YouTube Tuesday: Baby It's Woke Outside

Yep. We need to start updating these classics. It's just the right thing to do.

YouTube Tuesday: See you soon, space cowboy…

I read the other day about Netflix working on a new live-action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop and immediately became stoked.

Sure, the Netflix track record for this kind of thing is a bit uneven. But in this case I'm more than willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. This genre-blending Sci-Fi/western/jazz/noir anime was pretty groundbreaking when it came to the USA back in the pre-Y2K era. And when I heard about the Netflix remake, I went back and binge-watched the series (available to stream on Hulu, ironically).

The show really holds up well, not least for its amazing soundtrack. Let's hope they get a release date out ASAP.

Anti-wonder

A lot of meaning in this quote, both in its original context and in the wider socio-political context of the moment…

Nick Cave

Whatever happened between us, it saddens me that something of our individual nature has disappeared into the divide, our unique voices are being worn down and everyone is communicating within the safe and strident anti-wonder of grievance politics.

YouTube Tuesday: Too alone to be proud

It's been a lot to deal with in the last few days. I think by now we all know how it feels.

Anyway, here's a little in memorium to get us by for a few minutes.

Well said

I'll stand my ground
Won't be turned around 
And I'll keep this world from draggin' me down 
Gonna stand my ground
-- Tom Petty, 1950-2017

YouTube Tuesday: Paul McCartney — Rabbit Hole

It's been another crazy ass week around here. I'm sure you all know what its like. Kind of week that can leave you feeling all thin and stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.

That's why it was such a delight to see the new hit song by Sir Paul McCartney this morning. Just the kick of excitement and adrenaline I needed to hit the weekend at full speed! Kudos for Sir Paul for his new modern club-beat style.

Initial results

Yes, Mr. Zimmerman, we've had our best people crunching through your data and I just wanted to schedule this quick call to present some of our initial findings. Please take a look at the attached spreadsheets…

Updating the classics...

This is going to be meaningless to the massive set of the population who don't know what Kodachrome is, or even what "film" photography is, or who Paul Simon is. But, hey...

When I look back on all the crap I've watched on YouTube
It's a wonder I can blink at all
And though my lack of punctuation hasn't hurt me none
I still read updates on your Facebook wall

Instagram
It give us those weirdo filters
like the world is out of kilter
make you thing something's wrong with your camera's lens, oh yeah!

I got an iPhone camera
I love to take a selfie shot
So mama don't take my Instagram away.

If you took all the girls I met while browsing Snapchat
(I mean before I met my lovely wife)
I know they'd never match their sexy selfie profiles
Everyone look worse in real life.

YouTube Tuesday: Got you under my Synn

What a fascinating, entertaining and slightly disturbing take on an old classic. Well done, Anastasia Synn.

Bullitt list -- 02.26.16

Today's category: What I learned this week

Hey, look, I think that by now we all realize that life is tough and full of disappointment and the best that you can hope for is to enjoy any rare, brief moment of happiness and maybe learn a few things along the way.

So, here are a few things I've learned this week…

• That movie Thor: The Dark World is even more unwatchable than most comic book movies.
  
  I get that part of enjoying most movies, but especially comic book movies, is suspension of disbelief and "buy-in" to the internal logic of the film's story line. But even by its own logic, a race of hyperintelligent, god-like aliens should know better than to bring a sword to a laser blaster battle.
  
  I mean, why not give all of the regular foot soldiers in the Asgardian army an Odin Plasma Spear, or at least an assault rifle. I mean if you've got superior technology and science, use it! I'm guessing there's no Second Amendment on Asgard.
  
  
   
• But it's good to know that science has your back when your up against the wall, when you desperately
  
  need to cross the bridge but some weirdo trollish wizardy guy is blocking your path, making you answer he these silly questions three. In those situations, it's nice to have this little factoid in your mental pocket:
   The air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow (European) is...


• Speaking of science, no less of a luminary than Albert Einstein himself made an appearance this week with the news that he had verified that there was a force in the universe even more powerful that the splitting of an atom: The Power of Love.
  
  In a letter to his daughter, Einstein wrote,

  …what I will reveal now to transmit to mankind will also collide with the misunderstanding and prejudice in the world.

  But there was one late 20th Century philosopher who did understand. I refer of course to Hugh Anthony Cregg II, who once wrote…

  

  The power of love
  is a curious thing
  Make a one man weep,
  make another man sing
  Change a hawk
  to a little white dove
  More than a feeling
  that's the power of love

  
  
• And speaking of philosophy, the Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō once said

  A flute with no holes is not a flute. And a donut without a hole, is not a donut.

  … or something like that. It loses a little in the translation. The important point is that I learned this week that regardless of flutes and donuts, a croissant is still a croissant even if it's not crescent shaped, at least if your in the UK.
  
  This is terrific news… for some reason… probably…


• Finally, since we're getting into the realm of poetry, I just wanted to mention that I learned this week that one of my favorite new bands is getting ready to release a new album.
  
  I first heard of Frightened Rabbit on an NPR music segment and almost immediately went online to buy their album Pedestrian Verse. In my opinion there's not a weak track on it. Here's the video for the excellent Woodpile…
  
  

The new album, Painting Of A Panic Attack, is on pre-sale now on all of the major online record stores (Google Play, iTunes, Amazon, Spotify… is that all of them?), and I expect a review very soon on Dan's new blog. In fact, I'm specifically DEMANDING a listen from Dan ASAP.

That's enough knowledge from me for now, I don't want to blow your mind too much. Hey, here's an idea: Let me know in the comments what YOU learned this week (if anything)…

Vital Vinyl

I watched the first few minutes of the pilot for HBO's new series Vinyl last night... then stayed up to watch the rest of it.

It's been an while since HBO has had a series I could get into — a sad fact that has almost let me to cancel my subscription. Well they must have been using their NSA contacts to track my internal monologue and learned what a sucker I am for pretty much any historical period costume drama (srsly, you should also check out The Last Kingdom when you get a chance).

I was hooked on Vinyl from the first few minutes. What a great idea for a show. It manages to reach a terrific balance of great music, pop culture, nostalgia for a dead industry (at least, dead as we knew it) and of course dreamy Bobby Cannavale.

I've liked Cannevale in pretty much everything he's ever been in, especially that movie where he and Tyrion Lannister were super into trains. So it's awesome to see him getting a solid leading role. In the pilot, he had some great scenes showing some real emotional range.

I appreciate how they give so much love to the soundtrack. The music really is one of the main stars of this show, much like with Tremé, and not just background soundtrack. We also get a chance to see Ray Romano in another serious (though supporting, in this case) role and a cameo and (spoiler) terrific death scene from Andrew "Dice" Clay.

So, bottom line: I think I'm hooked. This should keep me interested until the new season of Game of Thrones starts.

YouTube Tuesday: Halloween

Stay safe out there this week people. If your toilet starts belching fire and the walls begin to bleed and your TV turns all static and tells you to get out of the house... then by all means, stop drinking.

tagged: YouTube, Tuesday, video, music, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Ghost of Stephen Foster, Halloween

Death be not paneled

Did you see this? You might have heard about this. There was a news blurb and a couple of people were mentioning it on Facebook and other social sites…

So the Supreme Court Justice League got together the other day and got some constitutional interpreting done before their vacations to the Poconos's, and it turns out that according to (at least 5 of) them, it’s cool for men to date.

Wait, let me reread that… oh, okay. It's not man date. It's mandate. The mandate is okay. That makes sense. Although as far as I’m concerned, men dating men is okay, too. But I guess that’s a different Supreme Court case.

Anyhoo, the mandate that we all have to buy something that we may or may not want or else we have to go to jail is just fine with The Constitution — according to the people who decide these things (I think their official title is Supreme Deciders of the United States).

A lot of people are super stoked about this, as they see it as the next step to mandating daily consumption of 64 oz Mountain Dew Red and Jelly Donuts for everyone (Hah! In your FACE, Mayor Bloomberg!).

Of course there are a lot of people on the other side who think a government that pays $25,000 for a toilet seat has no business telling anyone to buy anything, let alone something that they may not need or use.

But I think both sides are really kind of missing the point. The recent SCOTUS decision and the ACA bill it upholds represent a golden opportunity for the enrichment of the American culture. Of course I’m referring to the great inspiration it provides for a renaissance in heavy metal band names.

It’s been a good 20 years since the zenith of Heavy Metal in pop culture. Sure it’s been around, as kind of a sub-cultural underground phenomenon. But I think with the heightened awareness fostered by such high profile events such as the recent SCOTUS decision and the impending “reasoned political discourse” that we're sure to see in the upcoming election season, concepts like Taxing Powers, Punitive Mandates, and Death Panels could easily percolate into the artistic forefront of this genre.

And to help kick start the artistic revolution, I’d like to take this time to announce that the experimental neurofunk-jazz-illbient-technofolk fusion band that Manningtheship and I have been working on for the past two years (you might have seen us performing during lunch time at The Record Bar) will be pivoting into the death metal genre with a new name:

tagged: politics, Supreme Court, SCOTUS, Death Panel, Affordable Care Act, ACA, music

YouTube Tuesday: It's time to get things started

Sensational internet modern alt/funk/pop/prog group OK Go is back with a blast of nostalgia with a new release covering the theme to the old The Muppet Show. It's interesting since my 8-year-old daughter is the first person to show this to me the other day, and she never even saw an episode of The Muppet Show.

Sign of the times, I guess.



tagged: YouTube, Tuesday, music, OK Go, The Muppet Show

YouTube Tuesday: I'm Yours

I'm not a huge Jason Mraz fan, in fact I'd say I'm not a fan of his at all. But I wanted to post this for you JM fans who were unable to get tickets to this weekend's Farm Aid concert at Livestrong Sporting Park in KCK.

This cover of his signature hit is pretty much just as good as the original.



tagged: YouTube, Tuesday, music, ukulele, Jason Mraz, cute, Farm Aid

YouTube Tuesday: Go to the Mardi Gras

Okay people, put on your beads, masks and zydeco music. Let's have a good time, but be safe. And say hello to the Zulu King for me...



tagged: New Orleans, Mardi Gras, Professor Longhair, music, YouTube Tuesday

YouTube Tuesday: My Oh My

A few months ago I remarked, only half-joking, that I'd vote for any candidate who used this as the theme song for their campaign...



We can ride this stormy weather
If we all get out and try
So let's all pull together, my oh my

tagged: YouTube, Tuesday, music, video, Slade, My Oh My, I Love The 80s

YouTube Tuesday: Happy Birthday Dave Brubeck

Yesterday was Dave Brubeck's 90th birthday, which still makes him a youngster to my grandmother.

Anyway, he probably doesn't hang out much on the internet, but I wanted to post this video of one of his most recognizable and most covered songs in honor of the occasion.



tagged: video, YouTube Tuesday, music, jazz, Dave Brubeck, Take Five, birthday

YouTube Tuesday: A bottle of anything and a glazed donut

Independence Day is right around the corner, the birthday of our republic and my personal favorite holiday.

It's easy after the last couple of decades to get down on America. Certainly she's taken her kicks to the stomach. She may not be as beautiful as she was when she was young. Her skin isn't as smooth. Wrinkles and cracks have appeared after a couple of centuries of abuse. Her breasts are sagging a bit from the years of feeding all of her children. Age spots are popping up, especially around the gulf area.

And although American may not be the world leader she once was — relinquishing some of her power and prestige to a few Eastern debutantes — as far as I'm concerned it's still a pretty damn good place.

Anyway, I can't think of a place I'd rather live.

So while it may be difficult, even unfashionable, to come up with new love songs for America these days, here's a classic lust song for our country from one D.L. Roth, arguably the best American poet of the last century.



tagged: America, United States, metaphor, David Lee Roth, Yankee Rose, YouTube, Tuesday, Independence Day, July 4th

YouTube Tuesday: Rip out all the epilogues

This song came up on my iPod's shuffle this morning, and I've had it stuck in my head all day.

I like the tune. I haven't done a deep deconstruction of what Bright Eyes is saying, but to me it's about trying to look at the bright side of our steep cultural decline, kind of a silver lining approach to hitting rock bottom.

Of course I could be way off on that. I have a history of totally misreading this kind of thing.



tagged: YouTube, Tuesday, video, music, Bright Eyes, At the Bottom of Everything, culture