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Monday, March 10, 2008
Dave Chappelle - "Killing Them Softly"
.. wait.. is it "them" or "me"?
Anyway, this was filmed in 2000, I think. It's interesting to see who Chappelle's core audience was then (aka Black) and who it was by the time he came out with the one at the Fillmore AFTER Chappelle Show blew up (in the good way).
Dude's always been really keen analytically. I guess most comics are supposed to be, but I've always respected his level of understanding racial dynamics and how he can get raw yet still be sharp with his satire.
I thought it was funny towards the end when he claimed that chivalry was dead and it was the women's fault - a bunch of the guys cheered. One of them, in the front row, at the foot of stage right, was clapping and then you see his date/his lady do something and he completely stops. Maybe he got the, "oh, I know you ain't clapping at that bullshit" look.
At the end, there's a dude, looked totally light skinned (aka white from a distance) who jumped up emphatically - more emphatically than anyone else and subsequently started doing a fist pump in the vain of Arsenio Hall and I started hearing the dog barks. Not sure if it was him or if he was even white - but if he was.. this thought would be much more appropriate:
Someone's overcompensating. Someone's also badly misinformed that the Arsenio Hall dog bark with fist pump thing is not only really a whole decade late, but it's also not going to make you more "black".
Watching the audience is almost as amusing as listening to Chappelle himself.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
The Gary Radnich and Tony Bruno Show on KNBR 680 AM
[[okay. I usually don't like to double post within prosemonkeyverse, but I thought this fit here also because it is part of pop culture. so, there you go.]]
Gary Radnich and Tony Bruno have 30 minutes of the best radio daily at the 10AM hour on KNBR, THE Sports Leader. (Toot the Sleep Train whistle.) KNBR listeners will know what I'm talking about. Anyway, Gary from the beloved KRON and the classic "SIT DOWN, with Gary Radnich" and the days of BayTV has been covering the election campaigns for KRON and has been enthralled with the Obama-Clinton Race. So, to honor both Gary and Tony, like they have at That's Good Knowledge dot com, I made them some campaign bumper stickers:
The show is anchored with great producers like Dan Dibbly, Mike, and Patrick Conner. There is a great chemistry on there. Yes, they do the same gags everyday, but we love it. They know how to set up each others' drops and catch phrases. That's what I mean about the Sleep Train whistle.
When Tony got screwed by Sporting News radio a few weeks ago, the fans of the show felt a significant void in their daily dose.
That's KNBR 680AM.
Monday, March 03, 2008
Reflection and a promise
Again, this is a promise to all of my 2 1/2 readers out there - and more, to myself and the little nano-imps breaking their backs everyday to color the prosemonkeyverse.
I realized as I was writing a viewer-diary of each American Idol episode last week that all I was doing was writing bull shit reaction versus, at the least, cheap ass self-indulgent (and self-gratifying witty) responses to pop culture in the effect of craft analysis.
I could look at the American Idol viewing in a more critical lens where I'm analyzing the progress of each contestant on the basis of image formation and public sentiment (and prejudice), but why bother? I haven't watched American Idol much since a few years ago when it was great conversation tool with a good friend (found), but the ideal of it was lost.
Yes, I wrote a long analysis of why reality tv makes sense for the sake of consumption, but there was no way I wanted to look back at my 15-20 posts on this blog and realize almost half of it is littered with stupid comments on a useless show.
I could've wrote my piece about wondering if the nation (suburban nation, to be particular) was mental healthier during these weeks of Idol. My reason being that usually it seems like people are happier when they're singing to themselves - no matter how bad they are. I suppose, this is why karaoke rocks the souls of so many. Like in Elf, the best way to spread [xmas] cheer is to sing loud for all [or yourself] to hear.
I could've also continued my diatribe during the early years of Idol when I swore to anyone around that there was no way THE american idol would ever be black. Well, Ruben Studdard and Fantasia proved my cynicism wrong - partly. But then, looking at the final 24, you've gotta ask yourself where mass commercial appeal and strong voice did not converge. There's talk of being memorable and relevant, but less talk about being essentially a dope ass singer.
I could've also discussed the essential silliness of the Vote for the Worst campaigns that take their liberties at the overall structure of the show. I decided to take a gander at the site a few weeks ago. It sure seems immature in its nature. I mean, I read an interview that the creator gave to (I think) TVguide.com or Eonline.com that sort of showed the site in a different light, but I thought that their interest in "outing" the "authenticity" of the competition was nearsighted and really a bit condescending. I akin it to the bastion of haters of Pro Wrestling who scoff at fans with insults about how stupid we are for watching something fake. We all know it's fake. We watch it for many other things but not for the in-ring competition. I loved watching a well-crafted match - yes, that means well choreographed and even better performance. When you go to Vote for the Worst, it's like they think the rest of the world assumes that American Idol is 1) an actual SINGING competition and 2) a fair one. Trust me. We are not that dumb.
Anyway, there are a lot of stories to write about anything - even in silliness like American Idol. Instead, I just participated in it, which, isn't all that bad in my eyes, but terrible for a blog like this. So, I'm officially done with AI (on prosemonkeyverse).
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Stuff: Blade Runner, ESPN, and other stuff as they come up.
Blade Runner
I finally watched Blade Runner yesterday. I say finally, not so much because I've always wanted to watch it, but more because it's such an essential piece in the lexicon of scifi film. I've never been all that intensely in love with scifi until the last decade of my life - actually the last 5.
I really wish I had seen the movie earlier in my life. The visuals obviously cannot hold a candle to our technology, now, but the story still persists. Stories of artificial intelligence have been told throughout science fiction. But recently, with the maturation of visual effects and story telling in both tv and film, these stories that require immense aesthetic representation have called for more of these types of films.
Anyway, it's always strange to see what the future looked like in the eyes of the generations before our pocket-pc lives. Who knows? Maybe we're still headed towards a post-apocalyptic future where tech gear is more salvaged than evolved.
I also think it's funny that, in the 80s, so many people were convinced that "synthesizer" equaled futuristic music - almost as much as the keyboard tie, or in that same sense, the keytar.
Skinjobs = toasters.
ESPN
I think I'm pretty much over ESPN except for 5% of its on-air and on-line products. I'm done with Sportscenter because it has no life like it had before. I'm done with Sportscenter becauase I'm tired of the Red Sox and Yankees always being the top story even when it's not baseball season. I didn't hate on Steven A. Smith from the beginning like most people. Though I never loved him, I surely wish he'd just go back and stay in Philly. At least ESPN finally realized that NO ONE took Sean Salisbury seriously.
I rarely ever check ESPN.com anymore. Except for Bill Simmons, I rarely read any of their exclusive writers. What's worse is their incessant need to charge for the info that their "marquee" personalities write. Sorry, y'all. Yahoo! Sports has all of that information for free, without the excess busy-ness on their webpages, and has a lot of great columnists give or take an Adrian Wojnarowski. (Okay, that's mean. He, like many of the Yahoo! Sports columnists write a lot per week and are expected to do such at a high level. I'm just singling him out for one article, in particular, that he sounded so completely naive to the depth of racism in the country that I haven't really given him back and due.)
The Yahoo! Sports site is easier to navigate than ESPN's. It has optional video (not necessary like on ESPN's front page). It also is customizable and completely compatible with their fantasy leagues.
As for TV, I'll still watch Sportscenter when there's nothing else to watch and I want sports scores. I don't like Fox Sports Net's nightly sports telecast because it is waaay too busy. It doesn't have any character like Sportscenter (at least TRIES to have - not with the hosts, but with their investigative pieces) and I can get all that info cleanly done on ESPNEWS.
I do like the ESPN late night talk radio hosts better than Fox Sports. But, I rarely do late night driving like that anymore.
Until ESPN gets over themselves, they're going to continue to slip.
Disturbia
I haven't watched a movie on HBO just because it was on in a while. Of all movies, why Disturbia? Well, I thought it was supposed to be a horror movie. I really didn't know much about it.
When I read the blurb, it said that the main character (Shia Lebouf) was convinced that his next door neighbor was a serial killer. I thought, oh, it's supposed to be about a neighbor who's a possible serial killer. It sorta was about that - then sorta not. There was a lightheartedness to the movie even though there was a serious plotline about a tragic death of a parent and the mourning that comes from it - and then there's that whole story about a serial killer. So, this movie obviously had some very serious points that made it just a terrible movie.
BUT - it was entertaining. I was doing other things - on my laptop, checking laundry, eating, etc. but it wasn't bad as background entertainment. I'd never want to watch it again. I won't ever suggest it to anybody to spend their time on.
AND - now it reminds that, sometimes, I miss being a kid. I'm pretty sure that, even as a teenager, I would've thought this movie was really, really stupid. But, I'm pretty sure it would've been a fun 90 minutes to kill with the friends on a Friday night. There was the obligatory swooning over a hot girl. There were the good moments of tension. And, as a reminder to all of us nowadays, it didn't really take itself so seriously.
I mean, don't get me wrong. After the end of the movie, I was asking myself how the hell that movie got produced, who the hell would support that (and in this case, one of them was Ivan Reitman), and what the hell other movies had DJ Caruso directed? So, it is what it is.
LOST
LOST has been off the hook in Season 4. The latest episode, the one centered on Desmond and the time-trippin', was pretty good. I, again being one who HATES time-travelling stories because of their inseparable logic problems, could only love this so much because of such issues. Am I the only one who cares that none of these time travel stories makes sense? At least LOST tried to cover those loose ends, and there's a HUGE piece connected to time-warping that is still barely being uncovered. The greatness of this episode though had to do with Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond). Like in Gossip Girl, when I called Chuck the back-up point guard, so is Desmond in LOST. There are A-plots going on with Jack, Kate, Lock, and Sawyer. Desmond is the star of the B-team that consists of Sayid, Hurley, Sun, Jin, and formerly Charlie.
Eli Stone
I'm glad that the moments when Eli's lost in the middle of huge dance numbers that I should have pointed out would get old (fast), has now really brought him to the brink of major danger. Somehow, they have to get that piece worked on because, even though they are characters on their own now, a dude dancing on top of tables at work will eventually get our very short-memory having background characters suspicious.
BTW, if I didn't write it before, I'd like to apologize to Victor Garber for including he and Natasha Henstridge in the same sentence.
