Considering how depressingly short Hollywood is on original ideas these days (Oh, COME ON, Adam Sandler in Candy Land?), it’s almost refreshing that someone is mining classic literature.

The Great Gatsby is set for a Christmas release, and though the music in the trailer makes no sense at all, it actually looks kinda okay. Based on the classic F. Scott Fitzgerald novel that bored you to death in high school — but only because your attention span was too short at the time — the film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as the title character. Personally, I’m shocked, but pleased, that they didn’t shorten the name of the movie to just “Gatsby.” That would have been the ultimate Hollywood in 2012 move.

Baz Luhrmann directs, he of the 1996 atrocity Romeo + Juliet.  So he has experience adapting old works to the new form with Leo as the lead. Let’s hope the dialogue is fully updated in this one, ’cause Romeo + Juliet just didn’t make any sense at all.

Watch the trailer for The Great Gatsby below the jump.

So, you’re a teenager and you’ve just discovered “classic rock”? It can all be very tricky to wade through, so let this piece be your handy guide on what to expect.

Stage 1

• AC/DC rules!
• Zeppelin rules!
• Collect fake vintage band t-shirts
• Grow your hair to show how different you are from everyone else in your high school
• Devour Rolling Stones singles, convince yourself that “Wild Horses” is the world’s greatest song
• Start to believe that “The Joker” is criminally underrated

Stage 2

• AC/DC sucks!
• Discover the Beatles, wear out the  red  and blue albums.
• Sour on the Stones
• Believe “The Joker” is criminally overrated, delve in to Steve Miller’s deep cuts
• Discover “Like a Rolling Stone”, listen to it 6,000 times
• Realize that Elvis has more than 2 songs, but decide that only like, 5 are really good
• Watch Pink Floyd’s “Live at Pompei” way too many times in friend’s basement while on questionable substances

Stage 3

• AC/DC still sucks!
• Listen to the “Exile on Main St.”, decide that, hey, the Stones are pretty good after all.
• Realize that Zeppelin is soooo overplayed…and it’s all about The Who, anyway
  (Then, listen to Tommy front to back, and excitedly delve into Quadrophenia…then go back to Tommy.)
• Become too sophisticated for band shirts, donate them
• “I am soooo sick of “Like a Rolling Stone!””
• Get seriously in to Revolver; Declare that Paul McCartney is the best Beatle
• Discover Fleetwood Mac
• Prove your thoughtfulness, go through a Simon and Garfunkel phase
• Hate yourself for delving into Steve Miller’s deep cuts
• Hear “Almost Cut My Hair,” feel it is a truly tragic tale
• Find out about The Cars, desperately seek out other good new wave bands
• “Why did I JUST start listening to Queen???”

Stage 4

• AC/DC: still sucks.
• Listen to the Stones later stuff, sour on them again
• See a Zeppelin cover band, fall in love with them again — for 3 days
• The Who are so overplayed…it’s all about The Band
• Listen to the Beatles early albums; discover Chuck Berry, realize the Beatles were not all THAT original in their early days…and HOLY CRAP did the Beach Boys ever rip off his riffs!
• Declare that John Lennon is the best Beatle; get seriously in to Abbey Road
• Get really into the Kinks, decide they might just be better than The Beatles
• Discover how incredibly messed up Fleetwood Mac were
• Prove your thoughtfulness, go through a Paul Simon – Graceland phase
• Decide that Jefferson Airplane never gets their fair due
• Cut your hair
• Give up on finding other good new wave bands

Stage 5

• Meh, AC/DC are okay… just kidding, they really suck.
• Settle on the Stones being some good, some bad (a mixed blessing at best, like Lisa Simpson and Gary Coleman’s consensus on Christmas.)
• The Band are still underplayed
• Decide that no, the Kinks are not better than the Beatles; George Harrison is the best Beatle
• Elvis is the king!
• Decide that yeah, Jefferson Airplane is rated just about right
• Ironically declare that Garfunkel is the best part of S & G
• Seriously debate who was better, The Byrds or the Yardbirds
• “Why did I JUST start listening to Motown???”
• Decide that Rumours is the only Fleetwood Mac album you ever have to hear
• Regret giving away your sweet band t’s  :(
• Never listen to your local classic rock radio station again after hearing April Wine’s “Roller” for the 1200th time.

Background image from here.

Canadian pop-rock songster Joel Plaskett is back with his band, The Emergency, for a new record.

 Every once in a while, a new album gets me really excited about music again. And any time Joel Plaskett releases something, that’s the case.

Plaskett, a Halifax native and one of Canada’s finest songwriters, is back with Scrappy Happiness, a follow-up to his overly-ambitious but excellent three-disc set Three (2009). His band, The Emergency, is back in the fold on this LP — their first album as a band since Plaskett’s seminal work, 2007′s Ashtray Rock. 

The reunited Joel Plaskett Emergency took quite a unique approach to the recording and release of Scrappy Happiness. From Ben Rayner at toronto.com:

Plaskett has learned a thing or two of late about letting go and not lingering too long on imperfections. Earlier this year, he set himself and the Emergency the task of recording, mixing and mastering a tune a week for 10 weeks straight, delivering a finished version of each song to the CBC for airplay at the end of each seven-day stretch. 

I’ve yet to hear the new album in full, but you can stream every song here. (CBC)

Check this out, from halftime of the Memphis Grizzlies vs. Los Angeles Clippers NBA Playoff Game last night. Jerry “The King” Lawler, the king of Memphis wrestling for three decades, shows his hometown spirit with the move that put him on the map back in the 80s.

It seemed to work — the Grizzlies won the game 105-98 to even their first round series with the Clippers at one game a piece.

]]> http://culturethoughts.com/2012/05/03/jerry-the-king-lawler-piledrives-a-clippers-fan-charles-barkley-threatens-brock-lesnar/feed/ 0 jspratt http://culturethoughts.com/2012/04/29/video-the-james-gang-in-1971-featuring-a-young-joe-walsh-walk-away/ http://culturethoughts.com/2012/04/29/video-the-james-gang-in-1971-featuring-a-young-joe-walsh-walk-away/#comments Mon, 30 Apr 2012 04:59:03 +0000 jspratt http://culturethoughts.com/?p=237 Continue reading →]]>

Found on Youtube: This performance, apparently from 1971, of James Gang. Just a few things to note here…

- In 1971, Joe Walsh really looked like Kurt Cobain at times, from certain angles. And they sort of sound like each other too. Usually the YouTube comments section is the lowest ring of humanity, but the esteemed “kepstein8888″ (“kepstein 8887″ was taken) has a solid line on there: “How many times do you think Kurt Cobain saw this video on Closet Classics back in the 80s?”

- That’s Jim Fox on drums, killing it. While he seems to be a pretty great drummer, you know what he’s best at? Collecting license plates! (How’d you guess?) Fox is a member of the Automobile Licence Plate Collectors Association Hall of Fame. They don’t just let anyone into that: according to ALPCA, in 1994, “he wrote License Plates of the United States. Now in its third edition, this book, which features color photographs of complete runs for all 50 states, also includes informative text on each state, color codes and a brief history of ALPCA by Keith Marvin. It is truly the bible for anyone seriously interested in collecting North American license plates.” Any man who’s been a rock star and wrote a “bible” has lived a pretty cool life.

- The extended intro and guitar breaks on this version are quite different than the studio version, but possibly more awesome. That’s pretty much the definition of a power trio right there.

Check out Joe Walsh on The Adam Carolla Show. 

photo: Torontofc.ca

The early days of Toronto FC were easy for local soccer fans to get excited about.

A new team, respectably-named, playing in a sparkling new urban soccer stadium and an instant supporter culture of diehard fans. There was an unbridled optimism around the team in those early days.

Five losing seasons later, Toronto FC’s existence can be summed up as wasted opportunity.

The club’s surprising success drawing fans in its first year, which now seems so very long ago, took all but the most ardent Canadian soccer supporters by surprise. The city of Toronto unexpectedly rallied behind their new team, making BMO Field the place to be on a summer afternoon.

But under the disastrous command of Mo Johnston, most of that unbridled enthusiasm went to waste. TFC has never flirted with elite status, failing to make the playoffs in five years. Naturally, the enthusiasm for the club in the city has been tempered by their poor play on the field. For casual fans, the team’s struggles have been cause for apathy.

That’s what makes this Wednesday’s Champions League match against the Los Angeles Galaxy so important. On Wednesday, the club has a chance to deliver a message to the fans of this city: we’ve changed, seriously.

The buzz for this match is impressive, with over 40,000 fans set to pile in to Rogers Centre, the most ever to witness a TFC home game. It’s a credit to the organization that they see the match as a brand-building opportunity rather than a one-off payday, and priced it as such.

Now, with an atmosphere that’s sure to be electric, it’s up to the organization to prove their optimistic supporters true on the pitch: things are headed in the right direction and that this is the best roster ever assembled by Toronto FC.

It won’t be easy. The Galaxy, reigning MLS Cup Champions, are bolstered by star forward Landon Donovan, who is coming off of another successful loan to Everton, experienced striker Robbie Keane, and the return of David Beckham, coming off of his best MLS season to date.

The game itself is important. If the club wants to show they’re serious, they need a good result — particularly with the second leg taking place in L.A.

But in some ways, Wednesday’s match is about more than the game itself; it represents a crossroads of how far TFC has come and where it is going. With the attention the team’s been able to garner for this match, anything less than a positive result could set its damaged public perception further back.

Even with crowds dwindling in recent years, Toronto’s clearly proven that it will embrace this team.

On Wednesday, Toronto FC needs to give them a reason to get excited again.

You remember OK Go: rose to prominence (kind of) with “Get Over It” — still the best thing I’ve heard from them — and then hit it big with a series of inventive Internet videos for not-particularly-good songs that nonetheless did their job and garnered huge amounts of views online.

Their latest, a shameless team-up with Chevy, is actually very cool. The video features the band playing 1,000 instruments using their car. And although Chevrolet’s accompanying Super Bowl commercial features a skydiving car, it doesn’t really do much for me as it feels like it should.

From the Youtube description of the OK Go Needing/Getting video:

A Chevy Sonic was outfitted with retractable pneumatic arms designed to play the instruments, and the band recorded this version of Needing/Getting, singing as they played the instrument array with the car. The video took 4 months of preparation and 4 days of shooting and recording. There are no ringers or stand-ins; Damian took stunt driving lessons. Each piano had the lowest octaves tuned to the same note so that they’d play the right note no matter where they were struck.

Released: 1968
CBS Records (U.S.), Date Records (U.K.)

There was more to the British Invasion than The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. One of the best and most overlooked bands of that era is The Zombies. And Odessey and Oracle is their masterpiece.

Fronted by Rod Argent, the band was formed in St. Albans during the early 60s. Melding Beatles-esque melodies with the baroque inclinations of the latter day Beach Boys, Odessey and Oracle is the first Zombies album without any covers. Songwriters Chris White (bass) and Argent prove able to provide quality songwriting throughout,  with only a few let downs.

Odessey and Oracle kicks off with Care of Cell 44, featuring fantastic harmony and soaring vocals.  The Zombies feature some of the more pleasant harmonies you’ll hear on record, and cuts like Maybe After He’s Gone wouldn’t sound out of place on Rubber Soul.

Of course, everyone knows Time of the Season, the album’s hit single. It’s easily the most accessible and catchy track. But in a nod to the album-centric consumption of music in the time, the track is the last on the LP.

The real highlight here is This Will Be Our Year – to my ears, one of the finest, most concise and criminally-underlooked pop songs of its era. Judge for yourself:

This is not a perfect album . There are a few missteps, namely the clunkers A Rose for Emily and A Butcher’s Tale, both of which are, rather simply, boring. Everything else is solid enough to make up for it though.

Some may think of the Zombies as a flash in the pan, but it’s really an unfair indictment considering the talent they had in the band. They were never quite as endearing as the Beatles, as English as the Kinks, as ambitious as The Who or as gritty as The Stones (not even close on that last one, actually). But over forty years after its release, Odessey and Oracle stands as one of the best rock albums of the 1960s.

Welcome to Strange Days, a collection of stories found around the interweb that will make you smack your head, sigh with wonder, or just say to yourself, “Well, that’s stupid.” Today: making good use of beer, an 80-year-old woman facing prison, and a really, really old dog. 

• Eastern Alaska — A man named Clifton Vial crashes his truck into a snowdrift 40 miles north of Nome. Alone and unable to dig himself out, he searches his car and finds only three frozen cans of Coors Light. He survives for three days on the Coors Light before being rescued. Wonder if the cans were still cold-certified by the time he was found? Inquiring minds want to know. [ Time ]    
• USA — Sticking with the alcohol theme, the FDA recently approved a new hangover pill. It’s a tablet that you dissolve in water and contains aspirin, caffeine and something that soothes your stomach. Frat boys, rejoice; now you can get bombed, and while you’ll still miss your 8 a.m. class the next morning, at least you’ll have a comfortable sleep. If this thing works, of course. The pill’s called Blowfish. Best Blowfish since Hootie? Best blowfish since Hootie. [ Business Insider ]
• Berre l’Etang, France — Parents take a school hostage because they’re upset over the quality of education their 9 and 10-year-old kids are receiving from a first-year teacher. Now that’s being involved in your kid’s life; as they (don’t) say, an oeil for oeil. It’s also further proof that the French will protest anything. (Having a French girlfriend gives me carte blanche to make fun of them as I see fit. See what I did there?)   [ The Local ]
• Lynn, Massachusetts — Claire Butcher, an 80-year-old woman has fed the ducks at a local pond for 45 years. That was fine and dandy until city officials, and neighbours, started to raise a stink about the shopping cart full of food that Butcher carried around with her. It seems that Butcher’s feeding has led to unmanageable amounts of animal feces and rats. The city’s launched a criminal complaint against her and Butcher faces 30 days in jail. I don’t know, to me it sounds like a tailor-made story for Bart’s People. (“Some say the ducks went to Canada. Others say Toronto.”) [ CBS Boston ]
• Tokyo – The world’s oldest dog has died. Pusuke, a Shiba mix, was born in 1985 (!!) and made it to 26 years and eight months before taking ill. Still, Pusuke fell short of the all-time Guiness record holder, an Australian cattle dog that made it to 29-years-old before dying in 1939. And I thought my 17-year-old cockapoo, Teddy, was getting on. Only 12 more years to go, buddy! God, I can’t imagine.  [ USA Today ]

Texas Governor and GOP presidential nominee Rick Perry, whose support has dipped to about 5 per cent amongst his party, is making sure he stays top-of-mind. And while his new ad is getting attention, it appears that Youtube users, at least, aren’t buying what he’s selling.

For the video-impaired, here’s what Perry says:

I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a Christian, but you don’t need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school.

As President, I’ll end Obama’s war on religion. And I’ll fight against liberal attacks on our religious heritage.
Faith made America strong. It can make her strong again.
I’m Rick Perry and I approve this message.

The problem for Perry? Putting aside the video’s contents, whoever uploaded the video to Youtube ( I’m taking a wild guess and saying it was not Perry himself) didn’t disable the “like” and “dislike” feature. Does the Internet approve of Perry’s message? It appears not.

Perry’s video is  gathering “dislikes” at an incredible pace; such is the instantaneous power of the Internet. A sampling on this fine evening (Dec. 7):

• 7:29 p.m.  EST: 903 likes, 37,793 dislikes
• 7 :39 p.m. EST:  960 likes. 40,806 dislikes
• 7:49 p.m. EST: 999 likes, 42,634 dislikes
• Update: 10:53 p.m. EST: 1,928 likes, 80,365 dislikes.