I’m Ken Plume, and soon you’ll be listening to “A Bit Of A Chat” with me, Ken Plume.
In this episode, I have a chat with composer Eban Schletter, about singing frogs, epic stories, Disney music, Shermancoasters, originality, temp music, and Tompkins leitmotifs.
I’m Ken Plume, and soon you’ll be listening to “A Bit Of A Chat” with me, Ken Plume.
In this episode, I have another chat with writer/producer Caissie St. Onge, about writing, Prince, politics, Chuck Mangione, Bette Midler, and naturally bicepy lamb.
I’m Ken Plume, and soon you’ll be listening to “A Bit Of A Chat” with me, Ken Plume.
In this episode, I have another chat with actor, stand-up, gadfly, and sartorial dandy Paul F. Tompkins, about squeaky chairs, foreign audiences, tents, Thrilling Adventures, and ascot memorials.
Hello! Can you believer the 7th month of the year is nearly over? Man, how time flies. Next month sees the long road to Dragon*Con come to a conclusion and I’ll be including lots of stuff from D*C years past as part of the hype but for now this month was jam-packed with great things too.
1) A Conversation With My 12-Year-Old Self
This has gone viral since the start of the month and for very good reason. Jeremiah McDonald is an actor and comedian. As a 12 year old kid he decided to film himself asking questions to his future self. You know, because that sort of thing feels like time-travel when you’re 12. Well twenty years later, Jeremiah has decided to record his response to his 12 year old self’s questions.
It makes more sense in the video, trust me. It’s also absolute genius film making.
2) Speakeasy: With Paul F Tompkins
We love Paul F. Tompkins here at FRED. The mustachioed man is not only constantly sharply dressed by also naturally sharp witted. He has a great series on YouTube called Speakeasy in which every week he has a short interview with a celebrity over drinks.
Sure, the show is heavily sponsored but it also features lots of great folks like Nathan Fillion, Al Yankovic, Chris Hardwick, and as you can see below Clark Gregg.
The series is well worth your subscription as new interviews appear regularly.
3) Gary Oldman, R-Kelly. Together At Last
Jimmy Kimmel has created some many great moments. This will no doubt be remembered as one of them as Gary Oldman reads a passage from R-Kelly’s autobiography “Soula Coaster”.
You haven’t lived until you’ve heard Oldman say “what up, baby?”.
4) Thank You Hater!
Single handedly one of the worst things about the internet is trolls. Hateful, childish, assholes who only live to spew hate towards people. And the worst kind of troll? YouTube commenters. They can be racist, misogynistic, abusive freaks. Far too often their bullshit is targeted at specifically women online, with comments about raping them being just the tip of their hate-iceberg. If my language is strong here, it’s because I genuinely would like to have these people wiped off the face of the earth. They’re just stealing air from the rest of us.
Isabel Fay is also mad and she’s not going to take it anymore! Her revenge? A catchy number full of sweetness… It works better than it sounds. In fact, it’s above and beyond my favourite thing from the past month. It even features an appearance from Misery Bear! Give it a go, although be warned it’s probably NSFW.
5) Robert Downey Jr. = Rock Star
To try and end on a less ranty note: Have you seen RDJ’s entrance to his San Diego Comic Con panel? Of course you have, but lets watch it again. It’s a thing of beauty.
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And that’s it! My favourite things of the last month.
– Aaron Poole is the creator of Vandrossing. He is also more accurately an internet whore and rarely leaves the house. If you like what you read here check out his blog http://aaronfever.blogspot.com
I’m Ken Plume, and soon you’ll be listening to “A Bit Of A Chat” with me, Ken Plume.
In this episode, I have another chat with actor, stand-up, gadfly, and sartorial dandy Paul F. Tompkins, about museums, dinner theatre, cannonballs, alopecia, audiences, and Mayans.
The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the FRED Weekend Shopping Guide – your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…
(Please support FRED by using the links below to make any impulse purchases – it helps to keep us going…)
It’s a true loss that Nat Hiken’s Car 54: Where Are You? (Shanachie, Not Rated, DVD-$ SRP) only made it to two seasons, as it’s truly one of the most grossly underappreciated television comedies ever made. Thankfully, we now have both of those seasons on DVD, thanks to the fine folks at Shanachie. Go. Get them both, and watch the merry misadventures of Officers Toody and Muldoon.
Even if you’re not steampunky, it’s hard to resist the charm of the positively beautiful Solar Powered Turbine Fob Watch ($129.99). Styled in pewter and copper with many a steampunk accent – right down to the turbine-like inset on the lid – it doesn’t quite go all the way, featuring instead of mechanics a reliable battery-powered quartz movement.
I would say that Patton Oswalt: Finest Hour (Comedy Central, Not Rated, DVD-$16.99 SRP) is a pretty accurate title when it comes to Patton’s latest stand-up special, which certainly finds him at the top of his game , even if sweatpants don’t make it out unscathed. Bonus materials include an encore and a pair of featurettes.
The best way to describe the brilliant new stand-up special from the brilliant Paul F. Tompkins is that it’s an oral history of the career of comedian Paul F. Tompkins. Suffice to say, you would regret it for the rest of your days if you do not purchase Paul F. Tompkins: Laboring Under Delusions (Comedy Central, Not Rated, DVD-$14.95 SRP). Bonus materials include an audio commentary with a director, an encore, and an episode of his Pod F. Tompkast.
The dandy scribe behind Downton Abbey, Julian Fellowes, explores another slice of class warfare – this time historic – with the 4-part miniseries Titanic (E1, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.98 SRP), a much-better-than-James-Cameron look at the various societal and economic tiers at play on the doomed ocean liner.
Have a little Jackie Gleason-thon in high definition this weekend with the Blu-Ray arrival of the guilty pleasure comedy The Toy (Image, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$9.99 SRP) and the much better Tom Hanks tearjerker Nothing In Common (Image, Rated PG, Blu-Ray-$17.97 SRP). Both lack any bonus features, but who needs ’em when you’ve got Ned Beatty?
Fox has released another of their star-specific DVD collections, this time bringing together 10 films for the Frank Sinatra Film Collection (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$49.98 SRP), featuring The Pride And The Passion. Kings Go Forth, A Hole In The Head, Can-Can, The Manchurian Candidate, Von Ryan’s Express, Cast A Giant Shadow, Tony Rome, The Detective, & Lady In Cement.
A movie lover who devoured old films, my grandmother would have loved if I had gifted her the dirt cheap, 12-disc genre sets Mill Creek has been releasing, mainly because each of those 12-disc sets – flicks of the 1950’s in The Nifty Fifties, Timeless Family Classics, & the crime/noir Dark Crimes (Mill Creek, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP each)- contains 50 films. That’s right – FIFTY films.
How incredible are the artisans at Hot Toys? So incredible, that their latest DX 12″ figure of Jack Nicholson’s Joker ($264.99) from Tim Burton’s Batman is remarkably, creepily accurate. Not only is the facial sculpt perfect, but the elaborate costuming, right down to the overcoat The Joker wore during the parade near the end, is completely in-scale accurate. And props! This thing comes with guns (BANG and ludicrously long), a megaphone, a remote control, chattering teeth, cash, and more. Get this incredible piece from the fine folks at Sideshow, or regret that you passed up the opportunity to do so.
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…
I’m Ken Plume, and soon you’ll be listening to “A Bit Of A Chat” with me, Ken Plume.
In this episode, I have another chat with actor, stand-up, gadfly, and sartorial dandy Paul F. Tompkins, about tents, travel abroad, drunk comedy, material creation, new media, and goading Lee Mack.
I’m Ken Plume, and soon you’ll be listening to “A Bit Of A Chat” with me, Ken Plume.
In this episode, I chat once again with actor, stand-up, gadfly, and sartorial dandy Paul F. Tompkins, as we pioneer new forms of comedy, focus on our 8x10s, and gift a Shelley Long classic.
My name is Aaron Poole. Some of you may remember me as the boring one from the FRED podcast Cabin Fever. Other’s may remember me making fun of their band with my Musical Myspace Tour. But most of you don’t care so let’s just get on with this.
In an attempt to send off the month of May the way it deserves I’m going to present you with a list of the things I’ve enjoyed in the past month. I’m hoping that we can share a common love or, if you missed it, I can show you something you might enjoy. Of course, if you hated anything on the list and think I’m a doo-doo head… well that’s what the comment section is for.
1) American Idol / Paul F. Tompkins
Listen, you don’t have to enjoy the show to know that it’s watched by the majority of people. I have a penchant for singing competitions (and judging people from the comfort of my armchair) so Idol ticks a lot of boxes for me. I don’t expect the winners to go on and be legitimate musicians. In fact, I don’t expect to ever hear from these people again once the show is over. But for the 3 months or so that the show is on, I dig it.
I get emotionally invested in geeky beardy kids like Casey Abrams. I get reminded by my girlfriend that I shouldn’t look at Haley Reinhart that way because she’s 8 years younger than me. Yes, I got shocked by Pia getting eliminated so early and yes I got shocked that Jacob is that camp. I’m a sucker for it all.
Haley and Casey talking about how much they like me too.
In addition to the show was the wonderful Paul F. Tompkins recaps done for nymag.com. Or is it techincally vulture.com? I can’t tell anymore. MAKE SENSE INTERNET! Anyhoo… Paul would give a run down on his opinion of each show and cut through all the bull to ask the serious questions. Like, who does Randy really believe was in it to win it? And will Steven like any of the performances?
I laughed, I cried. I mostly read. Now that the show is over I would highly recommend reading his recap of his recaps which offers a nice run down on his thoughts on American Idol in general and the task of writing about it twice a week. But if you want to go back over his run and share in the laughs through hindsight just click this dang link here.
2) Jonathan Hickman on War Rocket Ajax
Jonathan Hickman is one of the best comic writers working today. There, I said it. Too controversial a statement? Let’s say that he’s one of my favourites then. But secretly I’ll know I’m right and that he’s one of the best. Whatever gets you through the day, reader person. His Marvel comics S.H.I.E.L.D., Secret Warriors and Fantastic Four are all great reads and considering I’ve never cared about the FF books before his run, that’s saying something.
“Bring me the head of Johnny Storm”
He recently guested on the podcast War Rocket Ajax which is hosted by big time blogger Chris Sims and Matt Wilson. Hickman talks openly about his work at Marvel and behind the scenes info about what he’s currently working on. It’s a fascinating conversation especially for anyone interested in working in the comic industry as he’s quite frank about what it’s like to create them.
You can listen to the show by clicking this fandabidoozy link. It would be rude of me to say that you can skip to his interview about two thirds of the way into the show so I won’t say anything like that.
3) Jim Henson
May saw the 21st anniversary of Jim Henson’s death. Jim was a man of unending heart and his creations influenced millions of children (and grown ups) around the world. The Muppets and Sesame Street still survive to this day and if you haven’t seen Labyrinth yet then for the love of god GO! DO IT NOW!
Upon hearing of the anniversary I decided to look for some video footage of Jim’s memorial service. I remembered hearing that there were some nice things said and done. Well, I had heard right and I ended up crying like a baby.
Here is a video of Jim’s long time collaborator and friend Frank Oz describing a story highlighting Jim’s crazy sense of humour.
And here are a number of Muppeteers singing a medley of Jim’s favourite songs.
If you’re not wiping away a tear at this point you’re a monster with no soul. FACT.
4) Jesse Lonergan
I discovered Jesse’s blog a couple of months ago and dug it instantly. He is a comic writer/artist who has been noted for his range of dancing Star Wars characters and Superheroes. But I personally enjoy his strips a lot more.
To give you an idea, his About Me page is littered with comics about him and his wry sense of humour is clear.
But specifically in May he began regularly updating his blog with sketches from a moleskin notebook that he draws in everyday. About nothing in particular, they are a neat look into the daily life of a stranger to me.
Regardless of what you think of the man politically, it can’t be denied that the current President of the United States is a wonderful orator. He recently visited my home town of Dublin and gave a speech to 20,000 Irish men and women on the streets.
It was great fun for everyone involved and the speech itself is a nice comment on the relationship between my tiny island and America over the years. At the very least he got a good giggle from me by stating “I’m Barack Obama, of the Moneygall Obamas. I’ve come home to find the apostrophe we lost somewhere along the way.”
And that’s it! My favourite things of the last month.
– Aaron Poole is the creator of the “hustle” dance craze. He is also more acurately an editor for FRED and rarely leaves the house. If you like what you read here check out his blog http://aaronfever.blogspot.com
I’m Ken Plume, and soon you’ll be listening to “A Bit Of A Chat” with me, Ken Plume.
In this episode, I have another chat with actor, stand-up, gadfly, and sartorial dandy Paul F. Tompkins, fresh from his cross-country rail journey, and we proceed to plot & scheme…
I’m Ken Plume, and soon you’ll be listening to “A Bit Of A Chat” with me, Ken Plume.
In this episode, I have a freewheeling chat with author Matt Debenham, whose first collection of short stories, THE BOOK OF RIGHT AND WRONG, will be released this June.
I’m Ken Plume, and soon you’ll be listening to “A Bit Of A Chat” with me, Ken Plume.
In this episode, I have another chat with a very funny writer/producer who traces her career from THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN through THE ROSIE O’DONNELL SHOW to THE BEST WEEK EVER (and its Paul F. Tompkins-helmed successor). There are plenty of other stops along the way, and plenty of irons in the fire, so sit back & listen to me chat w/ the very funny Caissie St. Onge.
I’m Ken Plume, and soon you’ll be listening to “A Bit Of A Chat” with me, Ken Plume.
In this episode, I chat with a very funny writer/producer who traces her career from THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN through THE ROSIE O’DONNELL SHOW to THE BEST WEEK EVER (and its Paul F. Tompkins-helmed successor). There are plenty of other stops along the way, and plenty of irons in the fire, so sit back & listen to me chat w/ the very funny Caissie St. Onge.
I’m Ken Plume, and soon you’ll be listening to “A Bit Of A Chat” with me, Ken Plume.
In this episode, I chat with actor, stand-up, gadfly, and sartorial dandy Paul F. Tompkins. His second album, FREAK WHARF, has just hit the interwebs, and he took a moment of precious, precious time to have a virtual tete-a-tete…
I’m Ken Plume, and soon you’ll be listening to “A Bit Of A Chat” with me, Ken Plume.
I’m Ken Plume, and soon you’ll be listening to “A Bit Of A Chat” with me, Ken Plume.
I’m Ken Plume, and soon you’ll be listening to “A Bit Of A Chat” with me, Ken Plume.
It’s a true loss that Nat Hiken’s 
Even if you’re not steampunky, it’s hard to resist the charm of the positively beautiful 
I would say that 
The best way to describe the brilliant new stand-up special from the brilliant Paul F. Tompkins is that it’s an oral history of the career of comedian Paul F. Tompkins. Suffice to say, you would regret it for the rest of your days if you do not purchase 
The dandy scribe behind Downton Abbey, Julian Fellowes, explores another slice of class warfare – this time historic – with the 4-part miniseries 
Have a little Jackie Gleason-thon in high definition this weekend with the Blu-Ray arrival of the guilty pleasure comedy 
Fox has released another of their star-specific DVD collections, this time bringing together 10 films for the 
The fine folks at Mill Creek continue to re-release seasons of a handful of TV classics for staggeringly rock-bottom prices you’d be foolish not to take advantage of. Included this time around are 
A movie lover who devoured old films, my grandmother would have loved if I had gifted her the dirt cheap, 12-disc genre sets Mill Creek has been releasing, mainly because each of those 12-disc sets – flicks of the 1950’s in 
I’m Ken Plume, and soon you’ll be listening to “A Bit Of A Chat” with me, Ken Plume.
I’m Ken Plume, and soon you’ll be listening to “A Bit Of A Chat” with me, Ken Plume.
I’m Ken Plume, and soon you’ll be listening to “A Bit Of A Chat” with me, Ken Plume.
I’m Ken Plume, and soon you’ll be listening to “A Bit Of A Chat” with me, Ken Plume.