You are currently browsing the monthly archive for April, 2008.
We watch this video a lot at Fooey. A LOT!
The first time I saw this video on Mtv (remember when they played videos?) I assumed an actor was hired to portray the bike messenger singing his way through the streets of New York. I had never heard of the artist credited simply as “Thicke” so I really had nothing to go on. I thought both the song and video were awesome and loved it even more when I discovered the bike messenger actually was the real singer. But who was this so called “Thicke?” Well it turns out he’s the son of Alan Thicke of Growing Pains fame. WHAT, are you kidding me? With this new knowledge how could I not be obsessed?
Since the 2002 release of “When I get You Alone,” Thicke now goes by Robin Thicke and has good success on R&B and pop radio with his most recent album “The Evolution of Robin Thicke.” The biggest and most tragic change is that he has cut his long hair and now looks more like a generic pop star. The GENIUS of this video (directed by Matt Kirkby) is that it goes against every R&B music video cliché. You won’t find a single slow motion shot of exploding champagne or money raining from the sky. Rather than doing actual work, we talk at length about how much we love the way this video is shot and edited, especially little details like the “nah” in the elevator shot.
This song should have been a huge hit – WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?
- KR
Have you ever hated something so much and for so long that eventually you started loving it? That sums up my relationship with the J.B. Hunt logo. If you have ever been on a highway in America I’m sure you have seen the never ending parade of trucks proudly displaying this mess of a logo. I’m a big fan of road trips so I have seen this logo trucking past me at least 500 times, probably more. My obsession with how bad it is has given way to excitement every time I see it. It’s like finding a quarter or seeing a rainbow!
I’m sure J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: JBHT) is a great company to work for and based on their annual revenues of over $2 billion I’m guessing there is nothing they care less about than my opinion on their logo. I have a lot of respect for truckers, how hard they work and the vital role they play in our society so please understand this is only a rant about the logo. Oh god, THAT LOGO!
All right, lets take a look at this turd of a logo. Where do I start? What is the scroll doing there? My theory is that it all started with the scroll and it just got away from them. Perhaps it was a piece of clip art that someone fell in love with or maybe they saw a scroll-based logo belonging to another company and said “I want that!” Either way, it doesn’t really scream transportation. OK, we are stuck with the scroll but how can we really screw it up? I know, let’s put randomly spaced lines all over the place to really make it sing! Now I’m guessing they wanted the “J.B. Hunt” to look like it was actually ON the scroll but that’s a lot of work to get the angle right so we will just go ahead and plop it on top. Crap, it’s hard to read the name with all those lines under the text – I’ve got it, let’s just put a big awkward box behind it! Great! At this point we should step back and see what’s missing… think, think, there’s got to be some finishing touch we are missing. I KNOW, we’ll put a big ‘ol box around everything – done and done!
I love you J.B. Hunt logo and pray you are never updated. 10-4 good buddy.
-KR
Back in the summer of 1985 I was between my freshman and sophomore years in high school. Wham, Mr. Mister and Huey Lewis & The News topped the charts and I spent most of my time skateboarding or at “Galaxy World” the local arcade. It was also the year I made my major motion picture debut.
John Hughes was packing movie theaters with teens hungry to have “their story” told and writer/directer David Seltzer wanted a piece of the action. His solution was a Hughes-esque screenplay about a nerdy kid named Lucas (Corey Haim) who falls for a cheerleader (Kerri Green – Goonies) and decides to climb the social ladder by joining the football team. WHAT, the FOOTBALL TEAM?!? Oh boy, that’s not going to go well!
I guess I should mention this gem of a movie was filmed at my high school, the picturesque Glenbard West in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. It really is a beautiful campus that looks more like a hillside Ivy League university than a suburban high school. It was a pretty big deal for the school and obviously the student body was excited. Lucas was packed with stars who were not stars yet – Charlie Sheen, Winona Ryder, Courtney Thorne-Smith and Jeremy Piven whose already balding head made him look like a 45 year-old student.
I played the pivotal role of a student walking through a door at the end of the day. I’m sure you remember the performance. I was lucky enough to spend an entire day with Corey Haim bragging about how his skateboard in Canada was way better than mine, although this didn’t stop him from “thrashing” through the hallways on my “crappy” board in between shots. If I only knew he was going to one day be one of “The Coreys” I would have tried harder to make a lasting bond with the Haimster. However, it’s difficult for us actors to make friends on the set. You’ve never been in a movie so you can’t possibly understand.
Corey and I acting our asses off. He was a joy to work with.
Yes, the collar is up and the cuffs are rolled. I look totally RADICAL!
p.s. Lucas dies in the original edit but they came back in the fall to shoot the “slow clap” happy ending.
- KR
Have you seen Lars and the Real Girl? If not you should and now is your chance because it was just released on DVD. I am a big fan of Ryan Gosling especially his amazing Oscar-nominated (he should have won) performance in Half Nelson but when I first heard about Lars and the Real Girl I was a little worried. It sounded like a wacky comedy about a crazy guy who falls for a love doll and I thought Ryan Gosling had let Hollywood get to him. I could not have been more wrong.
Gosling plays a lonely guy who just does not fit in with the world around him. Although he is surrounded with family and supportive acquaintances he remains painfully shy and introverted. His solution is to order a high end love doll for companionship. Unlike most people who might order a doll of this nature, Lars is only interested in her friendship. I don’t want to give away the entire plot so I will just say that what follows is a surprisingly endearing and sensitive film that is far from being just another silly movie. Gosling and the rest of the cast give such amazing performances that the joke of a lifeless love doll in every scene begins to fade away and the audience begins to accept “Bianca” as a real person just as Lars does. Lars and the Real Girl is a touching, funny and intelligent film that will most likely fill your eyes with tears at least a couple times. I know, it sounds crazy but it’s true. I would suggest having yourself a little Ryan Gosling fest and do a double feature with Half Nelson. – KR
When Julia posted the Mariah Carey video yesterday it immediately reminded me of this video. Mariah obviously stole the limo idea from Jan Terri. Get you own ideas Mariah!
Ok, I know my sister is reading this laughing aloud because I was sort of metal when I was in 7th and 8th grade. I’ll say it! Lots of black eyeliner, black sweatshirts, I think some bandana action and of course the requisite feathered hair. I was super into Def Leppard as well as the usual others: Motley Crüe, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest – those were my favorites. Def Leppard was at the very top of the list. I had “High and Dry” and of course had “Pyromania” memorized forward, backward and inside out. All the videos too. Posters, concert tees, the works. They lost me after that. Or maybe I changed. I seem to remember for a while that I was somewhat embarrassed about that period of my life. We all have that sort of time though. It is usually around 12, 13 years old and I think we can all agree that it’s awkward even under the best of circumstances. Then something happened, not sure when, where I kind of like that I was a little weird.
All that aside, I just felt like it needed to be said that “Bringin’ on the Heartbreak” is an amazing song. Seriously. It came on the radio today and I found myself, as I always do, blaring it with the 2 littlest ones sitting behind me in the minivan. One kid rocked to it while looking at me quizzically and the other was preoccupied with Tic-Tacs but I was laughing and kept singing so loudly and saying “you guys, seriously, how awesome is this song?!?!?”
Then I thought “why has no one covered this? Surely Weezer would do an awesome job of that!” And guess what. Too late. Oh my God! How did I completely miss this? Good grief, it’s bad. I can’t even make it past the first line so good luck with that.
Anyway, Kent is teaching me guitar and I plan on performing this at my recital.
- JF
Should I be worried about this dream I had last night?
It was night and I was standing in front of my old apartment. There was a large tree with a medium sized dog tied to the trunk. Robert Downey Jr. stood next to me and we both looked to the night sky at two individuals floating in the air. One floating person was just some random blond guy but the other was Corey Haim. They were both wearing long black leather coats and their hair blew in the wind as they levitated above Robert and I. I never saw Lost Boys, could they fly? Did they wear long leather coats? Anyway, I was holding a gun and began to empty the ammunition into my other hand. For some reason the gun was loaded with coins. A gun that shoots coins may seem strange but not as strange as a gun loaded with raisins which is what I filled it with next. I pointed the gun in the air, aimed right at Corey Haim and fired a raisin at him. He reached out his hand and caught my flying raisin with ease and popped it in his mouth. Damn! I fired again but this time he caught the raisin in his mouth without even using his hands. This kid is good!
Then I woke up and drew this rendering of the entire scene. Anyone care to analyze this dream?
- KR
I know this is my third music post in a row but I had to give props to my old band TRS-80 for their new video. I was in the band for about 9 years before playing my last show a couple years ago and I have a ton of great memories. So sit back and enjoy “Tinted” from the new album “The New You.”
- KR
You know when kids say “if you love it so much why don’t you marry it?” By that logic we need to buy a ring for The Rentals immediately.
Did you know:
-Matt Sharp was a founding member of Weezer?
-Maya Rudolph was once a member of The Rentals?
-Maya Rudolph’s mom is Minnie Riperton?
-We love The Rentals?
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