Sunday, November 6, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
On I'll Remember
It's been a while.
This is the second entry on the forgotten art of the motion picture soundtrack.
The early 1990s represented a boom for homeless men.
On television, Damon Wayans' portrayal of homeless alcoholic Anton Jackson on the Fox series In Living Color had the nation's minorities and hip white people in stitches! For those with vague recollections, just think of a pickle (perhaps snickers bar?) in a jar of lemonade. Indeed, poverty and substance abuse has never been more amusing.
On the radio, Arrested Development made us tap our feet with their tale of a man with no clothes, no money, no plate. Mr. Wendal, that was his name. No one ever knew his name cause he was an old one. However, despite this anonymity, Sir Wendal was incredibly well-versed and intelligent. In fact, he would exchange his knowledge if you bought him some shoes. Speech and his fellow Arrested Developers shattered the perception of the homeless that Anton Jackson perpetuated. Go ahead, Mr. Wendal!
On film, the Arrested Development spirit was kept alive by the movie With Honors. I actually saw this movie theatrically and quite frankly only remember 3 things about it: 1) Brendan Fraser (!) as a Harvard student who knew how to succeed, but not how to live. 2) Joe Pesci as a homeless man with a troubled past who, despite dying, taught Brendan Fraser all about living. 3) Madonna's I'll Remember as the "Theme from With Honors"
So next time you see a homeless man in the street, don't just pass by him. Remember the early 90s, walk over to him and say "here, have a dollar...in fact, nah brother man, here...have two."
This is the second entry on the forgotten art of the motion picture soundtrack.
The early 1990s represented a boom for homeless men.
On television, Damon Wayans' portrayal of homeless alcoholic Anton Jackson on the Fox series In Living Color had the nation's minorities and hip white people in stitches! For those with vague recollections, just think of a pickle (perhaps snickers bar?) in a jar of lemonade. Indeed, poverty and substance abuse has never been more amusing.
On the radio, Arrested Development made us tap our feet with their tale of a man with no clothes, no money, no plate. Mr. Wendal, that was his name. No one ever knew his name cause he was an old one. However, despite this anonymity, Sir Wendal was incredibly well-versed and intelligent. In fact, he would exchange his knowledge if you bought him some shoes. Speech and his fellow Arrested Developers shattered the perception of the homeless that Anton Jackson perpetuated. Go ahead, Mr. Wendal!
On film, the Arrested Development spirit was kept alive by the movie With Honors. I actually saw this movie theatrically and quite frankly only remember 3 things about it: 1) Brendan Fraser (!) as a Harvard student who knew how to succeed, but not how to live. 2) Joe Pesci as a homeless man with a troubled past who, despite dying, taught Brendan Fraser all about living. 3) Madonna's I'll Remember as the "Theme from With Honors"
So next time you see a homeless man in the street, don't just pass by him. Remember the early 90s, walk over to him and say "here, have a dollar...in fact, nah brother man, here...have two."
Friday, January 14, 2011
On Somebody to Love
There is no such thing as a song titled "Somebody to Love" that is not good.
First and foremost, Queen's Somebody to Love which is melodic perfection.
Then Jefferson Airplane's Somebody to Love. While not the best song by some incarnation of the Jeffersons (We Built This City, obvi), it is sung by Jim Carrey in his most underrated film.
Then there's Leighton Meester. While the weakest of the Somebody to Loves, it does have the sexiest video. It's also not too shabby for one of the gossip girls. Bonus points for having Robin (son of Alan) Thicke on the song. Show me that smile again, Leighton.
And lastly, the version that has been stuck in my head/inspired this post, is the Bieber. Now look people, y'all need to put down the Haterade with Biebz. Sure, he looks factory produced with hair sculpted from Samson's remnants but the kid makes fun pop songs. He probably has no idea what love is, but that is nobody's problem except for him and Selena Gomez. So for 3 minutes and 39 seconds, let's just all shut down that part of our brain that thinks critically and join Justin on his search for Somebody to Love. I promise: Bieber Fever is not fatal.
First and foremost, Queen's Somebody to Love which is melodic perfection.
Then Jefferson Airplane's Somebody to Love. While not the best song by some incarnation of the Jeffersons (We Built This City, obvi), it is sung by Jim Carrey in his most underrated film.
Then there's Leighton Meester. While the weakest of the Somebody to Loves, it does have the sexiest video. It's also not too shabby for one of the gossip girls. Bonus points for having Robin (son of Alan) Thicke on the song. Show me that smile again, Leighton.
And lastly, the version that has been stuck in my head/inspired this post, is the Bieber. Now look people, y'all need to put down the Haterade with Biebz. Sure, he looks factory produced with hair sculpted from Samson's remnants but the kid makes fun pop songs. He probably has no idea what love is, but that is nobody's problem except for him and Selena Gomez. So for 3 minutes and 39 seconds, let's just all shut down that part of our brain that thinks critically and join Justin on his search for Somebody to Love. I promise: Bieber Fever is not fatal.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
On songs from movies
It seems like soundtracks aren't what they used to be. Back in the day movies used to have fantastic songs and albums full of music inspired by the motion picture. Nowadays, that seems to be exclusive to musicals and Glee. Even Disney, outside of having a friend in Randy Newman or being in Phil Collins' heart, no major "Under the Sea" type songs have come from a Disney movie in ages.
Hence, I intend to pay tribute to the long lost golden age of music in cinema by regularly (until I don't want to anymore) writing about the tunes that made the movies/often eclipsed the movies.
The first entry is Boyz II Men's "End of the Road" from the Eddie Murphy "classic" Boomerang. What that movie was about, I'm not quite sure, though I think it involved Eddie Murphy being a gigolo in Australia. What I do remember is this slow jam classic which broke the record for the most consecutive weeks as the #1 song on the Billboard charts. I remember feeling personally invested in the record run, listening to the countdown weekly and cheering every week it was still at the top. I'm not sure where this investment came from. Though I'm sure the Boyz II Men poster I had in my room helped.
So here's to you Boyz II Men. Hopefully wherever you are now, you don't need roads.
Hence, I intend to pay tribute to the long lost golden age of music in cinema by regularly (until I don't want to anymore) writing about the tunes that made the movies/often eclipsed the movies.
The first entry is Boyz II Men's "End of the Road" from the Eddie Murphy "classic" Boomerang. What that movie was about, I'm not quite sure, though I think it involved Eddie Murphy being a gigolo in Australia. What I do remember is this slow jam classic which broke the record for the most consecutive weeks as the #1 song on the Billboard charts. I remember feeling personally invested in the record run, listening to the countdown weekly and cheering every week it was still at the top. I'm not sure where this investment came from. Though I'm sure the Boyz II Men poster I had in my room helped.
So here's to you Boyz II Men. Hopefully wherever you are now, you don't need roads.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
On why it's good to have friends outside of Psychology
Armando: jesus fuck, man...the first part of my thesis is 25 pages long
and it's gonna have to get longer
I should blog
Friend not in Psychology*: you see this website where you can make your own vibrators?
*names were changed to protect anonymity and to not spoil what you are getting for your birthday from that person this year.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
On the best newspaper cover of 2011 so far.
Two massage therapists are suing the New York Jets over inappropriate text messages sent to them by Brett Favre. The Daily News wins.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
On having an office. Kinda.
Having actually worked on my thesis, or rather, moving sentences around and writing one summary paragraph, I felt that a break from my 45 minutes worth of work was necessary. In keeping with my resolution I productively occupied myself. After shifting some furniture around...moving the bookcase to my bedroom and the desk to the big room...I now have an office!
Surely, this will improve my academic and professional productivity right quick. Hmm, I should look up some stuff online to decorate my desk.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
On the purpose of this blog.
Well this would be resolution #1, and as such, will likely last 2 weeks. For now though, I will revel in the fact that a mere one day into 2011 my resolution to find more productive ways of procrastinating has come to fruition. Sure, I could be working on my thesis but who needs that fancy book learnin' writin' when I can blog!
In my undergraduate days I wrote for the Fordham student run paper. I stuck to what I know, articles about wrestling and pop culture. That was a great experience as it allowed me to write non-academically which is actually quite liberating. I'm assuming that this venture into the blogosphere will be similar except even less people will read this (thanks Justin!).
For now, I hope this will be the first of, at the very least, a semester's worth of posts as I'm convinced that if I close my eyes hard enough, the thesis will indeed write itself.
In my undergraduate days I wrote for the Fordham student run paper. I stuck to what I know, articles about wrestling and pop culture. That was a great experience as it allowed me to write non-academically which is actually quite liberating. I'm assuming that this venture into the blogosphere will be similar except even less people will read this (thanks Justin!).
For now, I hope this will be the first of, at the very least, a semester's worth of posts as I'm convinced that if I close my eyes hard enough, the thesis will indeed write itself.
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