International look all the more enjoyable by comparison. Ignore all of that Uber Final Infinite Crisis of Something Or Another business and pick up the first volume of 
Ah, but I will say this – thank jebus for the relaunched Booster Gold. Slowly but surely, the series has been fixing the bastardizations wreaked in the past few years within the DC universe, and reintroducing some of the FUN and ENJOYMENT that’s been missing in comics today. Let me say, unequivocally, grab the first collection, 
Even though I think there were diminishing returns following the spectacular, pre-franchise outing and its first sequel, it’s still welcome to have brand new, deluxe special editions of the five films featuring Detective Harry Callahan – aka “Dirty Harry”. 
You know a major feature film is fast-approaching when the studio starts releasing the classic material to DVD, and such is the case with the rapid fire release of both the 
If it had an arc like the plant its characters peddle, than season 3 of 
If Indiana Jones has made you interested in finding out what real archeology is all about, I can recommend no more enjoyable series than Time Team – the Brit show which performs digs across the UK, and is hosted by Blackadder‘s Tony Robinson. A perfect introduction to the series is 
This weekend, the space nerd in me will be delighting in reading 
It’s always a pleasant surprise when a series whose release has been pleaded for by fans gets put out on DVD, and it’s even more exciting when there are actually a decent amount of bonus materials as well. Such is the case with the complete first season of 
Hopefully, you’ve already picked up all four volumes of the Jack Kirby’s Fourth World Omnibus, as they should be required reading for any comic fan. If you’ve already wisely purchased those, you’ll also want to get 
You know, few shows are feature characters as relentlessly flawed as 
Although it never lit up audiences, you can at least say that the TV series based on Stephen King’s 
Although it quickly disappeared from screens when it hit in the mid-90’s, the attempted re-launch of 
Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt’s 
It’s goofy and good-natured and well within his safe zone, but there’s something undeniably tired about Will Ferrell’s latest loveable boob pic 
Continuing their spotlights on great British actresses (having already dedicated sets to Judi Dench and Helen Mirren), we now get 
Give it enough time and even the most marginal of films enters into the realm of classic, and it’s with that in mind that we’ve now got a special collector’s edition of 
The least effective officers of the California Highway Patrol are back on their bikes in the second season of 
The latest release from The Weinstein Company’s high-falutin’ “Miriam Collection” is the tragic tale of Joy Division’s Ian Curtis, 
With a powerhouse producing team – including Ridley and Tony Scott – I expected quite a bit from the new mini-series based on Michael Crichton’s 
I tried – jebus how I tried – to find something funny in 
Director: Gil Kenan
Director: Joel and Ethan Coen
While talking to a fellow film fan/addict, at least a generation behind me, I discovered that as much as they loved the medium, they sorely lacked the experience of witnessing the films that blew my mind and opened a whole new doorway for the remarkable talents of today. An amusing anecdote; having mentioned, “Electra Glide in Blue” its amazing dramatic opening, its bent on the “Easy Rider” mythos and extolling Robert Blake’s performance, my friend interrupted me. “Robert Blake the killer?” bemused the young fiend, had no idea of the depth and range of Mr. Blake’s performances in such masterpieces as, “In Cold Blood” and “Electra Glide”¦”
That’s when it dawned on me. At least two generations have been nurtured on a stream of processed junk food celluloid that has been siphoned through an unstable era of video and dvd half-baked rental chains that have only been interested in bottom dollar cinema. Blockbuster and Hollywood Video lead the way of the demise of the revival houses. Homes to long lost forgotten movies that sometimes developed cult followings due to their obscure vision that set off minds like that of the two Davids (no ““ not the mutts from American Idol) ““ Lynch and Cronenberg. There was also the appreciation for storytelling inspiring the works of P.T. Anderson and the Coen brothers. Sometimes just downright exploitive fun tickled the guilty pleasures of Tarantino and Rodriguez spurring their imaginations. Add the chance to get reacquainted with classics such as Night of the Hunter and To Kill a Mockingbird and have one realize how good movies use to be.
Now the sad part, what I’ll suggest to you dear reader will be hard to find in the GRCs (generic rental chains). Ask your local Blockbuster/Hollywood employee if they have an obscure title and they’ll either deliver the usual glazed look or robotically attend to their computer to check the inventory of the bland and mundane ““ more than likely telling you it’s unavailable or only to be had as a purchase at a ridiculous sum. Not true ““ buyer beware! Netflix has one of the most extensive libraries I have seen. I do not work for them nor am I a member. This is merely a fact that I must hail to whoever is behind them. They don’t have it all, but they have damn near 90% of it!
Unfortunately, my first viewing of this masterpiece of madness was not at a revival house. It was a legend that eluded me for years till a good friend in the late’80’s lent me a bootleg copy on VHS. Poor sound, graininess and a 25″ RCA TV could not dampen the power of this man’s vision. I found myself rewinding back to scenes verifying what I was witnessing. I had not been this confused and mesmerized since my first viewing of 2001: a space odyssey. Not that they’re in the same genre, but possibly the same existential level, making one think and contemplate on what they are experiencing. That is probably the best way to describe this metaphysical western that has a cosmic mystic/master gunfighter face down four, just as unusual, rivals in order for him to reach self-enlightenment and a surreal resurrection. Confused yet?
Oh no! Just when you thought it was safe to hang out at the Quick Stop…
PALM SPRINGS – Can you believe that an article in the Washington Post can expose a problem and inspire a swift resolution? Last year Neely Tucker’s “Mannix Was the Man” questioned why this TV detective show wasn’t out on DVD. The story was picked up by numerous papers across the countries in the following week. Fans of the show wrote the studio demanding a Mannix fix. This groundswell of support has been rewarded with Mannix: The First season being released on June 3.
A lot of actor talk about how they can’t stand to see their movies. Connors sounds like an excited fan eager to snag the boxset. “I wasn’t crazy about watching myself at the time I was doing things. You look at it and you get despondent in that you should have done something different. You shoulda, coulda done it better. But now I look at it and say, ‘Wow! God, we were young in those days. Look at that: I’m running.'”
It’s a pleasant surprise to find just how much I look forward to each new installment of 
Based on the lackluster American iteration, I’ve largely avoided the show Trigger Happy TV. That proved to be foolish, as I just should have sought out the infinitely more intelligent – and dada funny – British original created by Dom Joly. It’s like an absurdist Candid Camera, and Joly is a compelling social observer. Drop everything you’re doing and pick up the 
It seems there’ve been a dozen collections over the past few years, but 
As with any potentially long-running DVD release, I feared that the first volume of the chronological Three Stooges might very well be a one-off. Thankfully, my fears have been allayed with the arrival of 
Nothing makes a weekend pass faster than having your own private Modern Marvels marathon, and you can certainly do that with 
Even though I thought the flick was abysmal, I enjoyed reading through the massive 
Unfortunately, much like the film itself, there’s not much to get excited by with John Williams’s score to 
It’s a damn shame that he’s still largely unknown in the US, but I’d recommend you rectify that by picking up 
Long before V or The X-Files, producer Quinn Martin gave us 
Slowly but surely, the DVD releases are catching up with the current episodes. The 2-disc 
The subjects of their quests are still as mythical as they ever were, but 
As someone who was not particularly ever a fan of the original Rambo films, Stallone’s resurrection of the Reagan-era icon in 
While everyone remembers the sinking of the Titanic, my enduring interest in early 20th century shipwrecks extends to the sinking of Cunard liner Lusitania, which was torpedoed by a German U-Boat in 1915, and was one of the pivotal, galvanizing moments in the first World War. The Discovery Channel special 
Get in a martial arts mode (just in time for the release of Kung Fu Panda) with a new pair of releases from the “Dragon Dynasty” label – 
Ride ’em in! Get a view of classic Clint Eastwood with the first volume of 
Meanwhile, Marshall Matt Dillon continues to keep the crooked in line in the second volume of 
Director: Jody Hill
Director: Nanette Burstein
Director: Baz Luhrmann
No matter what, we as fans of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg will always expect more, and rarely will they deliver. So I urge everyone interested in seeing their future movies to stop genuflecting to your celluloid deities and accept them as better-than-average filmmakers who have faults with touches of brilliance. This way, one can walk out of Indian Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull with a fun sense of nostalgia and newbies can have just as good of a time as the rest of us.
Jonathan Coulton on Jonathan Coulton: “In 2005 I left my day job writing software to pursue music full time. To keep myself busy I released a new song on this website every week for a year in a project called Thing a Week. A few of those songs became big internet hits (my folky cover of Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back”, a funny video called “Flickr”, a song called “Code Monkey”), and I am now fortunate enough to make my living as a musician.
Paul and Storm are a comedy music duo, and they have been performing as a duo since 2004. Before that, they were one half of a cappella band Da Vinci’s Notebook for about 12 years. A Paul and Storm show is part music concert and part standup/improv comedy”“just enough of both to fit neatly in neither category. They like to engage the audience, and are known to award snack cakes and/or other prizes for good (and sometimes bad) behavior. Their show would be PERFECT as a cable special, and would make lots of money for whichever brave channel decides to air them first.
Doc Hammer was born in 1626 in Hamar, Norway, under the name Erik VonHamer. Being the son of a humble cobbler, not much was expected of the young man, other than to cobble and to not complain about all the cobbling. But Doc was destined for greater things. At 17, with nothing more than really well made shoes and a dream, he made his way to Antwerp to study oil painting under the great Rubens. Within a year, the two were at odds. Rubens spoke (infrequently) of Doc as “that creepy skinny kid,” and Doc spoke of Rubens’s work as “kinda unattractive if you really look at it.” By 1648, Doc had relocated to Leiden, where he found his master in Rembrandt. It was there, in his 23rd year, that Doc met “She Who Was To Deliver The Kiss Of Eternal Youth.” After a spicy courtship, “She Who Was To Deliver The Kiss Of Eternal Youth” and Doc were married. By 1650 Doc had grown weary of immortality and committed an unsuccessful suicide by burying his never-corpse in the basement of a Dutch cottage. In 1870, Doc again resurfaced. Using the name Vilhelm Hammershoi, Doc resumed his painting career with mild success. After thanking his bride for “the immortality thing” and nicely reminding her that he had “heard every one of her stories like a billion times,” “She Who Was To Deliver The Kiss Of Eternal Youth” and Doc split up in 1916. Again, Doc literally went underground until, now using the name Armond Hammer, he resurfaced and made a whole mess of money selling overpriced meds to the Russians. Sick of all the baking soda jokes, Doc faked his death. Biding his time till the MC Hammer thing had blown over, Doc again resurfaced as “Doc Hammer.” Today, Doc still paints in oils and writes, voices, and does other crap for The Venture Bros. (a show you can watch on cable TV).
Matt Lees was born and raised in sheep-lovin’ Wales. At 12-years-old his family decided to move to everything lovin’ Canada and start a new life. Not an easy feat for any person, let alone a less-than-manly pre-teen. Eager to fit in with the Canuck teens he threw himself into the arts. He began an obsessive love affair with music. Writing and singing to express his emotions, he needed to learn an instrument to complete his sound. In the beginning he learned piano but, being lazy, he didn’t want to lug a piano everywhere. Guitar seemed like the easiest choice… plus, chicks dig guitar players. Ego in hand, he now fronts a self-titled band. The MLB fuses a pop-rock sound with a modern blues feel. Playing mainly in Ontario, Canada, Matt has also shared his music with audiences in Europe – even the French! Matt loves long walks on the beach, puppies, sharing his feelings and the smell of dew in the morning. He is currently ‘sticking it to the man’ in the real world while preparing to record and release his debut album (aka scrounging funds and searching for a cheaper studio).
Born in the fall of 2006 in the center of the two-man acoustic comedy rock scene, Columbus, Ohio, the self proclaimed Turner and Hooch of Rock and Roll, The Paul Frumpton Experience Featuring Larry – known more colloquially as Jeff Stormer and Jeremy Hoover – are best described as what happens when comedy, music, caffeine, and improv collide in a chocolaty, peanut buttery explosion of good times. Stormer and Hoover met as students of Ohio State University and have been performing for scraps of food and hobo nickels ever since. Jeremy and Jeff’s major influences include Bacon, Booster Gold & Blue Beetle’s irreverent banter, David Bowie’s crotch in Labyrinth, and a deep-seated love of go karts. Finally, we feel obliged to mention all the things that are off limits to the comedy duo… This list includes NOTHING.
Lex Friedman’s musical influences include artists like They Might Be Giants, Moxy Fruvous, “Weird Al” Yankovic, CAKE, Barenaked Ladies, Tom Lehrer, Ben Folds, and Michael Jackson. Lex has left a smattering of bizarre music videos on YouTube, which have been slowly overtaken by videos of his 18-month-old daughter Anya. He occasionally shares new songs on his blog. He currently appears both weekly and weakly as the host of the “Week in Douchebaggery” on Cracked.com. Lex, his aforementioned daughter Anya, his lovely wife Lauren, and his diabetic maltese Charlie all live together in New Jersey, and sincerely hope that you don’t hold that against them. He gives one of them two injections if insulin each day – guess which! Lex also wrote this sentence. To avoid appearing like a suck-up, Lex has neglected to mention other musical influences of his who may or may not be the Iron Chefs of this Song Fu competition. Let’s just say he happens to also love the musical stylings of a guy whose name rhymes with Shmonathan Shmoulton.
I picked up the guitar 20 some years ago and still don’t know one scale or the names of most of the chords. After a year of playing I formed a band called The Narrow Way. We wrote such classics as “Polka Hell” and “The Shades of Limbo”. After refining my chops, I then formed a band called Mechanized Death, which was named after that infamous car accident safety movie from the 70’s. We wrote such inspired classics as “Roadkill”, “Tunafish” and “I Don’t Care”. After Mechanized Death, I went solo and now have written hundreds of songs… I even sold one to a morning radio talk show (ahhh… the fame). Lately, I won song of the day at Garageband.com…So I guess my star is still rising.
Ben Rossow is seeking to inflict upon the world his unique brand of acoustic pop/punk/folk music. Hailing from Mora, Minnesota, this northern songsmith and his collaborator, Pete Morgan, have recorded and performed under the name “Ben & Pete.” Ben plays acoustic guitar and makes noise with his mouth, while Pete generally attracts songbirds with his delightful vocal stylings, and sometimes adds keyboard effects to distract potential enemies. Influences range from Bob Dylan to Weezer, Cheap Trick to The White Stripes.
My Fu is stronger than you! I am Coleman Bear Saunders, or Cloakie to most. At the age of 25 I work with music everyday at my studio that I recently built. I produce, engineer and compose various genres of music with ninja like precision. I have been picking away at the guitar since the age of 7 after watching my Dad play Johnny Cash tunes in the wrong key while singing the wrong lyrics, although I do the same thing because that’s the way I was learnt, ya hear me boy? I live in Kentucky and the music scene isn’t the greatest, so I turn to the internet to pipeline my Fu to the masses for free. I’m getting tired of music these days, I want some more songs about Dragons and fucking! Songs that take you on a journey and let you experience a different world, like movies do. My dream is to compose and score music for video games, TV, and my ultimate goal, the big screen. This is why the Song Fu competition was made for me. All the challenges that the competition presents to me will be similar to the expectations of future employers. Good luck to all, and may the best Fu win.
Elaine Chao Finnell is a singer/songwriter from the San Francisco Bay Area. In her checkered musical past, she has been a choral singer, a pit musician, an a cappella vocalist, a vocal percussionist, a hip hop beatboxer, contemporary Christian worship musician, and a musical librettist. After leaving the a cappella world in 2001, Elaine shifted into the world of hip hop theater, touring with spoken word artist Aya de León, then going solo and performing in such venues as the Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco and at the Apollo Theater in New York City. She began writing music at the tender age of 17, co-authoring her first musical with Brian Allan Hobbs. Since then, she has written two full length musicals and two plays. She currently plays regularly at her church as a lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist. While not in her musical pursuits, Elaine can be found in a cubicle at a major software company, at home with her engineer husband and their network of Macs, or studying martial arts at a local university.
Airplane vs. Ambulance are a four-piece synth-punk band from Abbotsford, BC. The band’s sound has been described as a blend of pop hooks and indie sensibility, and the’ve crafted their own unique take on modern rock.
East Carolina was formed in 2006 when friends Aaron (vocals, keyboards, accordion, etc) and Stuart (electric guitar, bass, keyboards, etc.) realized that, though often praised individually for their musical prowess, together they would be a virtually less-stoppable musical force. Combining in their music elements of alternative and classic rock, comedy, jazz, hilarious banter, polka, and more, East Carolina creates music that is unique, pleasurable, and often unclassifiable. Their original songs range in topic from Spanish love gone wrong to social anxiety to properties of gasses, and beyond. East Carolina is thrilled to be participating in the Masters of Song Fu competition and looks forward to sharing their songs with all of you.
To Serve Mankind seeks to do just that, via music that makes you think about the world and your place in it differently. Friends since high school, the duo, likened to They Might Be Giants or Barenaked Ladies, have played back yards to front yards and everywhere in between. It seemed like just yesterday To Serve Mankind had absolutely no future, and look at them now, competing in Song Fu against artists such as Paul and Storm and, uh, the Jonathan Coulton. Jeff Little and Bryan Ewing both grew up in Apple Valley, CA, an environment which demands creativity just to stay sane among Joshua trees, dirt, and the Wal*Mart. With a combined vocal range of at least a perfect 5th, To Serve Mankind is ready to take the world… aeriously. Bryan is into Rock, Jeff digs on Funk. Both serve as worship leaders at their respective churches and are married… not to each other… but to one woman each – Bryan to Michelle, Jeff to Jen. Bryan has a son named Malachi, and Jeff is expecting his wife to follow through on this pregnancy thing and produce a daughter, Jane. Jeff, Bryan (and Malachi) love Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Hello. I am Jeremy Edgington. Call me germ. I live in Springfield, Ohio and I was born here in 1972. I started playing guitar at about 13. I took it seriously only off and on. I love to play. I hate to practice. I just jam. I got began enjoying “deeply listening” to music at a really young age. I was into Kiss when I was in Kindergarten and first grade. I had all of their albums. Second grade came along and out with Kiss, in with Def Lepard! Then came Van Halen and so on. I have a nice recording studio. Buckethead is a huge influence on me. I play bass and guitar. I do drum programming. I also program background ambience. I use the guitar for just ambient noises in songs, too. I will someday release a CD. Maybe…
Relic’s Jetboat are a modern folk band – this isn’t about acoustic guitars in the coffee shop, it’s songs about modern folk and the events or stories around us. They bring a party band attitude to their songs about Garage Sailin’, Gordon Downie, Ogopogo and The Beachcombers. The songs cross genres as they represent the music that we hear these days. From country to reggae, punk, celtic and rock, the band has been described as “The Barenaked Ladies with an edge”, or this review of the band: “These guys could get a job doing Muppet Music. From Canada, they perform their individual style with ease and an abundance of satire. They take us back to a time of musical innocence when people got off on groups like the Beach Boys.”
The Deal: After 20+ years making music as a hobby, I recently wrote and recorded a song for my daughter. I got a little taste of mild success (hey, my mom liked it). So now I’m taking my music out of the closet, dusting it off, and seeing how it does in the sunshine. Who knew there was so much work in just attempting to do music for a living. I feel like I am opening a Subway franchise (Only opening a Subway franchise seems more fulfilling in a creative way).
Shannon is a woman of keen intellect and she is a little cuter than average, but not photogenic, so her picture will not necessarily reflect her attractiveness. She likes to ride vintage bicycles that clunk and whistle so that people in the city know she’s approaching and take notice. When she’s not working her ass off at her corporate job that pays huge cash, she likes to belittle her husband (sorry, fellows, she’s married) and re-arrange her coaster collection. She wants to make it big in Song Fu so that she can finally have an excuse to quit her career and bask in the adoration of her fans. At this time, she only has two fans (three, if you include the kid in the street that sometimes rides by on his scooter and stops for a minute when he hears her playing the guitar in the back yard, or maybe he’s looking at her dog in the window; she’s not sure).
I trained as a film critic at Glasgow University, then as an actor at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and then worked in a call centre for three years. Figures. Fed up with offering people death insurance, I taught myself how to edit film and got a job in a Glaswegian production company editing fishing programmes. When the allure of that finally wore off I went freelance for a while before setting up my own company, TheCage.TV Ltd. All through this time I’ve been writing songs to play live and record, in the olden days on MiniDisc and four-tracks and nowadays on Garageband. Currently I’m the only member of the band so it’s essentially solo work, though in theory anyone can contribute.
Run At The Dog are high energy, rock/pop, category-sluts with multi-gendered vocals and intricate arrangements. They are like Abba meets Faith No More meets Mos Def meets the Mormon Tabernacle Choir meets Steely Dan. The songs of this Minneapolis 5-piece are always written right away, with no respect for the calculating mind. Audience members are unsure whether to dance, laugh, or panic.
CABIN FEVER #25: If At First You Don’t Succeed – Our demented duo return after a short hiatus and, due to rustiness, the episode gets off to the worst of starts – mics aren’t switched on, audio is lost, and everything that can go wrong does until take 3. Undaunted, they manage to squeeze out an hour of infotainment regarding 13-year old geniuses, incarcerated donkeys, and the diplomatic power of Hello Kitty. All this, and they also manage a second installment of the much-lauded “taste test” segment, focusing this time on the almost mythical wax candy: Nik-L-Nips.
Ever since seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark as a wee child, Indy’s iconic headwear has held a special fascination for me. Even going back 15 years, I contemplated trying to get a fedora of my own – but the price was quite prohibitive (or, at least, relative to my finances today). Still, the dream persisted, and on a trip to Disneyland a few years back I picked up one of their $35 officially licensed fedoras – and I was happy. It looked close enough to the real thing for me to feel like I finally got what I’d always wanted. Ah, but then 
We’ve now officially reached – and passed – the middle of 
With all that attention being paid to the man with the hat, let’s turn our eye towards the original Lucasian franchise that was driven into the ground with an unfortunate return, Star Wars. Before the release of the prequels – even before the release of the special editions – there was an incredible behind-the-scenes tome that was released. Though out of print for years, it was brought back into print a few years back, and it’s celebration of an unsullied Star Wars universe warms my frosted heart. Packed with hundreds of behind-the-scenes photos and detailed information, get your own copy of 
Although still largely unknown in the US, I’m quite the fan of mentalist/magician/illusionist/creepy guy Derren Brown. I heartily recommend you pick up the DVD documenting his live tour 
It’s been so long since their airing that I barely remember the episodes features in the 5th season set of 
Although his smarmy, opportunistic, and ultimately destructive behavior became cartoonish in his last years as prime minister, it’s a film like writer Peter Morgan and director Stephen Frears’ 
Long before her turn as Carrie Bradshaw, Sarah Jessica Parker was teamed with Amy Linker in the 80’s prototype for My So-Called Life, 
Longtime readers of this column will know I’m a sucker for historical documentaries, so keep that in mind when I say I watched 
If you’re an armchair adventurer, you might want to pick up a copy of 
If you’ve not yet seen 
Often – and unfairly – overshadowed by the much showier Platoon, 
After four seasons of Jim Nabors bumbling around as the titular 
You’ve got to love BBC period dramas – and I do. They’re lush, they’re dependable, and they’re usually packed with top-flight actors. Such is the case with 
I was an avid Saturday morning cartoon watcher during the 70’s and 80’s, and even I don’t remember that there was such a beast as the 
Not one to let the dead rest even a moment, George Romero returns with another installment in his seemingly never-ending zombie saga, 
If watching war flicks over the labor day weekend seems kind of old hat, you might want to try taking a look at the veritable wagonload of westerns making their way out of the vaults. First out the gate is Fox, which has dropped 
For sheer volume, though, MGM has opened up the floodgates with 
If you’re in the mood for a great drama that features Eddie Izzard (and really, who isn’t?), try the Region 2 release 
Surely I can’t be the only one that had zero interest in National Treasure, and even less interest in its sequel, 
Take Party Animal, mix in The Hills, and add a bit of the envelope pushing of Queer As Folk – oh, and set it all in the UK – and you’ve got the basic formula for 
The be-uniformed crusaders of the Judge Advocate General’s office return in the sixth season of 
I still believe the film is an unwanted return to a franchise whose potential was dashed upon the rocks of a mediocre first outing, but there is something to be said for Harry Gregson-Williams’ score to 
Hoping to fill the void left by Jeff Foxworthy’s departure from the sitcom scene, redneck compatriot Bill Engvall received the eponymous 
Broadway-philes can give a spin to the new revival cast recording from Rodgers & Hammerstein’s 
