DVD Roundup

Lords of Dogtown - No wonder it tanked at the box office- it makes the youth culture (and youths) of today look spectacularly, magnificently lame. Alive and subtle in it's storytelling, it's a fine cautionary tale about the evils of the almighty dollah mixed with some mighty fine skating and cool period rock music (the Z-Town boys destroying a "CHiP's" style skateboard competition by skating to Sabbath's "Iron Man" is worth the price of admission alone). Heath Ledger's Val Kilmer-as-Jim Morrison impression is also a hoot too.

No Direction Home: Bob Dylan - Scorcese's biodoc of POP CULTURE ICON Dylan is the fastest 3.5 hour documentary you will ever see; it's past/present approach is thoroughly appropriate to the past/present nature of Dylan's music and the past/present nature of the times we are living in. Essential viewing for Dylan fans, Dylan non fans, lefties, musicphiles, pop culturephiles, and for anybody who wants to understand the 60's and why things are the way things are. Basically it's essential viewing for everybody.

The Flaming Lips VOID (Video Overview in Deceleration) - Fun, fun, fun. A swell collection of Southern Psychedelic music videos / home movies mixed in 5.1 surround sound ( the next frontier for music enjoyment). I can't stop watching/listening to it.

We are Fast Becoming a Country of Rubes and Dingleberries

Mouthguards with built in nite-lites that magically make your teeth whiter.... the best selling non fiction book in the country is by a defrocked used car salesman selling home cures for cancer. What other conclusion am I supposed to come up with?

Placebos

Always distrust television that try to give you something you don't need. Avoid feel good reality fix up shows (like the one Laura Bush is doing during November sweeps) that glorify the fiary godmother corporate sponsors blessing underpriviledged floor sweepers with Cinderella makeovers. Beware police procedurals that always wring justice and order from chaos on tv while society breaks down around us, especially franchise police procedurals. And at all costs shun the voyeuristic Darwinian competition reality shows that split us into tight individualistic competitive boxes for fun and profit while the very notions of "the common good" and "the Golden Rule" become outmoded concepts and pithy mouthings.

The Nosebleeds Report on the Rolling Stones in TO

The Cons:
Getting into Toronto. Getting out of Toronto. Over-long lines at the beer counter. No forcefield. The London School of Economics approved stage design that allowed them to sell tickets for seats ON THE STAGE. No second encore even though the crowd certainly thought they had it coming. Security stooges who hassled the girls dancing safely behind the railings.

The Pros:
The Stones still have it in spades. Tumling Dice. Dead Flowers. The groovy new Keef song that sounds like the grooviest Stones cut in many years. The train the Stones took to get to the mini stage at OUR end of the stadium in a timely manner. Satisfaction performed on the mini stage, and Honky Tonk Woman. Sympathy for the Devil all red and sexy and evil. The girls harassed by the security stooges danced anyways.

It is only rock and roll but I still like it.

"Black God Rules!"

Amen Bart Simpson.

Damn, Finding a Name For This Thing Really Sucked

All the good names are taken. It's true. The proliferation of the blogs is sucking up all the high minded and clever names leaving me with something that sounds ominous and dreadful when really it's just an admition. On admition that for all my political bullshit and addiction to the game I am still a total pop culture weenie; my TiVO runs a lot for thoroughly non news related programing, I read books on the toilet (comic books on Wednesdays), love movies, worship George Lucas and Joss Whedon as if their respective oeuvres are true examples of modern popular art, I even use the word oeuvre when speaking about Star Wars movies and Buffy re-runs. And for all those AP articles I read at work all day about the BIG ISSUES and whatnot I am unashamed to say that I love the Entertainment hooey too. I'll even go as far as to say that I prefer the popular culture to this political fuss, but one does what one must for THE CAUSE, and if you want to hear more about that you can go to the other blog I work on, a little something called the WNY Progress Report. It's also a fine radio show, about stuff me and my good friends believe to be important, because it is damnit. But it's also fun so check it out if you want to talk policy.

But I still have other crap to say about things that are important, but a different kind of important... of the meaningless but not entirely without meaning variety. Things that have nothing to do with the WNY Coalition for Progress, a fine group of which I am a member and officer. This folks, is my other crap.

I'm talking about trends that clearly speak of the decline of western civilization (those Axe Body spray ads with the poles and the girls clinging to the pole, you know the one I am talking about fellas); the life, death and life of rock music (my cd collection is ridiculous, and I like vinyl); to quote the Talking Heads I will tell you about the books I read and the tv shows I watch; I will occasionally get sentimental and weird, and I will make snap judgments about many, many things. Life isn't just about saving the world or beating on the heads of your coworkers to be good democrats; it's about checking out what's going on around you, listening to Howard Stern, busting on your coworker for getting a little too excited about that dance off between the former Playmate (ha cha cha) and J Peterman, and it's about turning up your 5.1 surround sound (6.1 for Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings!) for maximum sensory overload.

And speaking of sensory overloads, welcome to the ongoing chronicle of mine.