Splendid American

Of special note to Columbus NDA’ers...

Kicking off Wexner Center’s "Storytelling 2007," a special year of programming by the Cartoon Research Library focusing on graphic narrative and celebrating the centennial of Milton Caniff's birth, will be tonight’s candid conversation with Ohio native and well-noted comic killjoy Harvey Pekar. You may know Pekar as the hilariously sad subject of 2003’s highly-acclaimed film American Splendor. Tonight he’ll discuss his life's work with Associate Professor of English Jared Gardner.

The event will take place at 7PM in Mershon Auditorium. It is free to the public.

Out Today On Vidjeo... Bob Dylan: Dont Look Back (65 Tour Deluxe Edition)

I know you guys love your Roc Docs. And with Bob Dylan: Dont Look Back (65 Tour Deluxe Edition) you get a digitally-remastered version of the cinema verite classic. The film follows Dylan on his extraordinary 1965 concert tour of England -- his last as an acoustic performer -- in a fly-on-the-wall style that gives you a uniquely intimate glimpse at one of history’s most influential musical figures.

This definitive set not only includes the remastered classic film by D.A. Pennebaker, but a brand-new, hour-long look at Dylan, and the original 168-page companion book to the film.

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To Sleep Is To Dream About Sleeping-In While Casually Farting In Your Sleep

It’s Monday the Grouch and after a long, party-filled weekend did you decide to no-call, no-show today? Or maybe walk-in, clock-in, walk-out, walk-home? Or perhaps walk-in, clock-out, cook-a-burrito-in-the-crusty-microwave, barf?

Anyway, the point is, today is officially the biggest "truancy" day of the year. You didn’t know that? That’s probably because you were absent that day.

Yes, the inconvenient truth is that the day after Oscar Sunday, again, affectionately known as "Monday the Grouch", is always a big loser for corporate America. Millions, if not hundreds, of poor-to-lazy workers go to bed Sunday night with stomachs full of waxy cheeses and box wine and when their outrageously beautiful Busby Berkeley dreams (starring Dame Judi Dench, of course) are interrupted by that damn irritating alarm clock honking them squarely back into the eternal damnation that is reality, well they say: "No thanks, Mister." Not today Chevrolet, not today.

So, what do they do with all that spare time? They watch TV, of course.

Gems like Judge Joe Brown. Eight is Enough. My Two Dads. Maury. They make drinking games out of it!

Except our friend Mr. Kevin Elliott who is probably watching the marathon of Ego Trip’s The (White) Rapper Show (butt sober) on VH1 from 3-10PM today -- leading up to the season finale tonight!

But, besides him, it is we. And we just want to go back to bed. So, when your low-level congressman of a boss yells at you tomorrow for missing that big deadline, you tell him that Christopher Guest (For Your Consideration, Best in Show) has been tapped to direct the ABC comedy pilot In the Thick of It, a single-camera project based on a BBC series that revolves around workers in an office of a low-level congressman in Washington. That should throw him for a loop!

But, if for some odd reason that doesn’t work try sending him an email just after lunch that reads: "The Sarah Silverman Program has just been officially green-lit for a second season. :) xoxo"

If you need me, I’ll be dancing with the stars (James Cameron) at the Governor’s Balls (in my dreams).

P.S. What did you think of the Academy Awards last night?

This Week in Rock & Roll TV: February 26 - March 4, 2007

Here's the line-up:

MON 26: Solomon Burke on Conan
TUE 27: Silversun Pickups on Carson Daly
WED 28: The Nightwatchman on Kimmel
WED 28: Silversun Pickups on Carson Daly
THU 1: Son Volt on Conan
THU 1: The Cat Empire on Craig Ferguson
THU 1: Silversun Pickups on Carson Daly
FRI 2: *Classic in Concert - Dream Theater [VH1C]
FRI 2: Silversun Pickups on Carson Daly
SAT 3: *Jake Gyllenhaal & The Shins on SNL

* = Episode previously aired

Check local listings for show times and channels in your
area.

Book of the Week 8/52

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War



by Max Brooks
(Crown, 2006)




From Publishers Weekly
Brooks, the author of the determinedly straight-faced parody The Zombie Survival Guide (2003), returns in all seriousness to the zombie theme for his second outing, a future history in the style of Theodore Judson's Fitzpatrick's War. Brooks tells the story of the world's desperate battle against the zombie threat with a series of first-person accounts "as told to the author" by various characters around the world. A Chinese doctor encounters one of the earliest zombie cases at a time when the Chinese government is ruthlessly suppressing any information about the outbreak that will soon spread across the globe. The tale then follows the outbreak via testimony of smugglers, intelligence officials, military personnel and many others who struggle to defeat the zombie menace. Despite its implausible premise and choppy delivery, the novel is surprisingly hard to put down. The subtle, and not so subtle, jabs at various contemporary politicians and policies are an added bonus.

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Of Pop And Paisley

Take heed young cultural elitist for I’d bet good shillings on the fact that there is not another show anywhere in the U. S. of A. on this fine Saturday in February that would rival the sheer pomp and circum-dance of the Paisley Reich Fest at Café Bourbon Street in Columbus, Ohio, TONIGHT! The Arcade Fire isn’t playing anywhere, right?

Oh yes, it’s happening in Ohio. Specifically, Columbus, Ohio. You'll soon come to realize it's happening here on many other nights, too. But, that’s for another column. Tonight it’s all about our beloved musical muckrakers, Times New Viking and their album release, “Present The Paisley Reich” (out now on Siltbreeze).

This EVENT is chock full of the sickest new bands of yesterday, tomorrow and today. Peep this line-up:

Mike Rep & the Quotas
Sword Heaven
Cheater Slicks
Hugs and Kisses w/ Envelope
Ron House
Psychedelic Horseshit
Clockclean er
and of course…
Times New Viking

Show starts at 7:30 with happy hour drink specials and goes ‘til, well, until you blackout probably. May ya be in Heaven a half-hour before tha Devil knows yer DEAD.

Click on over to Population: Doug for a much more thorough write-up of this show/band. You need to bookmark his blog anyway -- if you haven’t already -- it's a very nice read.

See ya tonight, lass + lad.

It's A Bust!

Opening today nationwide -- Reno 911: Miami. Got me to thinking about cop movies and shows and which ones were the best and which ones were the worst.

Goodnight Sweetheart It's Time To Go

Well, unless the show is picked up by a rival network or all this cancellation business turns out to be some strange publicity stunt, tonight is the official series finale for Fox’s The O.C. We have Carter on suicide watch.

For those that really care and say that The O.C. has finally returned to form, well, you might be happy to know that The O.C.’s creator, Josh Schwartz, has a new show coming out on NBC at some unspecified time in the future. It’s called Chuck and it’s being described as "a high-concept action dramedy about spies and twentysomethings..." No word on any casting decisions just yet, but will there ever really be another Seth Cohen? Or Marissa Cooper?

Anywayyyyyyy... any final thoughts on The O.C. or its ending or anything else? 90210? Perfect Strangers? Seriously... anything else?

It's A Wyld, Wyld, Wyld, Wyld World

NZ fishermen land colossal squid

New Zealand fishermen have caught what is expected to be a world-record-breaking colossal squid. One expert (Fern??) said calamari rings made from it would be like tractor tyres.

Chimpanzees 'hunt using spears'

Chimpanzees in Senegal have been observed making and using wooden spears to hunt other primates, according to a study in the journal Current Biology.

Monkeys hug it out to avoid fights

Those Sengali chimps sure could learn a thing or two from the Mexicans. Reportedly, spider monkeys in Mexico have been observed embracing to avoid gang violence.

Three Link Circus

Trump Challenges McMahon

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) says that its flamboyant chairman, Vince McMahon, will face off with real estate mogul and reality show host Donald Trump in a "hair match" for Wrestlemania 23, the pay-per-view event planned for April 1st in Detroit. The loser will shave his head. The winner has to grow a 70’s porno bush. Sorry, those are the rules.

Air force demotes Playboy poser

Speaking of porn, a US Air Force sergeant of some 13 years who posed nude for Playboy magazine has been removed from active duty and demoted. If you’d like to probe the matter of Ms. Michelle Manhart vs. USA further you may want to click over to Say Anything Blog which contains some decidedly “non-work safe” investigative materials. You can be the judge, the Judy and the Joe Brown.

ABC Commits to Kimmel

Speaking of boobs, ABC and Jimmy Kimmel are close to a multi-year extension that would keep ABC’s late-night franchise in place beyond the 2009 season. Despite the fact that 73% of Americans thought his show was cancelled three years ago it turns out Kimmel’s ratings are actually up double digits in both adults 18-49 (17%) and total viewers (13%) season-to-date. On a side note: Donald Trump’s hair.

tuesday night = NDA wing eating night

This tuesday night: Feb. 20th
9pm
new dark ages wing night at Mac's Cafe
they have 1 lb. of wings for $2.99
there will be a nice group of us there from 9pm - ???
challenge "the king of the wing" adam anderson to a wing off

We Hate Mixtapes #4

We Hate Mixtapes Volume 4
vrtclphl's SO NOT THE POINT

1- Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want- The Dream Academy
2- Pooh Song (Christopher Robin's Nightbear)- Tortoise & The Ex
3- In Bed With Your Best Friend - At Swim Two Birds
4- Motherly Bluster - Ghost
5- Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow- Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
6- 2 AM- Thee More Shallows
7- Manipulation- The Black Angels
8- Nights Like These - Lucero
9- Invitation - Goodmorning Valentine
10- Salvador Sanchez (live) - Sun Kil Moon
11- A Face in the Crowd- Tom Petty
12- Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now- Erland Oye

HERE IT IS!!!

This Week in Rock & Roll TV: February 19 - 25, 2007

Here's the line-up:

MON 19: Silversun Pickups on Leno
MON 19: William Shatner on Kimmel
TUE 20: Explosions In The Sky on Conan
WED 21: Cold War Kids on Kimmel
THU 22: Hellogoodbye on Leno
FRI 23: *Classic in Concert - Crowded House [VH1C]
SAT 24: *The Killers & Spoon on Austin City Limits
SAT 24: Rainn Wilson & The Arcade Fire on SNL
SUN 25: The 79th Annual Academy Awards [ABC]

* = Episode previously aired

Check local listings for show times and channels in your
area.

Book of the Week 7/52

Another Bullshit Night in Suck City: A Memoir



by Nick Flynn
(W. W. Norton; Reprint edition, 2005)




From Publishers Weekly
Flynn's wayward father, a self-styled writer and ex-con, describes his life on Boston's streets as "another bullshit night in Suck City": he hangs out in ATM lobbies, stuffs his coat with newspaper and is often "still drunk from the night before." This biting memoir describes the years poet Flynn (Some Ether; Blind Huber) spent, in his late 20s, working at one of the city's homeless shelters, where his path crisscrossed with his down-and-out father's. In examining their troublesome relationship, Flynn admits to feeling lost, as he turned to alcohol and came close to being on the other side of the shelter admissions booth himself. Punchy language and short chapters make what could otherwise be excessively painful more palatable (e.g., "Fact: In 1839 Dostoyevsky witnessed a mob of peasants attacking his father.... they poured vodka down his throat until he died. Fact: I can watch my father pouring vodka down his own throat any day of the week. My role is to play the son, though I often feel like a mob of peasants"). Although it's depressing, the book never seems hopeless, because readers know the author has succeeded at doing what his father only pretended to do: write, and write well.

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Game On!

"The Condemned" tells the story of Jack Conrad (Stone Cold Steve Austin), who is awaiting the death penalty in a corrupt Central American prison. He is "purchased" by a wealthy television producer and taken to a desolate island where he must fight to the death against nine other condemned killers from all corners of the world, with freedom going to the sole survivor. Produced by WWE Films.

This trailer seemed especially appropriate for our Columbus NDA'ers considering The Unholy Two will be bringing their high-flying brand of "wrestler rock" to the Carabar stage tonight.

Happy Birthday Brooke Dominique LaValley!

Today is arguably my favorite girl in the world's birthday. She turns 25. The party is tomorrow nite at Carabar and everyone is invited. Seriously, Happy Birthday Brooke. We all love you so much!

I Am Baby Cakes #2

Happy Valentimes!

You'reWelcomeTV

Yes
"Love Will Find A Way"

One word: I eat 'atchay Noon.

F* You Mr. President

According to headlines, George Bush decided to pull all of our troops out of Iraq directly after viewing this video.

"SAY NO TO MORE TROOPS. But YES to The implimentation of privately run Distribution Centers of *MEDICINAL BUDS* to the PEOPLE Iraq." -Jimmy the Weed

This Week in Rock & Roll TV: February 12 - 18, 2007

Here's the line-up:

MON 12: The Fray on Leno
TUE 13: Lily Allen on Conan
WED 14: The Apples in Stereo on Conan
THU 15: Fall Out Boy on Carson Daly
FRI 16: The Thermals on Carson Daly
SAT 17: *Justin Timberlake on SNL
SUN 18: Christina Aguilera, Toni Braxton & Wayne Newton on The NBA All-Star Game [TNT]

* = Episode previously aired

Check local listings for show times and channels in your
area.

You Don't Have To Turn On The Boob Tube

Fresh off their solid performance at the Grammys last night, in what seems like a gratuitously self-important gesture, The Police will be holding a live press conference from The Whisky A Go-Go in Los Angeles at 2PM EST today. Sting, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers are scheduled to announce details on their long-rumored summer reunion tour. I guess they had to do this because their publicist’s email account stopped working? Regardless, VH1 Classic will air the entire one-hour news conference -- simulcast on the VH1 Radio Network(?) -- which will also feature the band's exclusive live rehearsal.

Make It Work

I know our readership is nothing if not a bunch of flaming Project Runway fans. So, you may have heard that Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia and Michael Kors were all under contract for next season, but that the effervescent Tim Gunn and his clever wordplay (arguably the best part of the show) had yet to sign on the dotted line. Well, fear not young fashionistas, Entertainment Weekly is reporting that despite Mr. Gunn’s recent resignation from the fashion design department chair at Parsons The New School for Design (he’s headed to Liz Claiborne Inc. as their new chief creative officer – I bet that’s a cute uniform!) he is all but a lock to “carry on” for another round of good-natured mentoring on the popular reality show. In fact, he had this to say regarding the completion of his contract: "Do I have even one iota of a doubt that I’ll be back for season four? No. Not one iota."

Book of the Week 6/52

The Cuckoo Tree



by Joan Aiken
(Houghton Mifflin, 2000)




From Publishers Weekly and London Evening Standard
For all Joan Aiken fans who delight in her special brand of suspense and mystery, she has now concocted a parade of circumstances and characters resulting in a historical spoof that focuses on a wild scheme to foil the coronation of James IV. Immensely exciting, weird, and funny, Miss Aiken is at her best.

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