Spinal Tap Cameo Of The Day

"C'mon, don't talk back...mime is money!"

Trying to pick a favorite Spinal Tap cameo is like trying to pick a favorite Beatles song. They're all great.

This isn't my favorite cameo, but it's by far the least well known (you bar movie trivia types, gather round)...

Okay, everyone knows the sassy mime with the kinky fro is Billy Crystal. But do you know who the blonde guy is? That's Dana Carvey.

"I DID the dead bird..."

Spinal Tap Quote Of The Day

"This tasteless cover is a good indication of the lack of musical invention within. The musical growth rate of this band cannot even be charted. They are treading water in a sea of retarded sexuality and bad poetry."

That's nitpicking, innit?

Oh, and BTW, that quote is straight from the old noodle. No IMDB quotes for The Colonel (at least when it comes to Spinal Tap).

Not only that, but The Colonel saw Spinal Tap in the THEATER when it came out. That's right. The Colonel's old man was cool as shit and took the Little Colonel to see a double feature of This Is Spinal Tap and Rock And Roll High School at the Varsity Theater on University Ave. in Palo Alto way back in the day.

Same place we saw Stop Making Sense and, yes, a midnight showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show back when they did midnight showings of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Kind of a strange thing to take a kid to, but The Colonel is stoked he went. A little bit of cultural history that, alas, is no more.

But hey, enough of my yakkin'. Whaddya say? Let's boogie!

Quote Of The Day

"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation."

That line didn't mean anything to me when I read Walden in college. I guess I got it, but I didn't get it.

Maybe I'm feeling a little dark today. Actually I'm feeling a lot dark today. I think these are dark times we're living in. The other day I felt a twinge of optimism but it's gone already.

Most of the people I know have had a rough decade. I think it has just been a rough decade. Then again I'm not sure. This has been my first decade as a bonafide adult. Maybe this is just adult life. Death, divorce, fear, illness, war, pessimism...maybe this is all just par for the course.

Not quite sure how I got from 24 Hour Party People yesterday to Thoreau today (although, in a nice tie-in, Tony Wilson would have approved in a big way).

I do think it's interesting how we were all looking at the year 2000 with so much trepidation. What would happen? Would planes drop from the sky? Maybe the apocalypse? Something else?

And then Jan 1st, 2000 rolled around and everything was fine. It stayed fine for about four months. It was better than fine...it was like the roaring 90's never ended. Then the stock market crashed. And it kept crashing for a year and a half until 9/11. Then it crashed even more. Although no one really noticed after that.

Now we're in the 6th year of this decade, and while planes never fell out of the sky...well, I guess they kind of did...I have no doubt that the new millennium turned out worse than anyone could have possibly imagined.

It's weird though. I mean, we've had a housing boom...a lot of people did well in that. Most of my friends got married and had kids. The sun still rises every day. The Giants went to the World Series (and then, 6 outs from winning it all, collapsed).

There's just something under the surface. Something ain't right. And, honest to God, I don't know if it's the times or just a new found understanding of reality. The reality that the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.

Thanks, Henry. (Depressing asshole.)

Movie Of The Day

This Is Spinal Tap is THE great rock movie because it's not only hilarious but it feels legit. It feels so real that a lot of people actually thought Spinal Tap was a real band when it came out.

24 Hour Party People doesn't quite compare to Spinal Tap in that it's a docu-drama (movie geek speak for a fictional drama based on real events - think All The Presidents Men).

But whatever 24 Hour Party People lacks in original content it more than makes up for in filmmaking, acting, and some of the best music ever laid down on celluloid.

Which makes it the SECOND BEST rock film ever made (and hands down the best film of the year in 2002).

Seen through the eyes of Tony Wilson, regional television "journalist" for Grenada Television out of Manchester, 24 Hour Party People is actually about the lives and music of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis, legendary producer Martin Hannett, and Happy Mondays frontman and fucking lunatic, Shaun Ryder.

It starts out in 1976 with the Sex Pistols' fist gig in Manchester (so perfectly re-created by blending actual footage of the gig with actors and sets, you'll stare in disbelief), and from there surges through the most exciting moments in British music right up to and through the Madchester scene of the late 80's and early 90's.

To try and describe the film beyond that is almost impossible. Sometimes we're watching Tony Wilson (played BRILLIANTLY by Steve Coogan) and his merry band of new wave cronies like a fly on the wall. Other times Tony is addressing us, the audience, like he's hosting his own autobiographical documentary. At other times still, he's addressing us as Steve Coogan and making self-referential comments to Tony Wilson in the 3rd person.

Confused? Don't worry. The movie flows and bumps and grinds like the best dance club you've ever been to. One reviewer called it a "joyous romp." And it is, set almost continuously to fantastic music - from Joy Division to the Happy Mondays.

Don't know those bands? Doesn't matter. The film is AMAZING. It has so much energy and is so fun to watch, and is SO GODDAMN FUNNY, that you can't even watch it once. Like Spinal Tap, it requires repeated viewings.

And I haven't even mentioned how many classic quotes there are.

I've got one word for you - "Icarus". If you know what I mean, great. If you don't, that's fine too. It doesn't matter.

But you should probably read more.

Viral Film Of The Day

Who wants another glass of pink champagne, man?

I had never heard the term "Yacht Rock" before I saw these short films, but the second I did, I got it. Of course, YACHT ROCK. Duh. It was right there in front of our ears...already named but yet un-named, ya dig?

Never mind.

If you ever sang along to Christopher Cross' "Sailing" or bobbed your head to the Doobie's "What a Fool Believes", you need to see the funniest short films I've seen online, or anywhere, in a long time.

Low budge, terrible costumes, bad acting, and so fucking clever you just might quit your job and set sail for, like, smoother waters and, like, a change in latitudes.

And if you don't like Yacht Rock? Well, that's what a fool believes, man. That's what a fool believes.