Man Seeking Woman - TV Series

MAN SEEKING WOMAN 

TELEVISION SERIES (Currently on FXX)

Surreal television series about Josh Greenberg's (Jay Baruchel) attempts to find a serious relationship. Each episode spins off into bizarre scenarios such as Josh's sister dating the actual Santa Claus, or his ex-girlfriend dating Adolph Hitler (now 92 years old).

The series is based on the hilarious book of short stories "The Last Girlfriend on Earth", by Simon Rich, who also co-executive produces the show.

The show is built to become a cult favorite because it is so different from anything else on television right now. It has an awkward feeling since Josh is so often uncool and always seems to make situations worse for himself.

The other main characters are his best friend Mike, his attorney sister, and his parents.

RAISING ARIZONA

RAISING ARIZONA (1987)

"I'll be takin' these Huggies...and whatever cash you got."

This is my favorite comedy. I don't know how many times I've seen it, but I was given the nickname "H.I." by my friend, Richard Blair, because I basically had the whole movie memorized.

Short synopsis: Recidivist criminal Herbert "H.I." McDunnough (Nicholas Cage) falls in love with, and marries police officer Edwina, aka "Ed" (Holly Hunter). They desperately want children, but find out that Ed is barren.

They try to adopt, but H.I.'s extensive criminal record keeps that from happening. One night they see on the news that local furniture store owner, Nathan Arizona, and his wife just had five babies, dubbed the "Arizona Quints", thanks to their use of fertility drugs. So, like any reasonable couple would do, they decide to kidnap one of the Arizona babies and raise him as their own.

Craziness ensues!!! 

The thing that sets this movie apart is the writing. Every scene contains something quotable. When they go to the fertility doctor and find that Ed could not have children, instead of saying, "The doctor told us Ed could not have children", H.I. explains by saying "The doctor said her insides were a rocky place where my seed could find no purchase".

The movie is also notable for launching (or semi-launching) the careers of Nicholas Cage, Holly Hinter, John Goodman and Joel and Ethan Coen.

I could go on, but just get it on Netflix and get ready for 90 minutes of brilliant silliness.

Let me know what YOU think about the movie. 

The Prisoner - Television Series

THE PRISONER

Television Series (1967 - 1968)

"I am not a number. I am a free man".

The Prisoner ran for 17 episodes and is one of the trippiest cult TV shows you will ever see.

It stars Patrick McGoohan as a secret British agent who quits for some mysterious reason. As shown in the opening of each episode, he storms out of the agency office, speeds home, and as he is packing for a trip, someone pumps gas into his apartment. He passes out and wakes up sometime later in The Village.

The Village is a beautifully clean, colorful resort, filled with friendly, impeccably dressed people. They are awakened by an announcement every morning in their individual bungalows and are offered a wide variety of activities to fill their days. They finish their conversations lots of times with a cryptic salute and "Be seeing you".

They are, however...prisoners. The Village is cut off by mountains on one side and the ocean on the other. it's citizens are highly monitored by the shadowy forces in charge using listening devices, video cameras and strange 6' weather balloons, call "Rovers" which chase people down and capture them. 

All the Villagers have numbers instead of name, and Patrick's character is called number 6.

Throughout the run of the show, he is interrogated by several "Number 2's", each one using various mental and physical techniques to try to find out why he quit the agency.

He tries, unsuccessfully to escape every few episodes, and plays a cat and mouse game with the authorities, outwitting them at every turn. 

The show is a metaphor for many different ideas such as individualism and covers several counter-culture topics in a surreal and unique way.

You should watch this program if you enjoy different types of strange cult television.

Echo & the Bunnymen

 ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN

I first saw this band while watching "Night Tracks" on Super Station WTBS. Anyone remember that show? It was like 3 hours of MTV on Friday and Saturday nights for people whose cable operator didn't carry MTV at the time, like ours.  

But I digress...the video was for their song "Seven Seas". It was cool and the music and visuals were way different than all the other popular videos on the show. The band had a kind of Cure-like, alternative vibe going on. I had to find out who these people were!

I went to the best local used record store, "The Record Exchange" to find out more about this band from the store owner, and music guru, Franklin. He sold me the album "Ocean Rain", and I was hooked.

The Stuff You Know: Echo & the Bunnymen are best known for their songs: 
"Sugar Kisses"
"People are Strange", a Doors cover from The Lost Boys soundtrack
"Killing Moon", a beautiful song featured in Grosse Pointe Blank and Donny Darko
"Bring On the Dancing Horses", an AWESOME song featured in Pretty in Pink.

The Stuff You May Not Know: Echo & the Bunnymen have released 12 studio albums from 1980 - 2014. They had several UK chart hits over the years, and a few songs which reached the U.S. Modern Rock charts.

 OCEAN RAIN (1984)

Ocean Rain, their 4th studio album, is my favorite of their releases. It is has a lush production, using a 35 piece orchestra, as featured in tracks such as "Seven Seas", "Killing Moon", "Ocean Rain", and "Crystal Days".

I love the song "Seven Seas". The quiet guitar strumming, the simple percussion, strings and other instruments, along with Ian McCulloch's voice, build this into a perfect song.

"Killing Moon" is the strongest song on the album. It is a beautiful, sweeping classic of a song that should be listed as one of the best songs of the 20th Century.

The weakest songs, are "Yo-Yo Man" and "Thorn of Crowns", which aren't too bad since I don't skip then when listening to the album. They just don't rise to the level of the rest of the album.

This album is worth getting if you want to hear an early Modern Rock bank at the top of their game. The singles from their other albums and soundtrack are worthy of listening to as well, but Ocean Rain is the best of their best work.

Thomas Dolby

THOMAS DOLBY

I want to start this blog with an overview of Thomas Dolby since he is one of my favorite recording artists. He is much more than a one hit wonder, and I wanted to offer some other reasons for people to enjoy his body of work. 

Like a lot of people, I became a fan of his after "She Blinded Me with Science" hit MTV in 1982. I continue to be a fan over 30 years later because he has continued to create great music. There are more fans out there than you might think, as evidenced by the number of players in his 2011 online Map of the Floating City game.

THE GOLDEN AGE OF WIRELESS (1982)
 

The Stuff You Know: "She Blinded Me with Science" came off the album "The Golden Age of Wireless", and is Thomas Dolby's signature song. The quirky music and the song's hook made it an instant hit for fans of new wave as well as regular pop music. SCIENCE!

The Stuff You May Not Know: The album had been released earlier in a couple of different versions without having the mega hit included. The songs included on the earlier versions were "Urges", "Leipzig" and "Wreck of the Fairchild". The other songs are great, mostly low key synth classics. The best, in my opinion, are "One of Our Submarines", "Airwaves", "Radio Silence" and "Europa and the Pirate Twins".

This is a must have album for any new wave or 80's music fan.The 2009 remastered version includes the album in it's original order along with "Science" and several rare demos and live versions, along with a bonus video DVD..

THE FLAT EARTH (1984)

The Stuff You Know: His next big single and video were for the song "Hyperactive" off the album "The Flat Earth". The weirdly funny video was another MTV hit. The song is similar in feel to "She Blinded Me with Science" (the video even co-starred the same Mad Scientist, Magnus Pyke) but has a much funkier beat and is more frenetic.

The Stuff You May Not Know: It took me a couple of listens to side 2 to really appreciate this album, as the style was so different from "Golden Age". Each song here is stylistically different from each other as well.

The first song, "Dissidents", starts with a funky bass beat and has a great atmosphere throughout. "The Flat Earth" and "Screen Kiss" are similar in feel. They are both introspective songs that feel very personal.

The flip side of the album has a more eclectic selection of songs including the strange, atmospheric, world music style "Mulu the Rain Forest", the futuristic "White City", the lounge jazz "I Scare Myself", and "Hyperactive" (originally written for Michael Jackson).

I didn't care for "Mulu" as much as the rest of the album, but eventually came to appreciate the dreamy quality of the song. Here is a cool video he shot for it in 2012 on Youtube.

ALIENS ATE MY BUICK (1988)

The Stuff You Know: Dolby's Third album, "Aliens Ate My Buick" features, not only some great, fun songs, but also a really cool album cover. The big hit off this album was "Airhead". The video for the song is funny and was popular on MTV for a time.

The Stuff You May Not Know: The songs are this album are generally more upbeat and danceable than the earlier work. My favorites off this album are the epic "Budapest By Blimp", "The Ability to Swing" and "My Brain is Like a Sieve". The album is a mix of upbeat ditties and deeper, low key songs, which caused it to garner mixed critical reviews.

The 2009 remastered version includes several songs from films, including one of my favorites, "Don't Turn Away",  from Howard the Duck, and the great "Field Work" with Ryuichi Salamoto.

 

 

Astronauts & Heretics (1992)

The Stuff You Know: Probably not a lot unless you are a fan.

The Stuff You May Not Know: I was really happy when this album came out since it had been four years since his last new music. While there were no huge hits off this album, the album has no songs you want to skip while listening. One of the outstanding songs is "Eastern Bloc", which is sort of a sequel to "Europa and the Pirate Twins". The song features guitar by Eddie Van Halen, who appeared in return for Dolby helping him with some electronic equipment.

There is really no reason to go over each track here. Just put it on, listen straight through and enjoy.

A Map of the Floating City (2011)

The Stuff You Know: Probably not a lot unless you are a fan.

The Stuff You May Not Know: Almost 20 years, and a career in the tech field, Dolby finally produced his fifth studio release (not including the mostly instrumental "Gate to the Mind's Eye"). This album was introduced a piece at a time. Some tracks were released as an EP, some in the online "The Floating City" online game, and the rest on the album.

His inspirations for this album were widely diverse. Including the twangy "Toad Lickers" on the same CD as a moody downbeat song like "17 Hills" may seem a little jarring at first listen...but listen again. The album is a travelogue in 3 parts which all fit together to make a cohesive story...if you listen carefully.

 A Final Word

I am glad Thomas Dolby didn't quit after "Science". His music has continued to be important to fans around the world. If you are only familiar with the hit songs, follow this link to YouTube and check out some of his other music. I guarantee you will hear something that will stick with you for years to come. Please feel free to comment and add any info I may have left out.