A couple weeks of work left and so we're really busy cleaning things up. This will be the last really busy week of working and then lots of cleaning after that. I'll work a bit today while Christian is at a football camp at UNT. He's got a few camps over the next few days. That means I have to get out of here soon to get in my workout. The last week of school for the boys went smoothly and there just aren't many sports and activities yet. Dee's dance camps start for the Summer on Monday - so it's back to driving to Dallas in the mornings. Reading up on yesterday's Belmont Stakes and listening to some tuneage . . .
SUNDAY MORNING TUNEAGE
ROXY MUSIC - LOVE IS THE DRUG. I know that this song is from 1975, and yet I always question myself. I keep thinking this is an early 80s song. It's got a sound that just was years ahead of its time for 1975. Roxy Music has so many good songs - I'm fearful of calling it my favorite. But it's the most influential of their works. That bass line alone would launch a slew of Brit Pop groups in the next decade. Leaves me with a buzz like a musical shot.
KLIQUE - STOP DOGGIN' ME AROUND. This cover of the Jackie Wilson song came out in 1983. It's a weird tune that has a nice soul beat that resembles other songs of the day but then the lead voice of this trio is so deep it almost doesn't make sense. I'm only familiar with this song - can't tell you much else about the group - and I can't even recall how it ended up on my iTunes. Odd song for an odd morning.
SOMETHING RANDOM . . . I knew that Red Wedding would be popular but it's the most sociable episode ever on HBO . . . and this fight between news anchor and weather lady could happen in any office but they do it on TV.
QUICK LIST (a random, uninformed list off the top of Shawn's head)
BEST MUSICALS OF 1950s and 1960s
10. A STAR IS BORN (1954) George Cukor directs the Judy Garland version. Cukor was a perfect person to do this film because of his attention to sets and directing technique.
9. COURT JESTER (1956) If this was just for comedy - it would be ranked higher. The musical portion is okay. The comedic part is brilliant. There are a couple routines here that are as funny as any in film - "the pellet with the poison . . ."
8. CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG (1968) Based on an Ian Fleming story, produced by Bond man - Albert R. Broccoli and written by Roald Dahl. It's one of the best kids movies of all-time. Just entertainment - pure and simple. More musicals need to get that it's about fun.
7. WEST SIDE STORY (1961) Romeo and Juliet as a musical - great idea. Make them street gangs in New York - brilliant idea. It's one of my go-to musicals and I never get enough time to share it with people who haven't seen it.
6. MUSIC MAN (1962) Robert Preston is good and Shirley Jones is amazing. Amazing. Of all the movies on here - it's got one of the best routines in "Ya Got Trouble".
5. MY FAIR LADY (1964) Once again, George Cukor helms a beautiful musical. At different times, I might rank this as the #1 on this list. It's hard because I have to separate my utter crush on Audrey Hepburn from the quality of the music and movie. I think the only detracting item for me is Rex Harrison that just doesn't get me excited as Henry Higgins.
4. SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952) Sometimes you watch a musical because of the dancing more than the singing. Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds are amazing. I love the dancing in the film. But don't discount an excellent plot too.
3. FUNNY GIRL (1968) When I started this list - I thought this had the potential to be my #1. It's easily my favorite Barbara Streisand film. She's so lovable here. Her voice is the strongest here and it includes such wonderful tunes as "People" and "Don't Rain On My Parade".
2. AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (1951) Fun songs. But you watch this film because Gene Kelly raises the bar for musicals and dance numbers. I love "I Got Rhythm". It's a film I recommend to lots of people and few have ever come back and told me they were disappointed.
1. MARY POPPINS (1964) Julie Andrews and Dick VanDyke make moviegoing fun for all ages. As I talked about before - the reason to love musicals are because they are a great time. It's a combination of great production numbers, super songs and and an entertaining story. This movie is as good as it gets for me. My favorite songs? "A Spoonful of Sugar" and the best by far "Stay Awake".
This list covers the strength of my musical knowledge. I'm rarely disappointed when I watch a musical from this era. But I had to narrow it down just a little, so the first thing I left off was the Disney animated films that would have taken up spots like CINDERELLA, LADY & THE TRAMP and ALICE IN WONDERLAND. I've also left off films that served as merely music videos for a musical act like the wonderful films HELP! and A HARD DAY'S NIGHT. The worst? I feel like I'm better equipped to talk about the most disappointing film adaptations - SOUTH PACIFIC (1958), LIL ABNER (1959) and BRIGADOON (1953) were all lacking what they could have been on the big screen. The most obvious omissions (and I'm fine with not putting them on the list) - SOUND OF MUSIC (1965), HELLO, DOLLY! (1969) and GUYS AND DOLLS (1955).
NETFLIX PLAY NOW OF THE WEEK . . . a few more gems with the start of a new month including the underrated MYSTERY MEN . . . there are some classic Disney animations - multiple versions of THE THREE LITTLE PIGS and the awesome MICKEY & THE BEANSTALK . . . and for something a bit more serious there's the documentary HOW TO DIE IN OREGON that follows the story of two people trying to figure out if they want to die legally in Oregon. . .
Shawn's fave movies according to FLICKCHART
#249 - Battle Royale
#1251 - Ghost
#1324 - Into the Wild
RANDOM PROJECT UPDATE - The ELMORE LEONARD project. After finishing one of the Westerns and starting a couple more, I realized that I had a book of his sitting on my shelf that I had never read. Just started "The Big Bounce" this week - never having seen any of the film versions. A few chapters in and I'm not sure that it's my favorite of his. It seems more dated than even the early Westerns. Maybe I'm distracted by the character of Mr Majestyk because of the Charles Bronson movie from a later Leonard book. I do enjoy the Michigan set books and I'll follow through with this one this Summer.
SHAWN'S TOP ALBUMS OF ALL-TIME (a tribute to the art of the album)
#33 Parliament - Mothership Connection (1975)
It's 1975 and Funk is in the middle of a huge four year run and there's a slight shift. Maceo Parker and Fred Wesley left James Brown and The JB's to join up with George Clinton and P-Funk. This is Parliament's 4th album but it might be their best. There are seven funky tracks and not one of them is a stinker. This album takes the horn based funk and breakdowns of James Brown and infuses the drug induced fun of previous Clinton fixtures. This album is known to people who have never heard it because of the huge amounts of sampling from these tunes in early Hip Hop tunes including about all of the Dr Dre hits. Hitting up a jukebox? Play "P-Funk", "Mothership Connection" and "Give Up The Funk" and you just turned the bar into a party. It's the Parliament album I keep handy for any situation. You have my word - this is about as good as it gets.
P-Funk (Wants to get Funked Up)
Mothership Connection
Give Up The Funk
It's 1975 and Funk is in the middle of a huge four year run and there's a slight shift. Maceo Parker and Fred Wesley left James Brown and The JB's to join up with George Clinton and P-Funk. This is Parliament's 4th album but it might be their best. There are seven funky tracks and not one of them is a stinker. This album takes the horn based funk and breakdowns of James Brown and infuses the drug induced fun of previous Clinton fixtures. This album is known to people who have never heard it because of the huge amounts of sampling from these tunes in early Hip Hop tunes including about all of the Dr Dre hits. Hitting up a jukebox? Play "P-Funk", "Mothership Connection" and "Give Up The Funk" and you just turned the bar into a party. It's the Parliament album I keep handy for any situation. You have my word - this is about as good as it gets.
P-Funk (Wants to get Funked Up)
Mothership Connection
Give Up The Funk
Previous Rankings
#34 - Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique (1989
#35 - U2 - The Joshua Tree (1987)
#36 - Elton John - Captain Fantastic and Brown Dirt Cowboy (1975)
#37 - Nirvana - Nevermind (1991)
#38 - Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On (1973)
THIS WEEK IN TELEVISION
MONDAY
THE DOCTOR (NBA) Ninety minutes on the great Dr. J - including lots of unknown stories from his days in the ABA.
THE DAILY SHOW w/JOHN STEWART (COMEDY) The show's name will be incorrect for the Summer while John directs a film. But I feel like turning it over to John Oliver will give the show a kick in the pants that it needs. During this week we get guests such as Mavis Staples and Seth Rogen.
TUESDAY
PRETTY LITTLE LIARS (ABC FAM) My little DeeDee caught up on the first two seasons of this show in the Spring. She's waiting to catch the 3rd season while the start of this 4th season will fill up my Tivo. I should probably be checking to see if this is appropriate for 15 year olds.
SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE (FOX) Excited for this season more than many previous ones. We're on to Vegas and now I can start sorting out my favorites for the rest of the Summer.
BABY FACE (TCM) This 1933 film stars the outrageously beautiful Barbara Stanwyck.
WEDNESDAY
MYTHBUSTERS (DISC) Can you survive getting T-boned by a truck if you're in between two big fat dudes? It almost sounds like they are getting show ideas from those kids on the ATT commercials.BEVERLY HILLS PAWN (REELZ) Not in the habit of watching this channel. And I don't watch many of the pawn shows. But this might be worth a quick pass through to see the type of stuff that ends up in an LA pawn shop.
CASTLE (TNT) This channel runs a marathon of the show every Wednesday night and I will sometimes stop down to remember some of my favorites - just for old times sake. But tonight has a few of the better ones including the callback to a 1947 homicide.
THURSDAY
72 HOURS (TNT) A curious show - I think I understand that teams get 72 hours to use a GPS device to get through terrible wilderness to find $100,000 in cash. Probably not the best show of the Summer but I'm interested to see how it works.
PAWN STARS (HIST) Like I said, I don't watch these much but tonight there is a pair of punching bags owned by Rocky Marciano.
BREWSTER'S MILLIONS (TCM) This is the rarely seen 1945 original that is very close to the Richard Pryor remake. Spending a million in 1945 was much harder.
FRIDAY
TREEHOUSE MASTERS (ANIMAL) They are in Austin to build a treehouse with a spa!!!
VICE (HBO) The documentary series ends and I feel like I need to go to HBO GO and watch them all now. This episode is dedicated to Dennis Rodman's trip to North Korea.
SATURDAY
ZERO HOUR (ABC) Not the DC Comics story. But did you realize that there was a series on ABC with Anthony Edwards? Well, it is cancelled but here are the remaining episodes.
AFI LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD (TNT) It's Mel Brooks - I should have to tell you anything more.
NHL STANLEY CUP (NBC) Game One starts tonight. No Red Wings. So, I'm probably going Bruins (original Six, y'all).
SUNDAY
VEEP (HBO) I love the rivalry between Governor Chung and VP Selina. It heats up tonight.
FAMILY TREE (HBO) Not many people will appreciate the wry humor of this show. But I love it. Now that Tom has arrived in America, it's getting better.
SMOKEY & THE BANDIT / TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (TCM) Is this not the best double feature of all-time airing on this channel in prime time tonight?
AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR . . . Another week I didn't get around to this.
"Stupidly I forced a smile
My composure was secure
I wore a silly grin from ear to ear
A smile they saw right through." - Parliament
You could feel so much better. Stay hard.
My composure was secure
I wore a silly grin from ear to ear
A smile they saw right through." - Parliament
You could feel so much better. Stay hard.
sb
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