1960s and British

     I have an odd knowledge base about 1960s British pop music. I barely remember what the actual assignment was now, but in 9th grade I did a presentation on the British Invasion. Of course, The Beatles were a part of it, but I delved a little deeper. Everyone knew about The Beatles, so to me, that was less interesting. I was interested in learning more about the rest of it, and the music my parents listened to.
     My parents would have been in high school in 1965, so I was trying to make a connection between my music obsession and what I was hoping was theirs. My dad kept all their old records from that time. He apparently didn't care much for The Beatles--he as used their album covers as a drop-cloth of sorts when painting. I'm guessing my mother bought the albums, and he passive-aggressively drew goatees on them and painted them blue. It's the type of thing they would do.
     I asked my mom, a lot, about going to concerts and whether she understood she was living at a time that would be considered a revolution as far as music was concerned. No, she didn't. She never went to concerts. She had a story about wanting to go see Elvis perform somewhere in Detroit but my dad wouldn't take her because he said Elvis would always be around and it was no different than listening to the record. Sometimes I wonder how I came from these genes. But I digress.
     The odd piece of knowledge that stuck with me throughout this research from this 9th grade project was my mother's favorite band was Herman's Hermits. The fact that she preferred Herman and his hermits to the much more popular Beatles was endearing. She also enjoyed Gary Lewis & The Playboys, but they were not British so it didn't factor into my presentation. However, I often get them mixed up now, and I'm embarrassed by that. All of this brings me to the point that if someone asks me to name a song from the 1960s that's British, I always refer to Herman's Hermits. So, earlier today, a variation of this conversation happened:

Mary: I have a song stuck in my head, but I don't know what it is. I just know it's 1960's and British.
Me: Maybe it's "This Diamond Ring," by Herman's Hermits.
Me: No, wait, that's Gary Lewis & The Playboys
Me: But if it's Herman's Hermits, maybe it's "Mrs. Brown, you've got a lovely daughter."
Mary: JESUS CHRIST, Nancy, it is! 

 The actual conversation was riddled with (my) typos, but that was basically it. Mary was thinking of a 1960s British song, and my mother's love of Herman's Hermits led me to correctly identify the song.
     Also, "This Diamond Ring" and "Mrs. Brown..." are a little similar.





Also, just to tie this up neatly, this was my parents' wedding song:

1993

     When I say 1993, it doesn't seem like that long ago. I remember it pretty clearly. 1993 was the year my brother graduated high school and The X-Files premiered. I remember talking about The X-Files with guys in my math class. I've mentioned in a few posts that I've been rewatching the show. I remembered the show fondly. I did not remember 1993.
     1993 was basically just the late 80s. We were practically cave people driving around in clunky Oldsmobiles and using dial-up modems. Remember the sound the dial up modem made? It dialed in, you heard a dial tone and then it went all KKRRHAHKFKKCHUNK PINGOOPINGOO AKRKALAKKKHHAHHH RKRKAHHARAHRAH ­SHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH.
     It was an especially ominous scene in The X-Files--the camera pushed in on Scully's computer, a desktop with the biggest monitor you've ever seen--and the dial up modem kicked in. It's been so long since I've actually heard it, I was a little taken aback. Then I chuckled a bit. Oh 1993, you're in the past.
     1993 is probably in history books by now. Maybe just recent-history books, if those are a thing. It's almost 20 years ago, and I suppose stated that way, it does sound like a long time ago. Something about the aughts made my brain fail to recognize the appropriate passage of time. It feels like the 90s just happened, like we drifted from the late 80s and slammed into 2012.
    I really only mean in this specific instance, while watching old episodes of The X-Files--and sometimes Friends. I watch a lot of Friends reruns also, so that many be contributing to this whole 1993 just happened phenomenon. But a lot of things look pretty much the same, except for our cars, computers, and phones. Oh, and 1993 hair was also pretty atrocious.

 Exhibit #1:

Feathering was really in, even for federal agents.

Exhibit #2:

This actually isn't that terrible, but it's not that good, is it?

Exhibit #3:

She sure looks Desperate. She may not want to Trans-it across America with that hair.
(It's Felicity Huffman, btw.)

To be fair, it wasn't the 80s fault Felicity Huffman's hair looked like that. It was a very stressful time for her and the episode called for it. The disaster that is Scully's hair for the first three seasons however, purely a product of the times. 

I Watch Cougar Town

     I love the show Cougar Town. I'm not sure how vocal I've been about it before, but it occurs to me I should be more vocal. It's a great show and everyone should watch it. It got the shaft from the fall schedule, and then a little bit of a shiv for a mid-season replacement. It's back on February 14th. I'm pumped.
     Creator (of the show) Bill Lawrence posted a highlight reel for the upcoming season. He gave us all fair warning that there were spoilers in it, but he wanted to share it to get some buzz going. I didn't watch it right away because I didn't want to be spoiled. I already knew I would be tuning in every week and I would be happy to get Cougar Town as it was intended--in episodic form. But the video was retweeted enough that I broke down. Oh how fun season 3 looks to be!
     There is a whole lot of talk about how it's the worst title for a show ever. And also how the first six episodes are one thing and then it makes a switch. I never really thought much about the title until friends scrunched up their noses at me when I told them to watch. Eff them, they were missing out. The shame of that is that I knew they would really like it. The Cougar Town gang was a lot like my gang. Maybe just in the way that characters are universal, but also in the way that we like to sit around all day and drink. We have a holiday dedicated to it.
     I recognize the switch the show made after the first few episodes, but I didn't mind the initial ones all that much. I found them amusing. Maybe I was distracted by something shiny, but I didn't notice what was lacking. At the same time, it's hard to imagine the show having kept on that same path. Clearly, Bill Lawrence knew what he was doing.
     Now Mr. Lawrence is doing his best to get his show out there. He wants people to be aware of it, and to watch it (a lot), and to tell all their friends to watch it. Every Nielson box in America should be tuned into Cougar Town. Mr. Lawrence is going to great lengths. He's putting on viewing parties all around the country. There are two scheduled for NYC and I happen to have my name in the ticket lottery. I don't know how the tickets are being given out--I'm sure very fairly--but either way, I'll be watching Cougar Town when it premieres on the 14th, and then every Tuesday after that (or whatever day it's on for the rest of the season).
     I figured, as a fan, I would do my part to tell a few people about the show and how much I loved it. Every once in a while people take my advice, and they're always (ALWAYS!) glad they did. Watch it!

happythankyoumoreplease. A Review.

     happythankyoumoreplease was written and directed by Josh Radnor.  Josh Radnor is best knows as Ted from How I Met Your Mother. I bring this up because I suppose if you're the one person who enjoys Ted on HIMYM, you might enjoy Radnor's character in happythankyoumoreplease; he's basically Ted who says fuck and has a beard. (Yes, there was an episode of HIMYM where Ted had a beard. Not the point.) Radnor offers nothing new, in fact, I would say he offers much less.
     Studio descriptions of the movie call it "generational." It's about 20-somethings on the verge. I suppose every generation needs their 20-somethings on the verge movie. This ain't it. It's possible I'm just too outside the generation this movie is speaking to; perhaps I'm too much of an adult to relate to this rag-tag group of friends just trying to figure things out. I may not be the film's target audience. Except I'm only barely outside that generation so no, that can't be it.
     The main character, Sam (Radnor), is a writer. He's a writer because that's what Radnor knows and romanticizes. There seems no other great reason for this character to be a writer. He could have done anything else. Based on the fact that he is not homeless, he must be a successful writer, even though he spends a lot of time pondering his prospects as a novelist. Dear Sam, you're 29--nobody feels sorry for you.
     Very early in the film Sam becomes linked to, or saddled with, a child who got left on the subway. At one point the kid runs and Sam chases him and says "hey, can we stop running? I'm 29." Wakka wakka. Because 29 is old! People start dying at 29! It's all over at 29! Shut up, Josh Radnor.
    The film felt like Josh Radnor read Screenwriting for Dummies, watched a few episodes of his show, and then just went to work. Had this script been handed in by any other 29-year-old indy writer, it most likely would have been rejected. Even when the stakes got big, they were still small. Really bad things should have happened, but I suppose because Radnor is a white guy, nothing too terrible does.
     There are very few original lines of dialogue. How many times in real life do people actually ask each other "What are you afraid of?" It must be tons, because it keeps coming up. The cliched dialogue and situations were abundant. I was bored. I did not care what happened to any of the people on the screen. Within the first 5 minutes of the film I "got it." I could see where Radnor was trying to be funny, and trying to be cute, trying to be edgy, and trying to be original. Of course, when you can see where he's trying to do those things, it usually means he's failed at them. He sat down to write some quirky instead of something true that turned out to be quirky.
     Kate Mara is in it, and she's nice, but mostly I just wanted her to get out. Her character made bad decisions. Josh Radnor flatters himself believing women like Kate Mara would fall for indecisive ass-messes like him. Kate Mara's character was named Mississippi. Also dumb. Not quirky, just dumb.
     Also, I reject the premise that Tony Hale is an ugly man. That's just unfair and not true. Sure, he can make himself look goofy at times. And maybe he started kinda balding a little bit early. But of the cast you've assembled, he is not the ugly guy. I was very put off by the story line that involved Tony Hale's character as the ugly guy who eventually wins over Malin Akerman's bald heart with his words. Her description of suddenly seeing him as an attractive man were more insulting that enlightened. He is an attractive man, you're just a shallow bitch. This may be another area where I'm too old to understand the new definition of attractive, though.
     The tag line for happythankyoumoreplease is "Go Get Yourself Loved." That's dumb. I was going to put a picture of it at the top of the post, but I didn't want it mistaken for an endorsement. I do not endorse this film. happythankyoumoreplease was Josh Radnor's masturbatory pet project. It was boring and predictable.

Talking About Movies

     I enjoy talking about movies. I'll mostly talk about comedies, though I know a decent number of non-comedies also. And a few classics. And inevitably someone brings up Kramer v. Kramer  and I lose my credibility by bringing up this:


Which I find quite funny.

Between 1 and 2 O'Clock

    Just as 12:10am is the tipping point, between 1 and 2 o'clock in the glory hour.  Between 1 and 2, I make all kinds of amazing plans.  I decide I don't need that much sleep and I should rewatch all the X-Files. I start making lists and coming up with new projects.  I rededicate myself to something nearly every morning between 1 and 2 o'clock.
     It's the time for passion projects. And the time for believing that the passion for them is enough to actually get them done. It's actually a very magical time. It's when I can run marathons, write novels, make movies, raise families, and win awards. I dream of getting so much done between 1 and 2.  And then 2am comes along and that's pretty late, so I usually go to sleep.
 
   
   

Groundhog Day

     Happy Groundhog Day.  It's February 2nd.  Today, some schlub pulls a rodent out of a tree stump in Punxsutawney, PA and spits in its face or something and then announces if there was a shadow. Somehow seeing the shadow or not indicates when the seasons will come. It's one of those ridiculous legends that we hold on to because it lets midwesterners get drunk in the middle of the day morning.
     It was an amusing holiday when I was a kid. While in high school, my brother and his buddies took a trip to Punxsatawney; they were local heroes. (We had little to live for in our Midwestern town.) Maybe it was a bigger deal because global warming wasn't a thing yet, so we really wanted those bitter winters to end. If a damn groundhog would give us the glimmer of hope we needed, we'd take it.
     The luster of the holiday has worn of, but the comedic stylings of Bill Murray never do. I'm pretty sure this is the only movie ever made about Groundhog Day, because it's the only one there needs to be. If there were others, they were burned.  In hell.