Last post until probably Sunday night! Jessi, KO, Krypto and I are off on a short overnight camping trip, leaving early Saturday morning, and coming back sometime Sunday!
Since we're not camping in Canada, I'm not worried about meeting up with any Wendigos... but this is the Pacific Northwest... so Bigfoot is a slim possibility (assuming he's more real than the Wendigo, anyway).
Jon
Jon's Random Acts of Geekery is your five days a week destination for old-school geekery!
Friday, August 11, 2006
More on "Who Wants to be a Superhero?"
OK, here's what I think they need to do with the second season of "Who Wants to be a Superhero?" -- assuming there will be one (and I hope there is one).
Introduce the "Characters" Better
The first episode, let's see each one of the contestants give us sort of a "who's who" of who their character is. What's their secret origin? What powers do they have? Why do they use their abilities for good? What's their catch-phrase?
I think this would add an interesting element to the show -- and would show us how much these people thought about their characters.
Find a Way to Simulate Their Powers
Yes, I know the show isn't about the super-powers... but it would be nice if the powers could somehow come into play. For example, when Lumeria had her costume make-over, and she said the new costume made her feel like she could really throw fireballs, she struck a fireball-throwing pose -- and I had to wonder, "Why didn't they throw in a special efffect there?"
The episodes could begin not only with each character being introduced, but also throw in a few seconds of SFX demonstrating their powers. I'd be happy with that.
Be Sneakier With The Challenges
After this first season, the next group of competitors will be more savvy than the first... so Stan and his behind-the-scenes people will have to be even sneakier than they currently are. They may even have to throw out challenges without even saying anything about a challenge happening! Perhaps there could be a traitor in the group from the get-go, but they're not revealed right away... they could just be there to try to provoke the contestants, and get them to do stuff they shouldn't do. Anyone who falls for it is up for elimination.
For something a bit different, let's say when the characters are first brought to the lair, there should be some object that's pretty prominent. After a mission outside of the building, have that object removed, and leave a clue as to where it could be found. Have the characters work in teams to try to follow the clues. This could show how well they can work with other superheroes.
Offer Some Kind of Reward For A Job Well Done
They shouldn't say anything in advance, but I think that after each challenge, Stan should decide which hero did the absolutely best job of dealing with the challenge, who most epitomized what it was about. That person should get something for doing this -- a trophy, perhaps (hey, Batman and Superman had all sorts of trophies in their headquarters, y'know). Maybe one of those Stan maquettes or bobble-heads that we saw on Stan's desk this last episode, but gold-plated. Or even, dare I say it, a no-prize?
Encourage the Players To Stay In Character More
Some of the current crop fall out of character at the drop of a hat.
Fewer Eliminations
I know this is the first time for this show, and they want to keep it moving, but after three episodes, more than half the players who started have been eliminated! That means that there will be no more than three eps left at this rate, and maybe even two!
Now, if they still want to do two eliminations each episode, maybe they need more players to start with... or perhaps, they could start off with two different "teams," and each team would lose a member each episode.
Anyway... those are my current thoughts!
Jon
Introduce the "Characters" Better
The first episode, let's see each one of the contestants give us sort of a "who's who" of who their character is. What's their secret origin? What powers do they have? Why do they use their abilities for good? What's their catch-phrase?
I think this would add an interesting element to the show -- and would show us how much these people thought about their characters.
Find a Way to Simulate Their Powers
Yes, I know the show isn't about the super-powers... but it would be nice if the powers could somehow come into play. For example, when Lumeria had her costume make-over, and she said the new costume made her feel like she could really throw fireballs, she struck a fireball-throwing pose -- and I had to wonder, "Why didn't they throw in a special efffect there?"
The episodes could begin not only with each character being introduced, but also throw in a few seconds of SFX demonstrating their powers. I'd be happy with that.
Be Sneakier With The Challenges
After this first season, the next group of competitors will be more savvy than the first... so Stan and his behind-the-scenes people will have to be even sneakier than they currently are. They may even have to throw out challenges without even saying anything about a challenge happening! Perhaps there could be a traitor in the group from the get-go, but they're not revealed right away... they could just be there to try to provoke the contestants, and get them to do stuff they shouldn't do. Anyone who falls for it is up for elimination.
For something a bit different, let's say when the characters are first brought to the lair, there should be some object that's pretty prominent. After a mission outside of the building, have that object removed, and leave a clue as to where it could be found. Have the characters work in teams to try to follow the clues. This could show how well they can work with other superheroes.
Offer Some Kind of Reward For A Job Well Done
They shouldn't say anything in advance, but I think that after each challenge, Stan should decide which hero did the absolutely best job of dealing with the challenge, who most epitomized what it was about. That person should get something for doing this -- a trophy, perhaps (hey, Batman and Superman had all sorts of trophies in their headquarters, y'know). Maybe one of those Stan maquettes or bobble-heads that we saw on Stan's desk this last episode, but gold-plated. Or even, dare I say it, a no-prize?
Encourage the Players To Stay In Character More
Some of the current crop fall out of character at the drop of a hat.
Fewer Eliminations
I know this is the first time for this show, and they want to keep it moving, but after three episodes, more than half the players who started have been eliminated! That means that there will be no more than three eps left at this rate, and maybe even two!
Now, if they still want to do two eliminations each episode, maybe they need more players to start with... or perhaps, they could start off with two different "teams," and each team would lose a member each episode.
Anyway... those are my current thoughts!
Jon
On Notice!
Everyone else seems to be doing these, I figured I'd do one myself (heck, I missed the whole "meme" thing, or whatever it was a month or two back). If you want to create one of these yourself, and you've missed seeing the link elsewhere, you can do so here.
Some of these may need explaining...
Apostrophe Misusers -- OK, I may not always be perfect when it comes to spelling or grammar... sometimes by mistake, I'll spell a word wrong (heck, anyone typing 120 wpm could do that, and not catch the error). But that's what spellcheck is for. And what I use it for, if it's available (at least, when I remember to do so).
But I will not tolerate the misuse of apostrophes. Why, oh, why do some people think that you need them to make a word plural? The funny thing is, I never see instances where one should have gone, but was missing -- it's always one that doesn't belong.
(and don't get me started on people who think "et cetera" is abbreviated "ect.")
Monkey Woman -- Should be pretty self-explanatory. If not, read my post on "Who Wants to Be A Superhero?"
Property Managers -- Well, that one should be pretty self-explanatory, too... unless you didn't read my "Do you rent?" post.
Neil Diamond -- OK, I should explain that. As a songwriter, I've got no problem with him. He wrote some of my favorite Monkees songs, after all. But I can't stand listening to him sing.
The Rapping Granny -- To think that she took a spot on the "America's Got Talent" finale next week that could've gone to the magician who didn't make it through the wild card show (at least the quick change artists made it).
People Who Don't Go On Green -- I don't know if they're yakking on their cell phones, talking to a passenger in their vehicle, checking themselves out in their rear view mirror, doing their make-up, calculating the value of pi to 148 decimal places... when the light turns green, you're supposed to GO!
Comcast Cable -- We're on our second DVR from them, and it's starting to have the same problems we had with the first one. I think next week we'll go for number three. If they can't figure out how to make these things so they work, we may have to consider going to something else (don't get me wrong, I like the channel lineup, and I like their internet -- it's the DVR that gets stuck on fast forward when we're trying to get it to just play, or deletes recorded shows for no reason, or says it's at 66% capacity and nothing we set to record for the past two days is showing up on the listings...)
Certain Real Estate Companies -- The realtors who advertise in the newspaper I work for are really starting to irk me, with change after change after change on their ad... sometimes we're going through five or six proofs before they're happy with their ad -- and we're doing EXACTLY what they asked us to do on their first proof, too! They don't seem to realize that they're actually supposed to know what they want to say on their ad before we start working on it.
And I'm not too thrilled with the companies who can't seem to get a photo of the house they're selling taken until the day before the ad needs to be running -- are these houses hiding, and they have to take a photo when the house isn't looking? And why are these photos almost always taken at an angle that reminds one of the super-villain hideouts in the old Batman TV series?
Anyway, that's my "On Notice" board for now!
Jon
Some of these may need explaining...
Apostrophe Misusers -- OK, I may not always be perfect when it comes to spelling or grammar... sometimes by mistake, I'll spell a word wrong (heck, anyone typing 120 wpm could do that, and not catch the error). But that's what spellcheck is for. And what I use it for, if it's available (at least, when I remember to do so).
But I will not tolerate the misuse of apostrophes. Why, oh, why do some people think that you need them to make a word plural? The funny thing is, I never see instances where one should have gone, but was missing -- it's always one that doesn't belong.
(and don't get me started on people who think "et cetera" is abbreviated "ect.")
Monkey Woman -- Should be pretty self-explanatory. If not, read my post on "Who Wants to Be A Superhero?"
Property Managers -- Well, that one should be pretty self-explanatory, too... unless you didn't read my "Do you rent?" post.
Neil Diamond -- OK, I should explain that. As a songwriter, I've got no problem with him. He wrote some of my favorite Monkees songs, after all. But I can't stand listening to him sing.
The Rapping Granny -- To think that she took a spot on the "America's Got Talent" finale next week that could've gone to the magician who didn't make it through the wild card show (at least the quick change artists made it).
People Who Don't Go On Green -- I don't know if they're yakking on their cell phones, talking to a passenger in their vehicle, checking themselves out in their rear view mirror, doing their make-up, calculating the value of pi to 148 decimal places... when the light turns green, you're supposed to GO!
Comcast Cable -- We're on our second DVR from them, and it's starting to have the same problems we had with the first one. I think next week we'll go for number three. If they can't figure out how to make these things so they work, we may have to consider going to something else (don't get me wrong, I like the channel lineup, and I like their internet -- it's the DVR that gets stuck on fast forward when we're trying to get it to just play, or deletes recorded shows for no reason, or says it's at 66% capacity and nothing we set to record for the past two days is showing up on the listings...)
Certain Real Estate Companies -- The realtors who advertise in the newspaper I work for are really starting to irk me, with change after change after change on their ad... sometimes we're going through five or six proofs before they're happy with their ad -- and we're doing EXACTLY what they asked us to do on their first proof, too! They don't seem to realize that they're actually supposed to know what they want to say on their ad before we start working on it.
And I'm not too thrilled with the companies who can't seem to get a photo of the house they're selling taken until the day before the ad needs to be running -- are these houses hiding, and they have to take a photo when the house isn't looking? And why are these photos almost always taken at an angle that reminds one of the super-villain hideouts in the old Batman TV series?
Anyway, that's my "On Notice" board for now!
Jon
Who Wants To Be a Superhero?
So... I'm presuming that most, if not all of you have been watching this "reality" series on the Sci-Fi Channel. We're three episodes into it so far (as of Thursday night), and I have to say...
...I'm enjoying the hell out of it.
Warning: There Will Be Spoilers Here!
In the event you haven't been watching it, here's the basic concept: The contestants have come up with a superhero character, and in the show, they're actually portraying that character, complete with costume. These characters are supposed to have super-powers, but so far, there hasn't been a lot of discussion about what the powers are supposed to be (one of the few faults I've found, but I'll address that later on in this entry). Stan Lee, who executive produces the show (and if you don't know who he is, well, you must be one of my friends who reads this blog to keep in touch with what I'm doing lately, but isn't into comic books at all), chose 12 contestants from all who originally applied to be on the show.
Well, at least it started out that way. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Stan never meets with these people in person (not in the three episodes that have aired so far, anyway), but instead contacts them through a television screen or through their personal communicators (kind of like how Falcon-7 contacted Birdman in those 60s cartoons). The winner of this whole contest will not only get their character immortalized in a Dark Horse Comics comic book, but it'll also be featured in a Sci-Fi Channel original Saturday movie -- whether or not they retain the rights to that character isn't specified, but I'd imagine that there's some kind of licensing thing that'll happen, so that the winner will get some money for it, but not retain ownership.
Anyway... as with most reality shows, there are challenges to be accomplished, and as with all reality shows, there are eliminations. This show's challenges can't, obviously, test the contestants on anything involving super-powers at all, since they don't really have powers, natch... so instead, they're tested on what's on the inside. From the first episode onward, Stan let them know that what he's looking for is what really makes a superhero... how they act, what qualities they demonstrate, and so on.
If you act like an old-school superhero, Stan likes you. If you act more like, say, Wolverine or the Punisher, Stan doesn't like you.
From the first episode, there were contestants who annoyed me, that I wanted to see go as soon as possible. The first to be eliminated was Levity, the only openly gay contestant, because it was revealed that person owns a toy store, and makes custom action figures (at $200-300 a pop or more!) and figured by getting on this show, he could make Levity action figures and make a load of cash. Since superheroes aren't supposed to be driven by profit, he was out.
But you know, I didn't see enough of Levity to decide if I liked him at all or not.
Now, the Iron Enforcer -- him I hated right away. He's also the one I suspect is a plant on the show. His deal is that he has a "bionic" left arm, wears no shirt, and walks around with a big-ass gun, which he uses to kill people. As Jessi and I watched the episodes, he was always one of the three contestants who was up for elmination, and yet, he kept staying in the game... until the second episode, during that episode's second elimination, when he was finally out.
And as he was leaving, Stan (via a TV) stopped him, and said the Iron Enforcer doesn't make a good superhero... but he makes an excellent supervillain. The Enforcer agreed, and in the third ep, he's back -- and this is why I think he was a plant. Unless we just didn't see a scene where someone talks to him before the elimination and asks if he'd be up for a different role.
Anyway, I do like him as the villain of the series.
Jessi's favorite contestant was Monkey Woman, who's from Seattle -- she got eliminated because she not only failed one of the challenges, but she also let slip that she was an actress, not the real estate investor she originally said she was. Oh, Monkey Woman, you should know better than to lie to Stan Lee!
What was that challenge she failed? Well, each of the contestants was given $20 and told to go to a local cafe and buy a lunch to bring back, and Stan would judge their choice. That's what they were told, anyway. What the real challenge was -- that's a different subject! When they got to the cafe, the waitress or waiter serving them asked them what their real name was (yes, they went in costume). Since superheroes aren't supposed to reveal their secret identity, anyone who did failed the challenge! Sadly, only two of them succeeded.
None of the challenges are exactly as they seem... pretty sneaky of Stan (or whoever came up with them). Take the first episode's challenge: Show up in civvies, and when Stan calls them on their communicator, find a place to change into their costume, and race to the arch. Along the way, they would pass by a girl crying for help because she lost her mommy. They weren't told about the girl! Stan didn't care how fast they changed clothes or got to the arch, he cared about if they found a place to change clothes without being seen, and if they helped the girl.
When we first started watching the show, I picked Major Liberty as my favorite of the contestants, but by the end of the third episode, my choice switched to Feedback instead. Why? Because Feedback's more committed to staying in character.
Oh, and I'm getting sick and tired of Major Victory's "I'm going to be a winner, not a weiner" schtick. Plus, he just does some inappropriate stuff sometimes.
Of the current contestants... there are two that I think will be the next to go. One is Creature, who's this woman who just strikes me as... well, icky is a good word for it. And then there's Lumeria, who cries way too freakin' much. I think once those two go, it'll probably be either Fat Momma or Major Victory, which would leave Feedback.
Yep, that's right... it's only three episodes in, and seven characters are out. Well, really, six -- one of the first 12 was a plant, "Rotiart" -- whom I figured had to be a plant at the beginning. How did I know? Spell his name backwards.
So, what are you waiting for? Check your local listings for the Sci-Fi Channel -- the show gets repeated many times during the week, with the new episode on Thursdays. It's fun stuff, and I hope they do it again.
Oh, crap... I was going to talk about how I'd make changes to the show for the next time around, but I don't have time right now... so that'll have to be my next post!
Jon
...I'm enjoying the hell out of it.
Warning: There Will Be Spoilers Here!
In the event you haven't been watching it, here's the basic concept: The contestants have come up with a superhero character, and in the show, they're actually portraying that character, complete with costume. These characters are supposed to have super-powers, but so far, there hasn't been a lot of discussion about what the powers are supposed to be (one of the few faults I've found, but I'll address that later on in this entry). Stan Lee, who executive produces the show (and if you don't know who he is, well, you must be one of my friends who reads this blog to keep in touch with what I'm doing lately, but isn't into comic books at all), chose 12 contestants from all who originally applied to be on the show.
Well, at least it started out that way. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Stan never meets with these people in person (not in the three episodes that have aired so far, anyway), but instead contacts them through a television screen or through their personal communicators (kind of like how Falcon-7 contacted Birdman in those 60s cartoons). The winner of this whole contest will not only get their character immortalized in a Dark Horse Comics comic book, but it'll also be featured in a Sci-Fi Channel original Saturday movie -- whether or not they retain the rights to that character isn't specified, but I'd imagine that there's some kind of licensing thing that'll happen, so that the winner will get some money for it, but not retain ownership.
Anyway... as with most reality shows, there are challenges to be accomplished, and as with all reality shows, there are eliminations. This show's challenges can't, obviously, test the contestants on anything involving super-powers at all, since they don't really have powers, natch... so instead, they're tested on what's on the inside. From the first episode onward, Stan let them know that what he's looking for is what really makes a superhero... how they act, what qualities they demonstrate, and so on.
If you act like an old-school superhero, Stan likes you. If you act more like, say, Wolverine or the Punisher, Stan doesn't like you.
From the first episode, there were contestants who annoyed me, that I wanted to see go as soon as possible. The first to be eliminated was Levity, the only openly gay contestant, because it was revealed that person owns a toy store, and makes custom action figures (at $200-300 a pop or more!) and figured by getting on this show, he could make Levity action figures and make a load of cash. Since superheroes aren't supposed to be driven by profit, he was out.
But you know, I didn't see enough of Levity to decide if I liked him at all or not.
Now, the Iron Enforcer -- him I hated right away. He's also the one I suspect is a plant on the show. His deal is that he has a "bionic" left arm, wears no shirt, and walks around with a big-ass gun, which he uses to kill people. As Jessi and I watched the episodes, he was always one of the three contestants who was up for elmination, and yet, he kept staying in the game... until the second episode, during that episode's second elimination, when he was finally out.
And as he was leaving, Stan (via a TV) stopped him, and said the Iron Enforcer doesn't make a good superhero... but he makes an excellent supervillain. The Enforcer agreed, and in the third ep, he's back -- and this is why I think he was a plant. Unless we just didn't see a scene where someone talks to him before the elimination and asks if he'd be up for a different role.
Anyway, I do like him as the villain of the series.
Jessi's favorite contestant was Monkey Woman, who's from Seattle -- she got eliminated because she not only failed one of the challenges, but she also let slip that she was an actress, not the real estate investor she originally said she was. Oh, Monkey Woman, you should know better than to lie to Stan Lee!
What was that challenge she failed? Well, each of the contestants was given $20 and told to go to a local cafe and buy a lunch to bring back, and Stan would judge their choice. That's what they were told, anyway. What the real challenge was -- that's a different subject! When they got to the cafe, the waitress or waiter serving them asked them what their real name was (yes, they went in costume). Since superheroes aren't supposed to reveal their secret identity, anyone who did failed the challenge! Sadly, only two of them succeeded.
None of the challenges are exactly as they seem... pretty sneaky of Stan (or whoever came up with them). Take the first episode's challenge: Show up in civvies, and when Stan calls them on their communicator, find a place to change into their costume, and race to the arch. Along the way, they would pass by a girl crying for help because she lost her mommy. They weren't told about the girl! Stan didn't care how fast they changed clothes or got to the arch, he cared about if they found a place to change clothes without being seen, and if they helped the girl.
When we first started watching the show, I picked Major Liberty as my favorite of the contestants, but by the end of the third episode, my choice switched to Feedback instead. Why? Because Feedback's more committed to staying in character.
Oh, and I'm getting sick and tired of Major Victory's "I'm going to be a winner, not a weiner" schtick. Plus, he just does some inappropriate stuff sometimes.
Of the current contestants... there are two that I think will be the next to go. One is Creature, who's this woman who just strikes me as... well, icky is a good word for it. And then there's Lumeria, who cries way too freakin' much. I think once those two go, it'll probably be either Fat Momma or Major Victory, which would leave Feedback.
Yep, that's right... it's only three episodes in, and seven characters are out. Well, really, six -- one of the first 12 was a plant, "Rotiart" -- whom I figured had to be a plant at the beginning. How did I know? Spell his name backwards.
So, what are you waiting for? Check your local listings for the Sci-Fi Channel -- the show gets repeated many times during the week, with the new episode on Thursdays. It's fun stuff, and I hope they do it again.
Oh, crap... I was going to talk about how I'd make changes to the show for the next time around, but I don't have time right now... so that'll have to be my next post!
Jon
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Talkin' Tunes: The Beatles Revolver
As I've noted before more than once, I'm a huge fan of the Beatles... and have been for as long as I can remember.
My first Beatles records were 45s which I played over and over again... I have no idea where I got 'em, but more likely than not from garage sales. None of my Beatles 45s had the sleeves, so they wouldn't have been worth all that much today (and I have no idea if any of 'em would've been released with picture sleeves, which are even more valuable)... but anyway, most of those 45s are songs from Help and a few latter ones... I seem to recall having a few with the Apple label, as well.
Anyway, my first actual album purchase was Revolver... which ironically enough, I bought at a church rummage sale. Actually, not too long after I bought that album, my family started going to that church... but I digress.
I played that album over and over again... little realizing at the time that, since this was Capitol's American release of Revolver, that they'd completely screwed up the album from what the Beatles themselves intended... so there were songs that didn't belong, and songs that were missing!
Later, as I started buying books about the Beatles, I read about what songs should've been on there (it wasn't until Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band that the Capitol and UK releases started matching up, more or less), but I wasn't able to really hear what it was supposed to sound like until the CD releases.
So, here's a rundown of the songs that were supposed to be on this album, and a few thoughts of mine about them:
Taxman
One of my favorite George Harrison-penned songs... it starts off with that down-low "one, two..." before that kickin' guitar riff starts up! The melody isn't the most musical that George would ever create, but like I said, it's one of my favorites... Paul and John chime in, of course, with background vocals, and there's a few three-part harmonies, like in the chorus. If you're not familiar with British officials, a few lines will escape your understanding... but like I said, I like this song.
Eleanor Rigby
OK, I know everyone thinks "Yesterday" was Paul's best Beatles song ever... but I like Eleanor Rigby even more... maybe because it's more of a "real" Beatles song (the other Beatles didn't even perform on "Yesterday"). As John and Paul liked to do on occasion, the song begins with the chorus, and then it tells a story -- something that both of them liked to do, as well. This song was also used in the animated movie "Yellow Submarine" -- in fact, it's the second song in the movie!
I'm Only Sleeping
One of my favorite John songs... full of wonderful imagery, and a song I can definitely relate to, especially the line, "Please don't wake me, no don't shake me, leave me where I am, I'm only sleeping..." I relate to it even more since the dogs started trying to wake me before the alarm goes off!
Love You To
One of the two "lesser" tracks here... George brings in lots of sitar on this one, and it's a good song... but not one I've ever particuarlly enjoyed singing along with (yes, that's one of my ways of determining if a song is a really good one or not... do I like to sing along with it when it's on the radio?).
Here, There and Everywhere
One of Paul's best love songs.
Yellow Submarine
One of the things that's great about the Beatles' albums, from Rubber Soul onward, is how they juxtapose different styles of music... following Here, There and Everywhere, we get this bouncy singalong for Ringo to perform, which Paul said he wrote becuase he wanted to write a children's song! And of course, it inspired the animated movie of the same name.
She Said, She Said
John said he was inspired to write this song when he was at a party and one of the attendees was on drugs (I think it was Peter Fonda, but I could be wrong) and kept saying, "I know what it's like to be dead" over and over again... and John took it and ran with it! It's a fun song, and one that yes, I like to sing along with!
Good Day Sunshine
One of my favorite songs on this album is this Paul tune, one of the few Paul lead vocal songs that is within my vocal range (I usually sing John's part)! When I was trying to teach myself piano a long time ago (something I should've kept up with, but didn't), this was one of the songs I tried to learn. Great harmonies on this one, too.
And Your Bird Can Sing
Absolutely my favorite song of Revolver is this one... I can't entirely say why, but it always makes me feel good when I hear it. There's a great alternate take of this song on Anthology in which the Beatles start laughing, but still valiantly try to make their way through the song... and there's a few variations that I wish they'd recorded a "straight" version of... but I digress again!
For No One
Another Paul story song... and a depressing one about a lost love.
Doctor Robert
John wrote this one about a dentist who provided drugs for parties (yeah, there's a lot of drug-related music on this album).
I Want To Tell You
Another George song, and one that feels like it should've been included two or three albums ago. It starts with another great guitar riff.
Got To Get You Into My Life
Reportedly, Paul was inspired to write this song by Motown records... I don't quite hear that myself... but this song really does capture the excitement of the initial spark in a relationship, and how it makes you feel.
Tomorrow Never Knows
Based on lines from the Tibetan Book of the Dead, it's an odd choice to end the album on... but it does leave you with food for thought!
So... if you've never heard this album before the way the Beatles intended, I heartily recommend it (heck, I'll recommend any Beatles album!). And if you order it through this handy link, I'll get a minor kickback from it, too!
Jon
My first Beatles records were 45s which I played over and over again... I have no idea where I got 'em, but more likely than not from garage sales. None of my Beatles 45s had the sleeves, so they wouldn't have been worth all that much today (and I have no idea if any of 'em would've been released with picture sleeves, which are even more valuable)... but anyway, most of those 45s are songs from Help and a few latter ones... I seem to recall having a few with the Apple label, as well.
Anyway, my first actual album purchase was Revolver... which ironically enough, I bought at a church rummage sale. Actually, not too long after I bought that album, my family started going to that church... but I digress.
I played that album over and over again... little realizing at the time that, since this was Capitol's American release of Revolver, that they'd completely screwed up the album from what the Beatles themselves intended... so there were songs that didn't belong, and songs that were missing!
Later, as I started buying books about the Beatles, I read about what songs should've been on there (it wasn't until Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band that the Capitol and UK releases started matching up, more or less), but I wasn't able to really hear what it was supposed to sound like until the CD releases.
So, here's a rundown of the songs that were supposed to be on this album, and a few thoughts of mine about them:
Taxman
One of my favorite George Harrison-penned songs... it starts off with that down-low "one, two..." before that kickin' guitar riff starts up! The melody isn't the most musical that George would ever create, but like I said, it's one of my favorites... Paul and John chime in, of course, with background vocals, and there's a few three-part harmonies, like in the chorus. If you're not familiar with British officials, a few lines will escape your understanding... but like I said, I like this song.
Eleanor Rigby
OK, I know everyone thinks "Yesterday" was Paul's best Beatles song ever... but I like Eleanor Rigby even more... maybe because it's more of a "real" Beatles song (the other Beatles didn't even perform on "Yesterday"). As John and Paul liked to do on occasion, the song begins with the chorus, and then it tells a story -- something that both of them liked to do, as well. This song was also used in the animated movie "Yellow Submarine" -- in fact, it's the second song in the movie!
I'm Only Sleeping
One of my favorite John songs... full of wonderful imagery, and a song I can definitely relate to, especially the line, "Please don't wake me, no don't shake me, leave me where I am, I'm only sleeping..." I relate to it even more since the dogs started trying to wake me before the alarm goes off!
Love You To
One of the two "lesser" tracks here... George brings in lots of sitar on this one, and it's a good song... but not one I've ever particuarlly enjoyed singing along with (yes, that's one of my ways of determining if a song is a really good one or not... do I like to sing along with it when it's on the radio?).
Here, There and Everywhere
One of Paul's best love songs.
Yellow Submarine
One of the things that's great about the Beatles' albums, from Rubber Soul onward, is how they juxtapose different styles of music... following Here, There and Everywhere, we get this bouncy singalong for Ringo to perform, which Paul said he wrote becuase he wanted to write a children's song! And of course, it inspired the animated movie of the same name.
She Said, She Said
John said he was inspired to write this song when he was at a party and one of the attendees was on drugs (I think it was Peter Fonda, but I could be wrong) and kept saying, "I know what it's like to be dead" over and over again... and John took it and ran with it! It's a fun song, and one that yes, I like to sing along with!
Good Day Sunshine
One of my favorite songs on this album is this Paul tune, one of the few Paul lead vocal songs that is within my vocal range (I usually sing John's part)! When I was trying to teach myself piano a long time ago (something I should've kept up with, but didn't), this was one of the songs I tried to learn. Great harmonies on this one, too.
And Your Bird Can Sing
Absolutely my favorite song of Revolver is this one... I can't entirely say why, but it always makes me feel good when I hear it. There's a great alternate take of this song on Anthology in which the Beatles start laughing, but still valiantly try to make their way through the song... and there's a few variations that I wish they'd recorded a "straight" version of... but I digress again!
For No One
Another Paul story song... and a depressing one about a lost love.
Doctor Robert
John wrote this one about a dentist who provided drugs for parties (yeah, there's a lot of drug-related music on this album).
I Want To Tell You
Another George song, and one that feels like it should've been included two or three albums ago. It starts with another great guitar riff.
Got To Get You Into My Life
Reportedly, Paul was inspired to write this song by Motown records... I don't quite hear that myself... but this song really does capture the excitement of the initial spark in a relationship, and how it makes you feel.
Tomorrow Never Knows
Based on lines from the Tibetan Book of the Dead, it's an odd choice to end the album on... but it does leave you with food for thought!
So... if you've never heard this album before the way the Beatles intended, I heartily recommend it (heck, I'll recommend any Beatles album!). And if you order it through this handy link, I'll get a minor kickback from it, too!
Jon
Do You Rent?
If you do, I have a word of warning for you... when it's time to renew your lease, make sure you sign whatever's needed, and don't waste any time!
The best case scenario if you don't renew your lease is that you'll go month-to-month by default, and that your rent will only go up once.
If you're lucky, it only goes up once... without a lease, you could find your rent increasing several times in one year!
If you're really unlucky, and you're renting a house, and you don't sign the lease renewal, you can find yourself getting a call one day saying that the owner of the house is getting ready to sell it!
Guess what's possibly happening to us? Yep, you guessed it... apparently, we completely spaced on the whole lease renewal thing, and today we heard that the owner wants to sell the house we're renting.
Now, don't get me wrong... we had planned on buying a house when our "lease" was up anyway... but we expected we had until April or so.
What are we going to do? Well, for the time being, we're kind of in a waiting game... someone has to come over here sometime to assess the value of the house, and if the price is right... we may try to buy it ourselves. Assuming we can get the financing.
If that's not possible, we'll likely have to move to a different rental house... fortunately, Jessi's already got a few leads from co-workers... some of which are actually less expensive than our current place.
But you know, I hate moving... but what must be done, must be done, right?
So, that's kind of heavy on my mind this evening.
Tomorrow, back to the usual randomness, and probably some Amazon links to buy stuff I'll talk about!
Jon
The best case scenario if you don't renew your lease is that you'll go month-to-month by default, and that your rent will only go up once.
If you're lucky, it only goes up once... without a lease, you could find your rent increasing several times in one year!
If you're really unlucky, and you're renting a house, and you don't sign the lease renewal, you can find yourself getting a call one day saying that the owner of the house is getting ready to sell it!
Guess what's possibly happening to us? Yep, you guessed it... apparently, we completely spaced on the whole lease renewal thing, and today we heard that the owner wants to sell the house we're renting.
Now, don't get me wrong... we had planned on buying a house when our "lease" was up anyway... but we expected we had until April or so.
What are we going to do? Well, for the time being, we're kind of in a waiting game... someone has to come over here sometime to assess the value of the house, and if the price is right... we may try to buy it ourselves. Assuming we can get the financing.
If that's not possible, we'll likely have to move to a different rental house... fortunately, Jessi's already got a few leads from co-workers... some of which are actually less expensive than our current place.
But you know, I hate moving... but what must be done, must be done, right?
So, that's kind of heavy on my mind this evening.
Tomorrow, back to the usual randomness, and probably some Amazon links to buy stuff I'll talk about!
Jon
Monday, August 07, 2006
More This 'n That Time!
A Few More Commercial Announcements:
Here's two more upcoming DVD releases that I helped out with:
I don't know why Amazon doesn't have images available for these... but you can find them at the Ink and Paint.com new releases page. They also have a "blog" there, but it's only had two posts since it started... one on June 6, the other on August 6! Kind of disappointing, really... I was hoping for more!
Work Stuff:
You know, for someone who's employed as a graphic designer, I've been spending a lot of time doing Excel stuff lately. Well, just one project, actually. My boss asked for my help with this big spreadsheet she needs in order to help track hours and expenses, as well as vacation, sick time and other stuff. I started it last week, but was stalled waiting for a list of what the 12 periods of the year were (the company breaks up the year into 12 periods of 4 or 5 weeks for billing purposes). Obviously, this means that sometimes a few days from one year end up being on the next year's billing, or vice-versa... although this year, December 31st (Krypto's birthday!) also happens to be the last day of Period 12.
Anyway, I had to start all over again on it today when the file spontaneously corrupted on me (there was an error in a formula, and when I tried to fix it, Excel quit on me, and then couldn't open the file again). Thankfully, there were no problems on the second attempt.
So, today I built the 12 tabs for each quarter, broken out by week, and created two more tabs for reports -- one summarizing by week, the other by period. Tomorrow, assuming there's time (and there usually is on Tuesday), I'll work up one final report tab that will summarize hours, vacation time, etc. per employee.
Of course, once it's all done, it'll be up to my boss to enter in all the time cards for the year to date, since I'm not privy to what everyone earns per hour!
What Will I Talk About Later This Week?
I'm thinking I may do a post about one of the Beatles albums later this week... and I've been meaning to do a post about Red Dwarf sometime (then again, look how long it took me to do a post about My Hero!). I've also been thinking a bit about Sub-Mariner, so I may post something about what kind of approach I'd like to read if they gave Namor his own book again!
In the meantime, there'll likely be some more stuff about what's happening at home and at work, as Jessi and I near our camping trip this coming weekend!
Oh, By The Way...
There was apparently a Seattle ComiCard show either this past weekend, or the weekend before that... which I only heard about because one of the blogs I read mentioned someone else's blog commenting on it (or something like that). You know what? I didn't hear "boo" about it -- never got a flyer from anywhere, never saw any advertising... nobody even posted about it on the Yahoo group I started for local comics fans!
In a Pickle?
OK, this is the last item... Jessi and I started making some pickles tonight! We've had a pretty good-sized crop of cucumbers in our garden, and Jessi wanted to make pickles, so we're starting out with two different kinds... plus, we're also making some red beet pickled eggs (it's a Mennonite thing, from Jessi's childhood).
I've never had pickled eggs in any form... so that could be interesting!
Jon
Here's two more upcoming DVD releases that I helped out with:
I don't know why Amazon doesn't have images available for these... but you can find them at the Ink and Paint.com new releases page. They also have a "blog" there, but it's only had two posts since it started... one on June 6, the other on August 6! Kind of disappointing, really... I was hoping for more!
Work Stuff:
You know, for someone who's employed as a graphic designer, I've been spending a lot of time doing Excel stuff lately. Well, just one project, actually. My boss asked for my help with this big spreadsheet she needs in order to help track hours and expenses, as well as vacation, sick time and other stuff. I started it last week, but was stalled waiting for a list of what the 12 periods of the year were (the company breaks up the year into 12 periods of 4 or 5 weeks for billing purposes). Obviously, this means that sometimes a few days from one year end up being on the next year's billing, or vice-versa... although this year, December 31st (Krypto's birthday!) also happens to be the last day of Period 12.
Anyway, I had to start all over again on it today when the file spontaneously corrupted on me (there was an error in a formula, and when I tried to fix it, Excel quit on me, and then couldn't open the file again). Thankfully, there were no problems on the second attempt.
So, today I built the 12 tabs for each quarter, broken out by week, and created two more tabs for reports -- one summarizing by week, the other by period. Tomorrow, assuming there's time (and there usually is on Tuesday), I'll work up one final report tab that will summarize hours, vacation time, etc. per employee.
Of course, once it's all done, it'll be up to my boss to enter in all the time cards for the year to date, since I'm not privy to what everyone earns per hour!
What Will I Talk About Later This Week?
I'm thinking I may do a post about one of the Beatles albums later this week... and I've been meaning to do a post about Red Dwarf sometime (then again, look how long it took me to do a post about My Hero!). I've also been thinking a bit about Sub-Mariner, so I may post something about what kind of approach I'd like to read if they gave Namor his own book again!
In the meantime, there'll likely be some more stuff about what's happening at home and at work, as Jessi and I near our camping trip this coming weekend!
Oh, By The Way...
There was apparently a Seattle ComiCard show either this past weekend, or the weekend before that... which I only heard about because one of the blogs I read mentioned someone else's blog commenting on it (or something like that). You know what? I didn't hear "boo" about it -- never got a flyer from anywhere, never saw any advertising... nobody even posted about it on the Yahoo group I started for local comics fans!
In a Pickle?
OK, this is the last item... Jessi and I started making some pickles tonight! We've had a pretty good-sized crop of cucumbers in our garden, and Jessi wanted to make pickles, so we're starting out with two different kinds... plus, we're also making some red beet pickled eggs (it's a Mennonite thing, from Jessi's childhood).
I've never had pickled eggs in any form... so that could be interesting!
Jon
I suppose...
...along with listing the links for ordering the Flash Gordon DVD set, I should be nice and post the links for ordering the various He-Man and She-Ra DVD sets I worked on, as well... even though I'd imagine most of you who are interested probably already bought 'em...
The first release was the "10 Best Episodes," and while those eps are on the full season DVDs, they feature quite a bit of material that's not repeated.
And of course, there's the full seasons (well, half seasons, I should say), all with exclusive content and great documentary features:
And there's the He-Man/She-Ra Christmas Special:
And the Best of She-Ra (which, like the Best of He-Man, has content the season sets won't have):
And just to be complete... here's the link for ordering the Prince Valiant DVD set, too (another one I haven't had time to watch yet):
That's all for now! I hope you'll be patient when I do post links like these to future releases of DVDs that I had a hand in, as well as when I talk about something and post a link to buying it here!
Jon
The first release was the "10 Best Episodes," and while those eps are on the full season DVDs, they feature quite a bit of material that's not repeated.
And of course, there's the full seasons (well, half seasons, I should say), all with exclusive content and great documentary features:
And there's the He-Man/She-Ra Christmas Special:
And the Best of She-Ra (which, like the Best of He-Man, has content the season sets won't have):
And just to be complete... here's the link for ordering the Prince Valiant DVD set, too (another one I haven't had time to watch yet):
That's all for now! I hope you'll be patient when I do post links like these to future releases of DVDs that I had a hand in, as well as when I talk about something and post a link to buying it here!
Jon
Animated Flash!
Gordon, that is...
I forgot to mention that I received my comp copy of this DVD set, which yes, I did the transcription work involved in creating some of the special features. Haven't had a chance to watch any of the episodes yet, but I'm looking forward to it!
Amazon.com has it listed at an incredible price... and you can buy it yourself from this link:
Yes, I'll make a small pittance from the sale if you do this, but hey, it's for a worth cause (well, okay, it's for me... sheesh!).
Jon
I forgot to mention that I received my comp copy of this DVD set, which yes, I did the transcription work involved in creating some of the special features. Haven't had a chance to watch any of the episodes yet, but I'm looking forward to it!
Amazon.com has it listed at an incredible price... and you can buy it yourself from this link:
Yes, I'll make a small pittance from the sale if you do this, but hey, it's for a worth cause (well, okay, it's for me... sheesh!).
Jon
Sunday, August 06, 2006
This 'N That -- Weekend Wrapup Edition!
Time to play catch-up!
New Cover Stores Column
You can check out this week's edition at this link -- don't forget to do what you need to do to open the link up in a new window or tab, depending on what browser you're ussing!
Breaking in the Barbeque
I think I mentioned that last weekend, Jessi and I bought a gas barbeque grill... and this weekend, we broke it in... starting on Friday, when my parents came down for burgers (side dishes were potato salad, macaroni salad, and baked beans). I bought plenty of all those foods, as Saturday, we were hosting Jessi's "adopted" family.
So, the Friday BBQ went very well -- my parents were very impressed with the grill (mom said it was nicer than hers) -- and I cleaned it dutifully after we were done.
Tiring Out the Dogs
So, as I said a few paragraphs back, we were hosting my "in-laws" for dinner Saturday night, and since we were having at least eight people over, we figured the dogs needed to be good and tired, so they'd stay calm. So, in addition to the usual 9 am walk, after lunch, we took them for a run.
Well, they ran... we biked! We've been working on traning them to run alongside the bikes (still on leash, mind you), and Saturday was the first time we tried it with both of them at the same time, while there were plenty of people around. The dogs performed very admirably, although I don't think we'll be increasing the length of the ride too much beyond three miles!
Saturday Night Barbeque
In addition to the items from Friday night's dinner, we decided to add corn on the cob to the menu, as well as a low-calorie strawberry shortcake dessert. Things were well and organized, and we even were prepared for the two extra people we weren't originally expecting (a cousin and a girlfriend).
Now, one thing I did take into account was that we didn't have a large enough pot to cook 10 ears of corn at once... but I did have these large disposable roasting pans, large enough to put one over two burners on the stove, so I started the corn cooking there, and once it was getting close to being done, that's when I put the burgers on the grill.
One problem with that, though -- I didn't take into account that when I put 16 frozen burger patties on the grill, the temperature would drop down, and it would take much longer to cook the burgers than when I cooked four burgers on Friday. So the corn on the cob was a little mushy by the time the burgers were done. However, all the food was well-received (especially dessert). So that was a pretty minor thing.
Entertainment-wise, we had several episodes of both versions of "Whose Line is it Anyway?" on the DVR, and everyone enjoyed watching those.
Now, so far as the guests go... well, let's just say that one of the guests has given us second thoughts about ever inviting him and his family over again for anything. (I figure it's got to be safe to post about this, because I don't think any of them even are aware of my blog -- plus I think the person I'm writing about only uses the net to sell stuff on eBay that we're not 100% certain he originally acquired legally, but I digress)
What did he do? Well, he disregarded anything we had to tell him concerning our pets. First he started roughhousing with the dogs (even after we'd told him how we tired them out so they'd stay calm). As a result, both KO and Krypto were getting hyper, and KO actually nipped at someone because she had been put in a "high alert" mode. We ended up putting them to bed for a bit to calm them down.
After that, he asked us about our bird, Micky. Now, Micky is not a social bird -- he's happy if you whistle or talk to him, but he absolutely will not let you put your hands near him. He bites. And both of us told our "guest" this -- and he insisted on reaching into the cage to try to grab him.
Oh, there was one other thing that he did that annoyed me, but Jessi's not aware of. When the burgers were nearly done, I asked Jessi to find out how many people wanted cheese melted on their burgers. She came up with nine people, and so I put cheese on 10 of the burgers to melt.
Well... this butt-head, one of the last to dish up (as the cook, I always dish up last) grabs both of the burgers with cheese melted on them... leaving me -- you know, the guy who not only cooked all the food and paid for it -- to put a cold slice of cheese on my own burger, and hoping it would still be hot enough to melt the cheese.
Oh, wait... there was one other thing, which should've tipped us off that this wasn't going to go well for us. When we invited them over, and they asked us what they could bring, we said they should just bring what they wanted to drink.
Now, Jessi's "parents" did bring the beer they wanted to drink. But nobody else brought anything except their appetites.
Why the heck did we even try to get people to bring what they wanted to drink? The hell if I know... because every single freakin' time we've invited people over and told them they only needed to bring what they wanted to drink, they very rarely do. This has caused our drink supplies to be rapidly diminished, and you know, we are on a budget, right?
So... this family is basically banned from coming over to our place for meals again... and if we invite anyone else for dinner -- or especially a barbeque -- we're doing it potluck.
Sunday Went Better...
Nobody came over at all, we finally put up the arbor in the back yard, and we took the dogs for a leashed and off-leashed walk. and watched a lot of episodes of "The Dog Whisperer".
Coming Distractions
Next weekend, Jessi and I are supposed to be going camping... and the week aftewards, I've got the entire week off! Woo-hoo!
That's all for now!
Jon
New Cover Stores Column
You can check out this week's edition at this link -- don't forget to do what you need to do to open the link up in a new window or tab, depending on what browser you're ussing!
Breaking in the Barbeque
I think I mentioned that last weekend, Jessi and I bought a gas barbeque grill... and this weekend, we broke it in... starting on Friday, when my parents came down for burgers (side dishes were potato salad, macaroni salad, and baked beans). I bought plenty of all those foods, as Saturday, we were hosting Jessi's "adopted" family.
So, the Friday BBQ went very well -- my parents were very impressed with the grill (mom said it was nicer than hers) -- and I cleaned it dutifully after we were done.
Tiring Out the Dogs
So, as I said a few paragraphs back, we were hosting my "in-laws" for dinner Saturday night, and since we were having at least eight people over, we figured the dogs needed to be good and tired, so they'd stay calm. So, in addition to the usual 9 am walk, after lunch, we took them for a run.
Well, they ran... we biked! We've been working on traning them to run alongside the bikes (still on leash, mind you), and Saturday was the first time we tried it with both of them at the same time, while there were plenty of people around. The dogs performed very admirably, although I don't think we'll be increasing the length of the ride too much beyond three miles!
Saturday Night Barbeque
In addition to the items from Friday night's dinner, we decided to add corn on the cob to the menu, as well as a low-calorie strawberry shortcake dessert. Things were well and organized, and we even were prepared for the two extra people we weren't originally expecting (a cousin and a girlfriend).
Now, one thing I did take into account was that we didn't have a large enough pot to cook 10 ears of corn at once... but I did have these large disposable roasting pans, large enough to put one over two burners on the stove, so I started the corn cooking there, and once it was getting close to being done, that's when I put the burgers on the grill.
One problem with that, though -- I didn't take into account that when I put 16 frozen burger patties on the grill, the temperature would drop down, and it would take much longer to cook the burgers than when I cooked four burgers on Friday. So the corn on the cob was a little mushy by the time the burgers were done. However, all the food was well-received (especially dessert). So that was a pretty minor thing.
Entertainment-wise, we had several episodes of both versions of "Whose Line is it Anyway?" on the DVR, and everyone enjoyed watching those.
Now, so far as the guests go... well, let's just say that one of the guests has given us second thoughts about ever inviting him and his family over again for anything. (I figure it's got to be safe to post about this, because I don't think any of them even are aware of my blog -- plus I think the person I'm writing about only uses the net to sell stuff on eBay that we're not 100% certain he originally acquired legally, but I digress)
What did he do? Well, he disregarded anything we had to tell him concerning our pets. First he started roughhousing with the dogs (even after we'd told him how we tired them out so they'd stay calm). As a result, both KO and Krypto were getting hyper, and KO actually nipped at someone because she had been put in a "high alert" mode. We ended up putting them to bed for a bit to calm them down.
After that, he asked us about our bird, Micky. Now, Micky is not a social bird -- he's happy if you whistle or talk to him, but he absolutely will not let you put your hands near him. He bites. And both of us told our "guest" this -- and he insisted on reaching into the cage to try to grab him.
Oh, there was one other thing that he did that annoyed me, but Jessi's not aware of. When the burgers were nearly done, I asked Jessi to find out how many people wanted cheese melted on their burgers. She came up with nine people, and so I put cheese on 10 of the burgers to melt.
Well... this butt-head, one of the last to dish up (as the cook, I always dish up last) grabs both of the burgers with cheese melted on them... leaving me -- you know, the guy who not only cooked all the food and paid for it -- to put a cold slice of cheese on my own burger, and hoping it would still be hot enough to melt the cheese.
Oh, wait... there was one other thing, which should've tipped us off that this wasn't going to go well for us. When we invited them over, and they asked us what they could bring, we said they should just bring what they wanted to drink.
Now, Jessi's "parents" did bring the beer they wanted to drink. But nobody else brought anything except their appetites.
Why the heck did we even try to get people to bring what they wanted to drink? The hell if I know... because every single freakin' time we've invited people over and told them they only needed to bring what they wanted to drink, they very rarely do. This has caused our drink supplies to be rapidly diminished, and you know, we are on a budget, right?
So... this family is basically banned from coming over to our place for meals again... and if we invite anyone else for dinner -- or especially a barbeque -- we're doing it potluck.
Sunday Went Better...
Nobody came over at all, we finally put up the arbor in the back yard, and we took the dogs for a leashed and off-leashed walk. and watched a lot of episodes of "The Dog Whisperer".
Coming Distractions
Next weekend, Jessi and I are supposed to be going camping... and the week aftewards, I've got the entire week off! Woo-hoo!
That's all for now!
Jon
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