Sunday Morning Tuneage & Weekly TV (7/14/13)

It's that week - the short work week leading up to my annual trip to San Diego for Comic Con.  I think we're looking at over 10 years consecutive at this point.  Slow week previous and time to catch up a little today.  But I do have to work this afternoon for Freshman Orientation - hand out some flyers and talk to the 1000 gathered folks.  Just time to go get a quick workout in.  No Sunday Morning Tuneage next week - but plan on more posts and tweets than you can handle.  There will be a full link to a summary when I'm done.  Until I have to get out of the house - looking over some new iPad games for travel and listening to some tuneage . . .

SUNDAY MORNING TUNEAGE

JUICE NEWTON - IT'S A HEARTACHE.  This used to happen back in the day - the same song was released the same year by two separate artists.  The Bonnie Tyler version became much more popular in the US and set up her later success with "Total Eclipse of the Heart".  Juice had a minor hit with this slightly more Country version.  She'd also have to wait to breakout later in the 80s.  This 1978 single sounds good to me today and I'm surprised it didn't outsell the Tyler version.

"It's a fool's game.  Nothing but a fool's game."

SOMETHING RANDOM . . . Been waiting for Instagram to shoot in horizontal mode - here it is . . .  and I love these really random Netflix suggestions - like you loved 8 1/2 so you'll love 9.

DEADLIGHTS OF 2013. . . Douglas Dayton was part of a brother combo that founded most of the stores of my Mall going days - Target, Hudson's and B. Daltons . . . Joe Conley was Ike the storekeeper on "The Waltons" . . . Corey Montieth was Finn on "Glee" and I was quite shocked to see his name come up on deaths of 2013.  I enjoyed his performances and wonder what it will do to the slightly ailing show. . . 

QUICK LIST (a random, uninformed list off the top of Shawn's head)

BEST FRUITS OF ALL-TIME

11.  RASPBERRIES.  I just don't get enough of these during their season.  They are part of the Rose family and look like a heart.  One of the best fruits to add to cereal.

10.   STAR FRUIT.  It's got a bit of a pineapple taste with a mango-ish interior.  You can even find them at the local Wal-Marts now.

9.  BLACKBERRIES.  The darker the berry the sweeter the taste.  I love these mixed in a salad with other berries.

8.  ORANGES.  Lots of options with the orange and it's one of the fruits that very few people have any trouble with.  Very lovely.  I love the Clementine and Mandarin versions the best.  

7.  BANANAS.  I like a good simple banana and it's a great fruit for cooking - like it in bread and as a banana cream pie.

6.  APPLES.  Like the Raspberry - it's part of the rose family.  And the varieties seem infinite.  Every time I think I've sampled all the varieties - they come up with more.  It's one that I really only like best raw.  Sorry, but pie is okay but not as good as other fruits in this list.

5.  STRAWBERRIES.  I love when it's strawberry season and I love strawberry flavors in my foods.  Great on a salad and in your foo foo fruity drinks.

4.  PINEAPPLES.  Fresh and sweet pineapple might be one of the finest joys of life. There is little to compare.  But it goes well as a juice and belongs in every fruit salad you ever make.  

3.  PEACHES.  I love these Texas peaches.  One of my favorite flavors and they make some of the best desserts of all-time.  A little peach cobbler and vanilla ice cream and you are in Heaven.

2.  BLUEBERRIES.  They've always been a favorite of mine.  Just eating them raw is my favorite way to consume them.  It doesn't hurt that they are about the healthiest of all fruits too.

1.  CHERRIES.  It's cherry season right now and I miss my Michigan sweet cherries.  It's my go to fruit and my comfort food of choice.  A cherry pie is food love for me.  True food love.

Here's a secret - I like fruit better than vegetable.  There are few fruits that I don't like to eat.  There are some great ones that are safe flavor-wise but don't make the list like grapes, kiwi, plums and mangoes.  The worst?  Probably some weird ones that I haven't tried.  But the most overrated - the apricot is just not that great a fruit.  It's relatively bland in original state and doesn't make a good flavor addition to anything.

NETFLIX PLAY NOW OF THE WEEK . . . HIT & MISS is an awesome series with Chloe Sevigny from the "Shameless' creator Paul Abbott and one of my favorite shows last year . . . I still have yet to see the Ken Burns doc PROHIBITION but I can delete it off the Tivo because it's here for free.  Understand "Boardwalk Empire" better too . . .  and EXPENDABLES 2 is probably a ton of fun and a total fun waste of time . . .

Shawn's fave movies according to FLICKCHART

#142 - Dawn of the Dead
#185 - Some Like It Hot

#336 - Brubaker

RANDOM PROJECT UPDATE -   The BUFFY project.  Making my way through Season 5.  I was a little taken aback by the sudden introduction of a "sister" for Buffy - Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg).  But I did enjoy the double Xanders in "The Replacement" - it's a fun story with monsters - just why I love the show.  I'm still 60 hours away from finishing the series and then to get around to the "Angel" episodes. We'll see how this season goes - I'm really only tired of Riley - can we ditch him yet?

SHAWN'S TOP ALBUMS OF ALL-TIME (a tribute to the art of the album)

#30  NEW ORDER - POWER, CORRUPTION & LIES (1983)

For this album, I'm including the extra songs that were originally on the singles and part of the Collector's Edition CD.  I was really conflicted what album to put in this spot.  It could easily have been "Low-Life".  But this album came hard with the synth vibe compared to their previous album.  Their 2nd album broke ground in 1983 that most of the Universe wasn't ready to accept.  I didn't catch up with it until 1985 and even then I was barely ready to understand what was going on.  The album produced singles that define the last half of the 80s decade for me and still resonate today - "Blue Monday", "The Beach" and "Confusion".  But you can start with the classic "Age of Consent" and "We All Stand" that start the album to know that this is a classic.  The strength of "Age of Consent" that I heard one Saturday night at Schoolkids Records is what got this album into my collection.  I feel like it isn't as strong from top to bottom as some of the surrounding releases but the strength of the singles make it a Top 30 album for sure.  

Age of Consent

The Beach

Confusion

Previous Rankings

#31 - Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV (1971)

#32 - Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973)

#33 - Parliament - Mothership Connection (1975)

#34 - Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique (1989

#35 - U2 - The Joshua Tree (1987)

THIS WEEK IN TELEVISION

MONDAY

TEEN WOLF (MTV)  Didn't see the first season, saw the second season and I'm not sure there's much reason to watch this third season.  Lost of good lookin' shirtless dudes.  But the special effects and stunts aren't up to the TV quality I expect.

THE WRONG BOX (TCM)  A hilarious and often missed film  with Michael Caine, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore among others.  The Brits make funny comedies about inheritance.

TUESDAY

WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY? (CW)  The show moves to the CW without Drew Carey.  You still get Wayne, Ryan and Colin but with Aisha Tyler hosting.  I'm curious.  I've missed the show - good ideas for party games.

MLB ALL-STAR GAME (FOX)  I used to like watching it - then I fell out  of interest in it.  But after getting burned by the whole Home Field Advantage thing in two of the past three years - now I'm a little more interested.  Go American League.

WEDNESDAY
HER COMES HONEY BOO BOO (TLC)  I don't really care for this show - meaning positive or negative, I don't care.  But the idea of a "Watch 'n' Sniff" episode is disturbing and worrisome.

SEVEN FACES OF DR. LAO (TCM)  Not the comedy that I originally thought it would be.  Actually quite hard to put within a single genre.  But you watch it for Barbara Eden and the awesome makeup effects on Tony Randall's character.

THURSDAY
PROJECT RUNWAY (LIFE)  Not sure how this show made it to Season 12 - there is little about this show that makes me want to watch it - especially once you've seen a RuPaul show.

FOODOGRAPHY (COOK) Fun show that actually informs - this week Ice Cream is the subject.

FRIDAY
THE SOFT SKIN (TCM)  Not sure I've seen all of this Truffaut film about an adulterous affair.

DINERS, DIVES, DRIVE-INS (FOOD)  Not everybody enjoys this show - I usually like watching these marathons but I see "the cast of GROWN UPS 2" on this week. Really???

SATURDAY
THE SONS OF KATIE ELDER (AMC)  Have I mentioned how cool this John Wayne and Dean Martin film is?  It's airing most of the month on AMC.

GASLIGHT (TCM)  Classic thriller with Ingrid Berman who goes insane and her husband, Charles Boyer, who help her along the way.

SUNDAY
TRUE BLOOD (HBO)  Haven't watched one second of this season - still stuck on last season.  But I'm hearing that it's back in good graces again.  I'll probably finish last season when this season ends.

MODERN TIMES (TCM)  The 1936 Chaplin film is about his most complete and really feels like one that any fan of "film" should have on their resume.

AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR . . . Samsung has outdone Apple lately as far a making fun of the competition . . . 

This Samsung ad shows how you can change a baby and talk on your Smartphone at the same time . . . 

Need to replay this awesome ad from earlier this year with the great Johnny Cash song and the puppy dog . . . 

"How does it feel to treat me like you do?
When you've had your hands upon me
And told me who you are."  - New Order

Walk down to the beach.  Stay hard.

sb

Sunday Morning Tuneage & Weekly TV (3/17/13)

Spring Break.  Not much of a break really for me.  The kids kept themselves busy the whole week.  Christian had baseball practice every day that he didn't have games - 3 games during the week.  Caleb had 2 other practices with my baseball team and we've got a scrimmage tonight.  Dee found a way to see every friend that she has over the past week too.  Gotta finish up some work at my desk later today - bills, taxes and planning for the rest of the month.  Until then, I'm making a grocery list for the week and listening to some tuneage . . . 

SUNDAY MORNING TUNEAGE

CYNDI LAUPER - GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN.  This 1983 song was pretty ubiquitous for all of my Junior year in High School.  It was a major influence to a big group of women I knew too.  Only recently did I realize that it was written by the great Robert Hazard who had a minor career with the cool single "Escalator Of Life".  He recorded it in 1979 but Cyndi made it her own with the female version in late 1983 - helped by the famous video with Capt Lou Albano that seemed to air hourly on MTV.   Best cover version might be the Veggie Tales - "Gourds Just Want To Have Fun".

MACY GRAY - I TRY.  "Games, changes and fears / When will they go from here / When will they stop."  This 1999 song is by far Macy's best.  It's one of those songs that melds perfectly with her voice.  And she captures that feeling of not being able to stay away from the man she loves perfectly.  It was Grammy nominated and won Best Female Vocal.  It's got such a smooth feel to it - perfect for a Sunday morning.

JUICE NEWTON - TELL HER NO.  This 1983 single is a cover of the awesome 1965 single by The Zombies.  The original song is very British Invasion sounding.  But Juice took a single that was almost 20 years old and gave it her own Country twang and changed the gender of the lyrics.  Not her best by a mile.  And really, other than a curiosity of the age, it's got little to offer and barely registers on my Sunday morning meter. . . 

SOMETHING RANDOM . . .   from 1972 - here's the Soul Train dance contest winners - 

and let's take another ride on the Soul Train with Kool and the Gang and their "Open Sesame" . . . 

DEADLIGHTS OF 2013. . .  Alvin Lee was a renowned guitarist with Ten Years After and you'd recognize his work from "I'd Love To Change The World" . . . Paul Bearer was the entertaining, unmistakable looking manager to The Undertaker and Kane and Vader and various incarnations of Mick Foley over the years.  His character and the storyline with the two brothers - Undertaker and Kane was always one my favorite stories when I watched the shows weekly . . . 

QUICK LIST (a random, uninformed list off the top of Shawn's head)

BEST ROOT BEERS OF ALL-TIME

10.  DOG 'N' SUDS ROOT BEER.  I don't know if the restaurants or if the cans of this are still around.  But just like the name suggests - there was something great about going to get a hot dog and root beer - served right at your car.

9.  GENUINE HANK'S ROOT BEER.  Very vanilla and cream soda tasting.  It's one that I just don't find in enough places to rank it higher than this.  Very unique flavor to all the Hank sodas.

8.  HIRES ROOT BEER.  Probably my first root beer from a can.  It was the one root beer that  was available almost everywhere.  I go years without a Hires.  I don't think it's the same formula as when I was a kid.  But the general memory of that sweet flavor is still there when I taste it.

7.  VIRGIL'S ROOT BEER.  So many people rave about this root beer.  It's good but not great.  It's not a root beer that tastes refreshing enough to down quickly.  And it's definitely not one that you would mix with anything.

6.  IBC ROOT BEER.  It's becoming easier and easier to find this root beer - at least around here.  I think that Dr Pepper is doing the bottling.  Great taste - just enough bite.  Full flavor.  I might need to revisit this and move it up the list.

5.  BOYLAN'S ROOT BEER.   Boylan's makes some great sodas.  If you like Grape, this is a brand you need to track down.  Their root beer has some unique and very fruity flavors to it.  

4.  AMERICANA ROOT BEER.  I picked up this brand at World Market last year and fell in love with all of their sodas.  This is the most interesting tasting root beer on the list - it's a cream style but has a very licorice aftertaste.  If it was more widely available, I believe this would top lots of people's lists.  Not a coincidence that this is made with cane sugar too.

3.  STEWART'S ROOT BEER.  Another brand with some excellent flavors.  But their root beer isn't the best drinking root beer on the list.  But it is probably the best on the list for making root beer floats.  If the root beer doesn't do it for you - try the Orange Cream version.  Like something you'd get from the Ice Cream Man.

2.  DAD'S ROOT BEER.  Also on here because of nostalgia.  I loved this root beer through all of my youth.  It's the one I would search out for years at stores.  It's great one can at a time.  Don't try to make too much of the ingredients - not impressive but it tastes like what I think root beer should taste like.  

1.  A&W ROOT BEER.  Not the can.  Not even the bottle.  But back to the days of going to their drive-in, especially the one on Westnedge in Kalamazoo and getting the fresh mug out of the keg.  Old fashioned and tastes the best when it's in that frosty glass mug that's brought directly to your car.  I miss it but remember the taste exactly.

The most delightful of all the sodas.  It was my first carbonated love and I go too long without trying new ones in my life.  I love all the varieties and the different tastes that can come out of essentially the same ingredients.  I want to try making my own some day - who wants to help experiment?  Already realizing that there are so many root beers out there that I need to try.  So many small brew pubs making root beer - in bottles and in burger joints all over. Best foods with root beer - pizza, burgers and hot dogs.  I don't know if I have a "worst" root beer but there are some that just don't make my faves - Barqs, Faygo, Shasta and Henry Weinhard's.  The worst of the bunch is Mug (the worst of the commonly available canned root beers) and most grocery store brands - Meijer's Root Beer is plain terrible.  

NETFLIX PLAY NOW OF THE WEEK . . .  a few oddball titles out there now . . . NUMBER ONE WITH A BULLET (1981) is a cool and weird title with Robert Carradine and Billy Dee Williams . . . GREY LADY DOWN (1978) is a cool disaster film that just doesn't get talked about enough anymore.  Charlton Heston and Stacy Keach and Ned Beatty tell a slightly different version of a POSEIDON ADVENTURE type of disaster . . . LONE WOLF MCQUADE (1983) is David Carradine and our hero, Chuck Norris.

Shawn's fave movies according to FLICKCHART

#176 - Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
#711 - Scrooged
#1091 - The Last Unicorn

RANDOM PROJECT UPDATE -  The DEXTER project.  I should have started this show about four years ago.  I knew I would like it.  I love Michael C. Hall and I love these type of crime dramas and dark comedies.  There always seemed to be another show to get started on.  Or something else to finish.  But this week I broke down and got started.  I'm four episodes in and it's just what I had hoped for.  At 84 episodes to date - doubt I will catch up before the new season starts this Summer.  And I already know some of the major plot points in seasons to come.  For now - 1st season - I'm loving the ride.

SHAWN'S TOP ALBUMS OF ALL-TIME (a tribute to the art of the album)

#44  Black Sabbath - Paranoid (1970)

I had a very random definition of Heavy Metal in my youth.  It consisted of KISS and AC/DC mainly.  Later with some Def Leppard.  But it was in the mid-1980s that I discovered Black Sabbath in reverse through Ozzy.  This album was the one that I clung to.  From 1970, this still has icy fingers that reach out to influence Heavy Metal today.  At merely 8 songs - they are given just the room they need to have long guitar licks.  Four of the songs clock in at over 6 minutes each.  When someone is coming into musical awareness - this is the album you put on for their introduction to Heavy Metal.  Sounds as heavy as anything today.

Previous Rankings

#45 - The B-52's - The B-52's (1979)

#46 - Pink Floyd - The Wall (1979)
#47 - Billy Joel - The Stranger (1977)
#48 - Dr. Dre - The Chronic (1992)
#49 - Beastie Boys - Licensed To Ill (1986)

THIS WEEK IN TELEVISION

MONDAY

TOP OF THE LAKE (SUNDANCE)  Co-written and co-directed by Jane Campion.  It stars Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men) and it looks like a New Zealand version of "Twin Peaks" mixed with "The Killing".  I'm quite excited about this 6 hour mini-series.

THE BIGGEST LOSER (NBC)  I'm pretty sure that Danni is going to win - she looks amazing.  But I hope you people vote Jackson into the Finals.  He's my favorite this season.  It comes to an end and I worry that my BL love may be at an end after four years.

TUESDAY

HOW WE INVENTED THE WORLD (DISC)  Okay - there are lots of series that tell you how things get made.  But this one goes even deeper into the creation of a product.  This initial episode shows how Frankenstein's monster, the Titanic and Hedy Lamar influenced the creation of the smartphone.

NEW GIRL (FOX)  Jess gets hopped up on pain pills and tells Nick that she loves him too.  I'm just about had my fill of this story.  Sorry.

WEDNESDAY
DUCK DYNASTY (A&E)  Even if the show has jumped the shark - it hasn't slowed down in the ratings or in the hearts and minds of my children.  How could you not love the overly scripted Si lines?  Tonight Willie throws a Casino Part for the Duck Commander employees and Si gets a massage chair.

HAUNTED COLLECTOR (SYFY)  No idea.  But I love that Syfy has combined the titles of two of my favorite reality genre shows.  Haunted brothel tonight.  What are they collecting???

THURSDAY
NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT (CBS et al)  Tonight, there are games on at least four channels.  It's the first full day and if it isn't a Big Ten team, then I have no idea how to pick them.  By the end of tonight, my brackets will be half finished.

ARCHER (FX)  Lana and Sterling are off to Morocco.  Once again - I watch two or three episodes at once and I'm not sure that I can tell the difference of one to another.  It's like I'm watching the same one over and over and I'm never sure if the jokes are even new.  It's too bad because the show in spurts is one of the funniest on TV.  But it may have run its course.

FRIDAY
LAST MAN STANDING (ABC)  I didn't even know that the Tim Allen show was still on the air.  But then, imagine my surprise to see that Jonathan Taylor Thomas is all grown up and guesting on the show.

NCAA BASKETBALL (CBS et al)  This is the other half of the first round of brackets.  Finally, something truly worthwhile to watch on a Friday night - not just "Duck Dynasty" marathons and Disney comedy reruns.

SATURDAY
CHUPACABRA VS THE ALAMO (SYFY)  It has to take three times as long to come up with the titles of these Saturday night films than it does to actually film them.  Erik Estrada is back on a motorcycle and on his way to San Antonio to fight the beasts.

GUN CRAZY (TCM)  This 1949 crime drama is a true cult classic.  You've got some early noir elements with intense love, guns and murder.

SUNDAY
PHIL SPECTOR (HBO)  What an interesting combo of actor - writer - subject matter.  David Mamet is back with his GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS actor partner Al Pacino as the hilariously coifed Phil Spector.  The trailers look amazing.  So anxious to see this.

THE WALKING DEAD (AMC)  It's not really a show that you could pick up right now.  But if you've been paying attention the past few seasons, it's really paying off.  There are levels within levels but it's also just simply a show about zombies.  Possible truce with the Governor tonight.  Don't count on it.

AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR . . .  let's start with the tears - this story of a Subaru being loyal like a dog gets me in the stomach every time . . .  Followed by super furry and funny kitty from New Zealand who just wants a ride in the Toyota.

Love Kit Kats?  So do these dancing babies . . . 

"I need someone to show me the things in life that I can't find
I can't see the things that make true happiness, I must be blind"  - Black Sabbath

Can you help my occupy my brain?  Stay hard.

sb