SUNDAY MORNING TUNEAGE
FU-SCHNICKENS - RING THE ALARM. This 1991 single was the first time I heard these boys from NYC. It's got the reggae sample of the Tenor Saw song by the same name but it mixes in the super funky Brick song - "In The Hole". I was lukewarm with their rap at first - I'd fully catch up with them by the time I heard "La Schmoove" with Phife. Before 1991 ended I was a true Fuschnick. Even after Shaq-Fu temporarily joined the group. I appreciate this song and it's samples even more today.
FU-SCHNICKENS - RING THE ALARM. This 1991 single was the first time I heard these boys from NYC. It's got the reggae sample of the Tenor Saw song by the same name but it mixes in the super funky Brick song - "In The Hole". I was lukewarm with their rap at first - I'd fully catch up with them by the time I heard "La Schmoove" with Phife. Before 1991 ended I was a true Fuschnick. Even after Shaq-Fu temporarily joined the group. I appreciate this song and it's samples even more today.
THE HOLLIES - STOP IN THE NAME OF LOVE. This cover version of the Supremes song was the last minor hit for The Hollies in late 1983. It's a typical British cover of that era - it doesn't have that Motown soul. But it still has that Hollies harmony that you recognize from the 1970s. But by the early 1980s they were pretty middle of the road. I've been listening to lots of Hollies lately and this is a safe little hit but not their best work.
BJORK - HYPERBALLAD. This tune is from the excellent "Post" album and I'm thinking that at some point in Tuneage-land that it's come up before. I have had lots of Bjork come up and I'm not sure how to make sure I don't do songs multiple times. Nor do I really care because I usually have a different take on a song at different times in my life. This is a song that I was really into for most of 1996 and 1997. And then Bjork seemed to disappear from my CD playing for a number of years. Luckily it was iTunes and loading all my old CDs that led me back to her. It has a fun Gondry video but I'm into her lyrics lately. I like that this seems to be about her in a long term relationship - that after a number of years she wake up before him, goes out and throws things off a cliff before realizing how much she loves him and going back to be in his arms. It's a lovely image of relationships that have last a few years or more.
BJORK - HYPERBALLAD. This tune is from the excellent "Post" album and I'm thinking that at some point in Tuneage-land that it's come up before. I have had lots of Bjork come up and I'm not sure how to make sure I don't do songs multiple times. Nor do I really care because I usually have a different take on a song at different times in my life. This is a song that I was really into for most of 1996 and 1997. And then Bjork seemed to disappear from my CD playing for a number of years. Luckily it was iTunes and loading all my old CDs that led me back to her. It has a fun Gondry video but I'm into her lyrics lately. I like that this seems to be about her in a long term relationship - that after a number of years she wake up before him, goes out and throws things off a cliff before realizing how much she loves him and going back to be in his arms. It's a lovely image of relationships that have last a few years or more.
SOMETHING RANDOM . . . I can't really bring myself to put this under the commercials - it uses Coca-Cola polar bears but it isn't really an advertisement. And it is here because anything that Ridley Scott directs is something I need to share with the world.
DEADLIGHTS OF 2013 . . . Vivian Brown might be the most famous graduate of my High School in Mattawan, Michigan. She and her twin sister, Marian, graduated in 1945 as Valedictorians and after attending Western Michigan became well known for their style on the Kalamazoo Mall. After moving to San Francisco they became well known and recognized after a Reebok ad in 1988 and then a series of ads after that. She passed away last week . . . You might not know the name Pauline Phillips (I didn't at first) but you might recognize her pen name of Abigail Van Buren as the columnist Dear Abby. I was an Ann Landers (her identical twin - doesn't that short circuit your brain?) reader but always would peak in at Dear Abby . . . Conrad Bain is always gong to be remembered most as the dad on "Diff'rent Strokes" but his role on "Maude" is unforgettable for those that watched the show. . . a couple baseball biggies passed at once this week - Stan Musial had the awesome nickname of "The Man" and played before my time. The records speak for themselves - this guy was one of the greatest hitters of all-time and will always be associated with the St. Louis Cardinals for me. Earl Weaver until 1986 I knew him only as the hotheaded manager of the Baltimore Orioles - always seeming to get kicked out of games and one of the best managers that they ever put a microphone on during a game in all those MLB All Star and World Series films that aired during rainouts. His name was also part of one the earliest best baseball games - Earl Weaver Baseball.. . Robert Chew was a dude that most people probably don't know unless they watched "The Wire" - he was Proposition Joe.
QUICK LIST (a random, uninformed list off the top of Shawn's head)
BEST TEAS OF ALL-TIME
10. CHAI TEA LATTE. I'm new to this one but in a very short time - like a month - it's cracked the Top Ten. Tasty. Not just at Starbucks - you can get some at Kroger too.
9. ARIZONA TEA ARNOLD PALMER. Both the LIte and the Zero are tasty. I feel like this is a Summer drink for me and just can't get in the mood for it in the Winter or Spring. See you again in the hot drives home from work this Summer, my friend.
8. HONEST TEA POMEGRANATE RED TEA w/GOJI BERRY. I don't know what a goji berry is but this is one of the best teas out there - get it in the glass bottle and drink it very cold.
7. PEACE TEA - PINK LEMONADE. The nice touch on the Arnold Palmer actually might be the best version of it. This is currently the workday ice tea of choice.
6. SNAPPLE PEACH TEA. It's good in regular and diet flavors. Great drink while driving around town or watching some TV at night.
5. MINT MEDLEY. Best aftertaste of any tea ever. I like to smell it for 30 minutes before drinking.
4. CHAMOMILE. It works. Makes me feel more calm and settles my stomach better than most medicines.
3. EARL GREY. When I went to England in High School I had not had much tea that wasn't called Lipton. And then every tea I had there seemed to be this flavor. I fell in love then and I've loved it - especially for breakfast - ever since.
2. GREEN TEA. I feel like I was late to the Green Tea party but when I first started it was really hard to find and now it's practically everywhere. It's good sweet and unsweet - warm and cold. And I feel like I'm actually doing something healthy for myself while drinking it. Green tea drinkers burn more calories per day than non-green drinkers.
1. CHICKEN EXPRESS SWEET TEA. Not exactly getting any of the health benefits by drinking this tea. I'm glad it's not in a can because I don't want to know the sugar content. I've had it on my no-no list for a few months now while I try to get my weight down. But once I reach a comfortable weight - I'll be back on the Sweet Tea bandwagon and this is the best I've ever had. It took moving to Texas for me to learn the greatness of the sweet tea.
I've had to leave off nice teas like Oolong, Lemon, Mango and Herbal. It's funny that I wasn't a fan of tea until my teens. And even then it took the love of it by my Grandmother and my poor days in college to discover how much I enjoy it. As a guy that likes iced tea with dinner - I've had some terrible ice teas while out for lunch or dinner - usually just bitter and old. The worst brand of store bought tea is easily the SoBe brand - nothing to like there. And the single worst tasting iced tea is the Lipton Brisk Lemon Ice Tea.
9. ARIZONA TEA ARNOLD PALMER. Both the LIte and the Zero are tasty. I feel like this is a Summer drink for me and just can't get in the mood for it in the Winter or Spring. See you again in the hot drives home from work this Summer, my friend.
8. HONEST TEA POMEGRANATE RED TEA w/GOJI BERRY. I don't know what a goji berry is but this is one of the best teas out there - get it in the glass bottle and drink it very cold.
7. PEACE TEA - PINK LEMONADE. The nice touch on the Arnold Palmer actually might be the best version of it. This is currently the workday ice tea of choice.
6. SNAPPLE PEACH TEA. It's good in regular and diet flavors. Great drink while driving around town or watching some TV at night.
5. MINT MEDLEY. Best aftertaste of any tea ever. I like to smell it for 30 minutes before drinking.
4. CHAMOMILE. It works. Makes me feel more calm and settles my stomach better than most medicines.
3. EARL GREY. When I went to England in High School I had not had much tea that wasn't called Lipton. And then every tea I had there seemed to be this flavor. I fell in love then and I've loved it - especially for breakfast - ever since.
2. GREEN TEA. I feel like I was late to the Green Tea party but when I first started it was really hard to find and now it's practically everywhere. It's good sweet and unsweet - warm and cold. And I feel like I'm actually doing something healthy for myself while drinking it. Green tea drinkers burn more calories per day than non-green drinkers.
1. CHICKEN EXPRESS SWEET TEA. Not exactly getting any of the health benefits by drinking this tea. I'm glad it's not in a can because I don't want to know the sugar content. I've had it on my no-no list for a few months now while I try to get my weight down. But once I reach a comfortable weight - I'll be back on the Sweet Tea bandwagon and this is the best I've ever had. It took moving to Texas for me to learn the greatness of the sweet tea.
I've had to leave off nice teas like Oolong, Lemon, Mango and Herbal. It's funny that I wasn't a fan of tea until my teens. And even then it took the love of it by my Grandmother and my poor days in college to discover how much I enjoy it. As a guy that likes iced tea with dinner - I've had some terrible ice teas while out for lunch or dinner - usually just bitter and old. The worst brand of store bought tea is easily the SoBe brand - nothing to like there. And the single worst tasting iced tea is the Lipton Brisk Lemon Ice Tea.
NETFLIX PLAY NOW OF THE WEEK . . . I've been watching lots of Silent films recently and developed quite the crush on the woman in this documentary. MARY PICKFORD: THE MUSE OF THE MOVIES looks to be a decent rundown of her life. . . a few other docs are here on a slow week - FOR LOVE OF LIBERTY is about African Americans and their service in all of our wars. And DELTA BOYS is about Nigeria, their oil reserves and the militants trying to usurp the money and power from the government. Told you it was a slow week.
Shawn's fave movies according to FLICKCHART
#7 - The Omen
#125 - Alien
#1061 - Dalek's Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D.
#7 - The Omen
#125 - Alien
#1061 - Dalek's Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D.
RANDOM PROJECT UPDATE - The ELMORE LEONARD project. The first book I finished this year was the Leonard - Valdez Is Coming. I really ended up liking this simple, straight forward Western. It's basically a little revenge story. Not too much in plot - it could easily be an hour episode of a TV show. I'm hoping to catch the film adaptation soon and I'm lining up another one of his Westerns to read next. How about "Hombre'? Anyone?
SHAWN'S TOP ALBUMS OF ALL-TIME (a tribute to the art of the album)
#52 Prince - Dirty MInd (1980)
You won't find the Prince videos on YouTube - so here's the Cyndi Lauper cover of "When You Were Mine" (a fine cover). Not many other good covers from this album. Need a copy?
Previous Rankings
#53 - The Stooges - The Stooges (1969
)#54 - Steely Dan - Can't Buy A Thrill (1972)
#55 - The Doors - The Doors (1967)
#56 - Simon & Garfunkel - Bookends (1968)
#57 - REM - Automatic For The People (1992)
THIS WEEK IN TELEVISION
MONDAY
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN (DISNEY XD) The newest season starts with the in vogue Avengers joining the adventures including Hawkeye making his first appearance in this universe.
CASTLE (ABC) Haven't got any pleasure from the past couple episodes. Not compared to the previous seasons. This one featuring the killing of the owner of "College Girls Gone Crazy" not only seems like last week's episode but like same story from three episodes last season.
HOARDERS (A&E) Merlene was a famous model all set to inherit the Lear Jet fortune when she was suddenly divorced and now picks through other people's garbage.
TUESDAY
OUR AMERICA w/LISA LING (OWN) After everyone discovered they have this channel last week for the Lance Armstrong interview - maybe they'll watch Lisa explore the underground "real versions of 'Shades Of Grey' ".
WILD THINGS w/DOMINIC MONAGHAN (BBC) From the folks in Britain who make the great documentaries is this new series from my acting crush Dominic "Not Penny's Boat" Monaghan. Another series of the weird and freaky animals of the world - flesh-ripping ants???
WEDNESDAY
LIFE ON FIRE (PBS) Documentary on the Nicaragua Masaya volcano - erupting frequently and yet people living near it and the jungle fighting to claim land back.
STREET EATS (TRAVEL) Not sure if it's about food trucks or more likely just the vendors selling stuff that only seems like it would be eaten on a show like this. And yet, I keep watching them. This is a new one starting tonight.
THURSDAY
PARKS AND RECREATION (NBC) Leslie gets April to take over a garbage route. I'm all for more April and Leslie interactions.
ARCHER (FX) That guy from that show I should be watching is on here tonight - "Justified"'s Timothy Olyphant.
PROECT RUNWAY (LIFE) For those that still care - I know a few of you - have fun now because Season 11 is starting. Let the complaining begin.
FRIDAY
KITCHEN NIGHTMARES (FOX) Why would you even invite Gordon over if your restaurant is called "Olde Hitching Post". This won't go well.
DUCK DYNASTY and STORAGE WARS (A&E) Without "Fringe" around - there isn't much left on tonight except to get down a bottle of whiskey and watch you some mindless TV. Or there is GRAVITY FALLS on Disney if you don't know it already.
SATURDAY
ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN (SYFY) Not exactly Dinocroc but this snowbound guy (or is it a lady?) has always been one of my favorites.
RIPPER STREET (BBC) Still no one stepping up to read "From Hell" with me this year. And BBC has a sense of decorum by airing FROM HELL just before tonight's episode.
U.S. FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS (NBC) The afternoon is the Ice Dancing - hoping to see Madison Hubble and Zach Donohue there. Fingers crossed.
SUNDAY
GIRLS (HBO) Haven't watched the 1st episode yet but I don't remember as many people jumping off a bandwagon since "Homeland" started this season.
DOCTOR WHO: THE DOCTORS REVISITED (BBC) This little series starts tonight with the First Doctor. I think people need more historical background to their Doctor watching - it didn't just start in the past few years.
But it's up against THE 39 STEPS and LADY VANISHES (TCM) as two of my most favorite Hitchcock films - they just show a talent for storytelling that is raw and exciting.
AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR . . the longer version is above. This shorter version is an actual commercial. Many of you won't take time to watch a longer video with animated polar bears. This one will only take you just over 30 seconds. . .
Speaking of bears. This one just wandered onto the set of this ad. And see what happened after that . . .
Progressive insurance ads are usually fun but not necessarily clever or funny. This illustrates that I think - i like it but is it funny?
Speaking of bears. This one just wandered onto the set of this ad. And see what happened after that . . .
Progressive insurance ads are usually fun but not necessarily clever or funny. This illustrates that I think - i like it but is it funny?
"It doesn't matter what I do
I can't stop, ah, thinkin' about U
The little things U said . . . " - Prince
Get it outta your head. Stay hard.
sb
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