Paul Constant, at Seattle’s Stranger, reviews Guardians of the Galaxy:
Let’s hear it for the cinematic asshole. The last couple decades of filmmaking-by-committee has all but banished the lovable rogue from the blockbuster lexicon. International audiences, conventional wisdom goes, can’t understand heroes and villains unless they’re clearly delineated as such. (Don’t believe me? Consider the total lack of a Han Solo character in the Star Wars prequels for the clearest example that the adorable-bastard heart of adventure films has stopped beating.) A good part of the reason why Guardians of the Galaxy is being so warmly embraced by critics, I’d wager, is the fact that the entire team of heroes in the film are, as one character in the trailer describes them, “a bunch of a-holes.” And you know what? That’s exactly what we like to see in our blockbusters…
… Which reminded me that I wanted to celebrate Eileen Jones’ review of Scarlett Johansson Lucy:
… Scarlett Johansson is, of course, up to the demands of the role. What a star! Lately we’ve had a cycle of films that attest to her amazing beauty, charisma, and aplomb when doing the simplest things: call it the Scarlett Johansson Walks series. As Black Widow in The Avengers, as the alien in Under the Skin, and now as Lucy, we watch her walk, deadpan, bent on some mission of her own…
Under the Skin, the glacially slow, artily erotic sci-fi thriller from earlier this year, took the fascination of Scarlett Johansson Walks as far as it could go, varying it with long sequences of Scarlett Johansson Drives a Van. (The Spike Jonze film Her concentrates on her husky alto voice alone: Scarlett Johansson Talks.) No other female actor working today could have sustained such a filmic experiment. She’s become the go-to star for representing the hypnotic Future Woman at an advanced stage of evolution, her DNA seemingly combined with lethal higher mammals, interstellar space aliens, and the sleekest computer technology…
Necessarily in an action-fantasy film, brainpower improves everything, including physical strength and fighting skills. At a mere 20% Lucy achieves a state of completely centered, focused calm that is perfect for the performance of martial arts and the efficient breaking of an opponent’s limbs. As she moves up the scoreboard her memory recovers everything that ever happened to her, she can hear the thoughts of others, she can see the energy animating trees, and she achieves psycho-kinesis, pre-cognition, and the selective suspension of the laws of gravity.
As these are all personal goals of mine, it’s pretty thrilling to watch…
***********
Apart from dreaming big, what’s on the agenda tonight?
Cassidy
Eileen Jones sounds as if she’s never seen a movie by or heard of Luc Besson before.
KG
White hats and black hats is how they did it in the old days. It’s such a boring way to tell a story
craigie
Trying to get my brain power to go to 11.
Frankensteinbeck
It’s more like in the 80s cool=a selfish, mean-spirited jerk who had a line somewhere he wouldn’t cross=got lots of sex. Remember how in the early 90s every youth character had to have ‘attitude’? That was the first step of walking down that horrible cultural standard.
I don’t think it applies to the Guardians. They’re more complicated than that, with their evil traits mostly being a complete disrespect for legality. None of them are mean randomly or for fun.
I loved the movie, by the way. Really, really entertaining. Well characterized heroes. Cardboard cut-out villains.
raven
All ready to drive to Beaufort, SC to stay in a cheesy motel that takes dogs so we can visit the SIL and family on Monday. Supposed to rain like mad but my fishing shit is packed in the van.
zattarra
Yeah, Lucy might have been the dumbest, worst movies I’ve seen in a long time. And I sat through Transformers and Noah this year. I’m not 100% sure what film she’s reviewing but it isn’t the one I watched where Scarlett Johansson stops acting after the first 15 minutes and then none of the movie makes any sense. It’s not that it’s bad science, it’s that it’s bad science fiction. I read a hundred sci-fi and fantasy novels a year, I know the genre. This was garbage. It’s only redeeming value was it was a complete rip-off on running time (maybe and hour 20) so I didn’t ahve to sit through more of it.
raven
The Braves game is wall to wall Pete Van Wieren.
lamh36
Lucy was some boring ass shhh. If I’m supposed to like it causes he’s a woman and I’m a woman, then I guess Ima a horrible woman. I like Luc Besson. I usually like his female heroines, but Lucy was really not good. I don’t care if it is a female lead
as for Guardians of the Galaxy, I never really knew much about the comic or the cartoon, but I do like Marvel comics and studios, so of course I was going to see it,
I really liked it. it has action, it was funny and it had a lot of heart. It definitely deserves the good reviews. I am actually looking forward to seeing what they do with the sequel
ETA: or what Zattara said
Anoniminous
A group of us Old Farts(c) are planning a Guy’s* expedition to see Guardians this week. One may bring his grandkids. With any amount of luck we’ll embarrass** them with our childish antics.
* Women were invited. They declined
** Teenagers are soOOOOOOOOOooo stoogy. Seeing them pretending “I’m not with these people” is fun.
Lurking Canadian
I really enjoyed Lucy. I mean, it’s horseshit and its central premise doesn’t make any sense, but that was true of the Matrix, too. Somehow, the key is that it was *committed* to the horseshit.
MattR
@lamh36: We are currently debating whether we should go to GoG tomorrow or save it as a rainy day activity when we are in the Outer Banks at the end of the month. I was a fan of the original comic series and didn’t realize there was a second run with completely different characters. Thoroughly confused me when I saw the first trailer.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Lurking Canadian: I haven’t seen Lucy, but, with any Besson film, one is best advised to just go along for the ride.
dmsilev
Was planning on seeing Guardians tomorrow, since I don’t have much else planned (unless, of course, the computer running my experiment finds a new and exciting way to fail catastrophically and I have to go into work to fix it. Happened twice in the last week already).
Mike J
@Cassidy:
I’ve been telling people I really want to see that Luc Besson movie with Scarlett Johansson in it. It does not bother me at all that the whole “10% of your brain” thing is bullshit. The man is a genius. I will watch anything he directs until he disappoints me for three films in a row.
Tokyokie
@Cassidy: I went to the movie only because everything else at the megaplex looked like it sucked worse, (Hercules on six screens? Egad.) and I hadn’t read any reviews beforehand. The movie doesn’t have any opening credits, but pretty quickly, I started thinking, “Wow, for a stupid action film, this is mighty pretentious.” Then when it was over (after only 90 minutes, thankfully), I saw Luc Besson’s directing credit, and it all made sense. Not the movie itself, mind you, just its mix of brainlessness and pretentiousness (as well as its use of French locations). The great Choi Min-sik (who still doesn’t speak English, and Besson’s filling Taipei with ultra-violent Korean gangsters is just one of the film’s hallmarks of stupidity) deserved better for his Western movie debut. (The even greater Song Kang-ho fares much better in Snowpiercer.)
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
Along the theme of Scarlett Johannsson walks, there is this.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
Sitting on the lawn of the Autry National Center waiting for it to get dark enough to show “Blazing Saddles.” I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it with an audience.
Frankensteinbeck
@MattR:
You will probably find it rewatchable. Go see it tomorrow. GoG wasn’t a series I ever read, although I generally recognized the characters and settings.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Mike J: I have been a Besson fan since Subway.
lamh36
I convinced my sister to rewatch the first season of Luther. the first time she wouldn’t get pass ep 1. I convinced here to at least get thru ep 1 and then 2 & she will be hooked. so she did and next time I spoke to her she had already been looking at season 2.
she’s here visiting so here I sit re watching Luther. it’s still as good as before.
p.a.
Spent some quality time talking to a VzWireless tech trying to figure out why some of my Moto phone’s contacts have completely disappeared, some remain with their email address intact but tel. number gone, and some are untouched. The cloud has all my photos, docs, and recent activity intact. But contacts? Nosiree. Not happy. But the tech was fine, she really tried for about 1/2 hour walking through apps, settings etc. Have to go to the Vz store tomorrow. Not like I had anything better to do on a Sunday, huh?
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@efgoldman: My dad simply operated on the theory that you either wanted a ride or you didn’t.
ruemara
Lucy was awful. It was French enough to make me laugh but not Action enough to satisfy and the utterly sloppy science was gut wrenching. I thought a little suspension of disbelief was going to work but jeez, the action segments were so piss poor, I had time to ruminate on the plot. That did not go down well.
MattR
@Frankensteinbeck: Yeah, will probably end up going tmrw. If we don’t want to go a second time, drinking can also be a rainy day activity.
MBunge
GotG is like a really good Michael Bay flick, and I don’t mean that as a back-handed compliment. It’s definitely a step up from both Thors and the first Captain America but is not on the same level as the 2nd Cap or The Avengers.
Mike
? Martin
@efgoldman: I’ve decided that seeing first run movies is shitty. Going to see a film with only 8 other people in the theater is shit. Wait a few months and see it in the dollar theater with 300 people that are out having fun. Much better experience.
rikyrah
I really enjoyed Guardians of the Galaxy. I had no clue as to what it was going to be about, but it looked like a fun summer movie, and it was. The only thing that disappointed was the scene at the end of the movie. I couldn’t believe I waited through the credits for that. Marvel has done better.
Anoniminous
@efgoldman:
Plan is to catch a either the first or second show.
Mike E
The Miracle Worker is on getTV. Inherit The Wind was the lead in movie; chewing scenery is on tap for the evening.
contract3d
“Lost in Translation” – a very young and incandescently beautiful Scarlettt Johansson and Bill Murray at the top of his form. Also Tokyo.
There is nothing about this movie not to love.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Mike E: I am rolling with the David Niven flicks on TCM.
@contract3d: Awesome soundtrack as well.
ETA: I also should confess that I would watch Johansson in just about anything.
heckblazer
@rikyrah:
Huh. That scene made me laugh for like five minutes. Of course, it does help to recognize the cameo.
Belafon
@efgoldman:
Not sure where you go, but I don’t have that problem here in gun toting, cell-phone-texting-while-driving Dallas.
We’re going tomorrow, to the 10:25 showing. I like going to the first showing on Sunday. I generally get there about 45 minutes early, we don’t have to stand in line for the first showing – no one else in the theater – and we’re early enough to generally get to pick the first seats.
Belafon
One of those fun what-ifs: Emily Blunt was the original choice for Black Widow, but she couldn’t do it because of another movie commitment. I think she would have been better, and how many of these other movies would have involved Scarlett Johansson.
Mike E
@contract3d: Directed by Sophia Coppola, too…what did Bill whisper in ScarJo’s ear? Cool movie.
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): Love it when they roll the marathons, TCM is all about the legacy of cinema…their preservation ethic is sorely needed.
J.D. Rhoades
My day: One friend got married with great joy, one became an uncle, two more came back from an amazing mission trip where they did a lot of good for a lot of people (because they’re good folks), one died suddenly and unexpectedly.
Not sure how to deal with a day like that. The friend who died was younger than I am.
lamh36
@Belafon: ooh. after seeing Edge of Tomorrow, I think Emily. blunt would have been awesome. not that Scarlett isn’t kick ass, it’s just that I can totally see Emily as Black Widow
Mandalay
This is the movie of the day, except I don’t think she’s acting.
I think she really does despise Mitch McConnell.
ArchTeryx
I will admit, I’m quite looking forward to seeing Interstellar, the new Christopher Nolan movie about a dying humanity sending a last ditch mission through a Thorne Wormhole.
Looks more sentimental then your typical Chris Nolan movie, but it also is a very cold, very unsentimental look into our future, and it has some of the most awe-inspiring visuals in a sci-fi movie since 2001. And it’s very appealing to a science-geek like me, particularly if the movie ends up using all the properties of a Thorne wormhole. (Don’t look it up unless you want a potentially massive spoiler).
Trailer here.
ArchTeryx
Hmmm, comment in moderation. (Maybe it’s the YouTube link on it that put it there?)
srv
Besides amp breakup to build desktop system, In A Silent Way sessions AND new draperies, what could anyone possibly want?
Excited about these guys coming later this month: Miles Electric
Joel
The premise of Lucy is so ridiculous, it actually makes me want to stab someone. Preferably the director and/or screenwriter(s).
kindness
I’m planning on seeing Guardians. I figure it’ll be funny. I’m a scifi/adventure geek and Guardians mocks this while doing a whole movie about it. What’s not to be fun?
Joel
@Lurking Canadian: the Matrix avoided, for the most part, directly contradicting easily researchable facts about human physiology.
Aside from the bad science, the 10% of your brain stuff is such a hacky fucking trope. I mean, how long has it been since we had that Bradley Cooper movie?
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Joel: What about movies where radioactive spiders bite someone and the person gets superhuman powers? Do those make you stabby as well?
Tokyokie
@Mnemosyne (iPhone): I first saw it at a sneak preview before its general release. I’d read about it in the trades and had seen The Producers, so I generally knew what to expect. But few others in the audience had any idea about it, yet pretty much everybody was roaring with laughter throughout. (Although I lost it with the first whip crack during the title song.) It was one of the greatest moviegoing experiences of my life.
Hal
One thing I love about GoTG is marvel’s willingness to make movies from concepts that are beyond just their regular comic books characters, where as DC seems to be stuck on Superman/Batman. As many others have said, we can’t get a Wonder Woman movie because her origin is too complicated, but here’s a film starring a talking racoon, and a sentient tree.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Hal:
Mushrooms and peyote?
gf120581
I just saw Guardians today and it really is sensational, especially for the reason mentioned in the review above. One of the biggest problems with the Star Wars prequels is the lack of a lovable rogue (or “A-hole”) like Han Solo. Guardians has not one, but two Han Solo-type characters in Peter Quill/Star Lord and Rocket…and they’re the two best characters in the film. There’s a lesson here, filmmakers.
And just when I thought the film couldn’t get more delightfully off the wall, that post-credit scene came. For those who haven’t seen it, I won’t spoil it. And for those who have, did anyone expect that character to show up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? (Not that I’m complaining; the character was a rich mine of satire in the comics and deserves better then the atrocious 80s movie he starred in.)
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@gf120581:
Footloose?
Belafon
@gf120581: I went looking to see if we needed to stay after the credits, and who is in there cracked me up.
Diana
Just here to report that Gotg stands up to being seen twice. Saw it Thursday at midnight here in NYC because I live down the street from the movie theater and didn’t have to be anywhere Friday. Thought it was a lot of fun, although the villains are lame (too much Sith lord influence — just paint their faces and have them complain that they hate weakness and shoot them menacingly hulking around in dark light and that’s all we have to do, amiright? Ok, done) and then friends of mine wanted to see it in 3D tonight. So I went twice, in three days.
It definitely stands up to a second viewing. It’s so full of detail that you can miss stuff the first round, but everything fits together so it’s worth it to pay attention. And in 3D the battle sequences are amazing.
Lucy sounds unbelievably stupid and the trailers look dumb, so I skipped. I wish I’d skipped Snowpiercer, which makes little sense and causes less pleasure, unless you like your violence gratuitous, constant, and excessively detailed. I also wish I’d skipped Planet of the Apes, which was both dull and stupid although, fortunately, not excessively violent. Gotg definitely best film I’ve seen this summer, if not this year.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@efgoldman: I see Treebeard as better suited to HGTV renovation shows. Look what he did with Isengard.
MattR
@gf120581: I peeked online to see that the credits spoiler scene was so I know which character you are talking about. (EDIT: Removed the rest of the comment as it could be construed as bit of a spoiler. Probably not and it wasn’t much of a detail, but better to be safe than sorry just in case somone does not want to learn that character’s identity beforehand)
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@efgoldman: So he has options. That’s great.
Mike J
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): Haven’t seen it yet, so this is a guess, but HtD?
Which brings in a song cue. Trapped in a world that he never made, but not me baby, I’m too precious, fuck off
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Mike J: HtD? Awesome guess. Precious? Even more awesome song.
Suffern ACE
I liked Guardians, but it’s another movie where there is destruction and massacres but no one cares. If only we could defeat religious fanaticism with humor where we can laugh off the death.
I think Marvel does a much better job infusing humor into its films than DC. Helps to give us a break.
Based on the previews, after teenaged mutant ninja turtles (which I won’t see), we are in for a slew of blockbusters where kids are imperiled. Hunger games type movies. At least one a month for the rest of the year. I may see a few, but goodness, they seem sooooo serious. We probably could use a smart-ass imperiled teenager.
Yatsuno
@J.D. Rhoades: That is quite the day. *hug* If anything it shows life is meant to be lived. Be gentle on yourself tonight.
Suffern ACE
@Belafon: I’m so sad I missed it. I know I need to stay through the end, but 2 1/2 hours and a large soda made me impatient.
Yatsuno
@Belafon: Incidentally I’ll be in Dallas come October. I have a couple free nights (more if I choose) but it’s mostly a convention trip in Addison. I’m open to any get-together possibilities.
Suffern ACE
Just a question though about the guardians. If someone is the only human in that sector of the galaxy, where does one go for medical treatment ? I know, English is the universal space language (thankfully), but if, say, your alien girlfriend stabs you and you need a blood transfusion, how could you find a donor?
BillinGlendaleCA
We had a really nice sunset here, and I didn’t take my camera on my walk. Hope Mnemosyne’s viewing of Blazing Saddles is over, otherwise it may get a little damp. It’s raining.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Suffern ACE: I am sure the Intergalactic Red Colander can handle it.
trollhattan
Hearing some cuts from the new(!?!) Tom Petty album and damn, Skippy, he sounds fantastic. Who said nothing good ever came from Florida? (Okay, probably me.)
It’s called Hypnotic Eye.
BillinGlendaleCA
@trollhattan: Betty’s from FL.
trollhattan
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Granted, but she’s not quite from Florida, as she’s still there.
BillinGlendaleCA
@trollhattan: I’m from CA, even though I’m still here. I think, it’s summer and it’s raining so IDK.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@BillinGlendaleCA: If you are in California, how can you tell that is summer? Riddle me that.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): True it’s raining so it must be winter. Happy b-day bud.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@BillinGlendaleCA:
They just had to stop the movie at the Autry because it’s still raining and they were afraid the equipment would get damaged. But climate change is a myth!
BillinGlendaleCA
@Mnemosyne (iPhone): I can see the rain on my IR camera. Though the news folk talk about the monsoon flow being normal in the summer, I don’t remember it happening when I was growing up.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Mike J: Speaking of Chrissie, have you listened to Stockholm yet? Sample
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@BillinGlendaleCA: Thanks. Although, if we want to be technical, I don’t move to my new age until 4:40 a.m. CDT.
Mike J
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): I saw the interview with her in the Times a few weeks ago but still haven’t grabbed it.
And I remember think, “Oh god, I heard about the new Chrissie Hynde album in the Sunday Times.” A good way to feel old.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): OK, I’ll wait up.
(sets alarm to 2:40 PDT)
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
Around this time, 50 years ago my parents were in laundromat in northern Illinois. Around 4:00 a.m. my mom woke up and demanded to co to the hospital. I am told my dad drove like a maniac to get to the hospital – he didn’t want a birth in his lovely. black on black 1959 Austin-Healey 100-6. When the got to the hospital (now an old nuns’ home) nurses originally poo-pooed my mom’s statements that the baby was coming NOW because it was her first. This was around 4:35 a.m. I was born at 4:40 a.m. A couple of hours later, my dad went back to the car and drove around furiously fast. Both exulting in and freaking about about that fact that he was a parent.
Is it any wonder that I like cars?
Little Boots
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
or laundromats?
Karen in GA
@J.D. Rhoades: A lot for one day. I’m so sorry to hear about your friend.
Little Boots
and for omnes, because we love it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrVbawRPO7I#aid=P9D213o2X0w
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Little Boots: I hate laundromats. Don’t you see that the laundromat is the representation of the dreary and mundane in the story and the Healey is the spirit of adventure and joy? Damn.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Little Boots: The song’s producer is now a long term guest of the State of California.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Little Boots: Awesome.
Little Boots
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
what about My Beautiful Laundramette? what about that?
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@BillinGlendaleCA: And a musical genius.
Karen in GA
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): Happy birthday!
Little Boots
I totally messed up that title, didn’t I?
did you like the ronettes?
BillinGlendaleCA
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): And bat crap CRAZY.
Little Boots
and happy birthday. is it really you’re birthday, or is this some scam?
Little Boots
you know who’s nice? steeplejack is nice. you know who isn’t? you, birthday boy.
Little Boots
however, I wish you would play you’re favorite steely dan. for your birthday.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Little Boots: Different story, different symbolism.
Every time my dad tells the story of becoming a father (I am the elder child}, the drive by himself in the early morning, exulting and freaking out at the same time, is always a part of it. In person, he does the shifting motions of the long throw A-H gearbox. The drive was important to him. He didn’t get drunk or hand out cigars as his primary celebration of my birth. He went for a fast drive.
@BillinGlendaleCA: Well, yeah.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): It was his last gasp of freedom.
Little Boots
everything you say is suddenly very interesting. it is. sorry to be so flip.
trollhattan
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
Yesterday was 107, which I take as a gentle hint of summerishness.
Mnemosyne
@BillinGlendaleCA:
I don’t remember it ever raining in the summer. I remember we had a very cool and damp July a few years ago, but rain in the summer is not normal.
@Tokyokie:
We got to, “Somebody go back and get a shitload of dimes!” and then they had to turn it off for the safety of the equipment (and the people running the equipment). Feh. It really is raining surprisingly hard for this time of year.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Little Boots: Hey, I tried to tell my parents’ story as a recognition of what two people in their early 20s experienced and did. Me, I can picture my dad behind the wheel of that car, diving like a madman because that was the last time he was ever going to have complete control over anything ever again.
Little Boots
so, maybe animals?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgTSfJEf_jM
Little Boots
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
and I stomped all over it. sorry. but you know better than to take me seriously at this point.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@BillinGlendaleCA: The thing is fast driving does the same for me. Picking a line. Timing the braking. Best stress relief there is. Possibly better on a motorcycle, but let’s not be too picky.
Little Boots
although I could be a bit kinder. oh dammit, wish john would not hold up all my comments.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Little Boots: No problem. I am not often serious and reflective. Tonight, I figured “what the fuck?”
Little Boots
or maybe he doesn’t, now.
Little Boots
well, fair enough.
you know what we need? omnes music?
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Little Boots: I’ve gone down a bizarre nostalgia route. This and this.
dance around in your bones
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
This might further your hatred of laundromats
y Feliz cumpleaños! (let the countdown begin…)
BillinGlendaleCA
Scanning negatives, this roll has pics of my then 4 yo neice(this was 20 years ago). The negative was pretty badly scratched, but the scanner corrected it.
Little Boots
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
very nice. I know this is dorky, but I love this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxl7R6CFWVE
Steeplejack
@Little Boots:
That was quite nice.
Steeplejack
Archer reruns on FX right now.
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
Happy birthday and many happy returns.
Little Boots
and happy birthday, omnes,
Steeplejack
@Little Boots:
“Shake” (apparently non-lip-sync’ed). Awesome B-3 solo at 1:20, which the cameras totally ignore. Go figure.
Little Boots
okay, johnny either has to let me post without delays or he has to get more nightowls.
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
“It’s No Secret.”
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Little Boots: I love the song, but, as a proto-hipster, I prefer Tom Waits original version.
Little Boots
because even omnes needs the Supremes, sometimes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixEOMB6jyEE
Little Boots
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
nobody cannot love tom waits. well, nobody I want to know.
srv
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): Well, happy birthday, but was sleeping in laundromats a thing back then?
My parents have not mentioned that was in, in ’64.
Steeplejack
@dance around in your bones:
On the other hand . . .
Full song here.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@srv: I may not have noted that they went home after doing the laundry, My bad.
Little Boots
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
long as they cleaned that blanket.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Little Boots: Damn right.
@dance around in your bones: Please tell me you at least know the Country Joe song I posted. It is too late at night for raven and Ruckus.
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
Those Teddybears might be for real.
Little Boots
@Steeplejack:
seriously wish i’d been awake in the sixties.
dance around in your bones
@Steeplejack:
That actually reminds me of laundromat days when I lived around UNM – me and a couple girlfriends would take our dirty duds and play pinball and do tequila shots while the machines spun. Yeah, you could do that back in the 70’s. I don’t know how well the laundry got folded, though.
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
I am familiar with all Country Joe and the Fish traditions. How about some Moby Grape?
Little Boots
@Steeplejack:
see? so jealous.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Steeplejack: I think that i made it quite clear that I prefer the Great Society to the Airplane. Add Grimly Forming to my argument
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Steeplejack: Not really my thing but my parents do have it on vinyl.
dance around in your bones
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
Darlin’. I had the actual vinyl of I ‘Feel Like I’m Fixin’ To Die” back in the day. Even played it on a *gasp* turntable!
I really miss albums, actually. We studied those things, all the cover art, the liner notes, the clues left for the discerning…it was a total immersion experience.
Little Boots
@Steeplejack:
which, forgot to say, damn, nice.
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
It’s a Beautiful Day, “White Bird.”
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
Janis, “Summertime.”
BillinGlendaleCA
How about some Beatles?
Golden Slumbers with McCartney, Clapton, Knopfler, Phil Collins & George Martin
Little Boots
damn, tom waits. just damn.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPnOEiehONQ
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@dance around in your bones: I thought that you did. Who am I * from that album is a song that haunts me. Weekend mornings after the cartoons I watched with my dad, songs like that started. And the Moody Blues.
*I know I linked it already in this thread.
Anne Laurie
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): Happy birthday, kid. You’ll always be younger than many of us.
Fifty years ago come December, my mother brought home my baby sister and told my nine-year-old self “Here’s the Barbie doll you were asking for.”
That did not quite work out the way she intended, but even today, I tend to think of my brilliant, polyglot, highly credentialed baby sister as the foul-mouthed primary schooler she was when I left home for college…
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Little Boots: The piano has been drinking, not me.
Little Boots
@Steeplejack:
love this, so much.
Steeplejack
Going Brazilian . . .
Astrud Gilberto, “Agua de Beber.”
Brasil ’66, “Mas Que Nada.”
Little Boots
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
it’s your birthday, why aren’t you drinking more than your piano?
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Anne Laurie: Thanks. You should offer the same to SD and Cassidy. We share the day.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Little Boots: I have no piano. I am a violinist.
Steeplejack
Eurotrash.
Amir Khalid
I saw Guardians of The Galaxy yesterday and loved it. I saw The Fault in Our Stars a few days before and I loved it too.
Happy birthday, Omnes. By the way, tomorrow — the 4th of August — is Barack Obama’s 53rd.
Little Boots
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
well, fair enough. although it seems a little pretentious. to be a violinist and a lawyer.
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
Moody Blues, “Ride My Seesaw.”
Little Boots
it’s innocent when you dream:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95gu6758320
BillinGlendaleCA
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): Maybe you do have a piano, but it’s drunk and sounds like a violin.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Amir Khalid: Thank you. I am aware of the Obama birthday. I am very happy that he didn’t grab mine. Decent of him.
Little Boots
@Steeplejack:
yay, moody.
Chris T.
@Suffern ACE: It’s no problem, because everywhere other than that one weird place on the third planet from the unremarkable star has proper socialized medicine. :-)
dance around in your bones
@Steeplejack: Janis still gives me goosebumps. In a good way.
@Little Boots: I had some friends who played with some famous band I can’t remember now and we had squatting rights backstage in the wings. Tom Waits opened for them – I saw this guy in a fedora, leaning against a lamp post with a cig hanging off his lip and growling in some incomprehensible manner. I was about 15 feet away from him and I had no bloody idea what he was sing/talking. But he made an impression!
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): Yes, you have me down as a Old ;) But hawt damn, the music was good.
Little Boots
@dance around in your bones:
so. damn. jealous.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Little Boots: Can I add skier, rugby player, fencer, and cyclist to the list? Does that make it better?
Little Boots
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
no it does not.
now post your favorite song, if you would.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): All that still sounds a bit elitist.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Steeplejack: Yeah, that is pure Saturday morning for me.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@BillinGlendaleCA: So?
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
High school flashback:
The Motels, “Only the Lonely.”
The Rolling Stones, “Waiting on a Friend.”
Little Boots
i know it’s your birthday, and you shouldn’t have to post anything omnes.
but you know I’m going to post the band, once again,so just save us all, and post what you really want to hear.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Steeplejack: I have that Motels album, that song came up during my walk tonight.
Though I think it was more grad school for me.
Steeplejack
@Steeplejack:
J. Geils Band, “Freeze Frame.”
Duran Duran, “Girls on Film.”
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Little Boots: My favorite song? It varies based on mood and stuff. But If you really want me to say…. Maybe this… Add music and meaning… One cannot do better.
Anne Laurie
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): SD? It’s late — I’m blanking?
Steeplejack
Pretenders, “Back on the Chain Gang.”
Karen in GA
@Anne Laurie: SiubhanDuinne.
Little Boots
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
oh, good lord, do you ski to that, or just rugby?
fine, the band:
Happy Birthday.
https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?hspart=Lkry&hsimp=yhs-SF01&p=youtube%20the%20band&type=YHS_SF_2200¶m1=iyzTqxyuayxkXZEXjiqI44sgEHSDV19xh9ayzcJG8wJ03jFB7t7i5sJaAxM1bL6zRyOCPF8t3jfRSljX6rJ7pX4YYjB_Ccswh-A_MhNRrlOyxoKORlVVYRyjVKTJzaRNtw%2c%2c
dance around in your bones
Ok, The Motels made me think of the Waitresses:
Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful?
And you’ll have to look up Pus.sy Strut because FYWP is such a prude.
Oh hell, I’ll give it a shot
I saw them live several times in San Diego and LA. Great band live.
Steeplejack
@Anne Laurie:
SiubhanDuinne.
Steeplejack
Missing Persons, “Walking in L.A.”
BillinGlendaleCA
@Little Boots: Another song I listened to on my walk tonite.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Steeplejack: Nobody walks in LA, silly.
Little Boots
@Steeplejack:
yay, nice.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Anne Laurie: I will misspell her ‘nym. She is in Georgia and is a stunning decent person. You know who I mean.
ETA: 312 people could answer that question.
Steeplejack
I’m crossing the wires . . . current biopic and retro ’60s kitsch. Look who crashed the ski party.
Steeplejack
@dance around in your bones:
C’mon, you know what boys like.
dance around in your bones
@Steeplejack:
I loved The Pretenders and Chrissie Hynde, I was shattered when my husband pointed out to me one day that the intro to the Rush Limburger show was from ‘My City Was Gone‘. Somehow I’d never connected it….
In honor of that moment: The B-52’s ;)
Steeplejack
@Steeplejack:
That always reminds me of this.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@dance around in your bones: I loved the Waitresses. P$ssy Strut is a fantastic song.
Little Boots
@Steeplejack:
depends on the boy
Steeplejack
@dance around in your bones:
“Don’t Go Back to Rockville.”
Steeplejack
@Little Boots:
“I know what (some) boys like” doesn’t scan as well.
BillinGlendaleCA
@dance around in your bones: I don’t think that Rushbo has listened to the whole song.
Little Boots
the best patti smith:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoGdx3I3dPE
Little Boots
@Steeplejack:
it doesn’t.
Steeplejack
I am just going outside. I may be some time.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
For fun.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
Raveonettes?
dance around in your bones
@Steeplejack: Yep. Little girls haha. Totally un-pc. (Look close, I think you’ll see Peter Dinklage in that video). But I loved Oingo Boingo.
Who couldn’t love a Dead Man’s Party? Who could ask for more?
Little Boots
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
you are still fun
Little Boots
and another, for omnes, cause I think he likes this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6DN11Q4Kao
Tommy
@Little Boots: Stunning. Isn’t that from MTVs Unplugged. Like one of the few things that station did that should be brought back. Bring in rock stars and make them sing. At times you get stuff like this.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Tommy: Music on MTV? Are you daft? That’s just silly.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Tommy: Quoi?
Little Boots
@Tommy:
damn, was it? even more awesome.
dance around in your bones
@BillinGlendaleCA:
I think that’s a feature, not a bug of the whole ‘conservatives use songs when they’ve only heard the intro or chorus’ thang they’ve got going on.
Tommy
@BillinGlendaleCA: LOL. I recall back in the 80s walking to school. Yeah people walked to school. I didn’t have cable TV in my house, so I’d leave as early as I could to pick up Mike. He had cable. Just a few minutes a day getting to watch MTV at his house was awesome. A few times I got to see this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdphvuyaV_I&list=RDVdphvuyaV_I#t=0
dance around in your bones
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): Dude, I just linked that for y’all!
And yes, Pus.sy Strut is remarkable fabulous.
BillinGlendaleCA
@dance around in your bones: And often without permission.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Little Boots: Consider this.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Tommy: That was more grad school for me. I walked to school when i was in 2nd grade, probably 1st grade as well. It was about 1/2 a mile, until they made my school a jr. high school, then it was a mile or so to school.
Little Boots
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
oh, fine, that is lovely too. I don’t know, I still love the “lovers” song.
Tommy
@Little Boots: I am 99% sure that is where it is from. What I find interesting is it is a 10000 Maniacs (Natalie Merchant) song. Here is Natalie Merchant doing that exact same song on well MTV Unplugged.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUGC5oRpbkg
Pretty stunning IMHO.
dance around in your bones
@Tommy:
I remember watching MTV the first day it was on. I was cleaning a friend’s house in exchange for a bit of – uh, some kind of powder – and we were so excited to have a whole channel of MUSIC! The first song was ‘Video Killed The Radio Star‘ which was sadly, rather prescient.
BillinGlendaleCA
@dance around in your bones: Cleaning powder, yeah that’s the ticket.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Tommy: It is a Springsteen song. You know that, right?
Tommy
@BillinGlendaleCA: I walked to school everyday from like 6 until I could drive. As a military brat that meant walking to school in a lot of different places. Where I live now has to be close to the safest city in the country. I live at the edge of town. The bus stop is two blocks away. Can’t be more then three blocks to walk from it. People, a large number of them, drive to pick their kids up from said bus stop. For years I’ve just wanted to yell at the parents, “what the fuck dude.”
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
Tommy scares me.
Tommy
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): No I didn’t know that. There is much I don’t know about music.
Little Boots
@Tommy:
I think you’re right.
Little Boots
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
you scare a lot of people.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Tommy: Most kids walked; though in middle school, some kids lived really far away. One friend, his father was an actor(“sit right back and you’ll hear a tale”) lived by a lake south of the city about a 10 mile drive. The area I grew up in was really rural when my parents moved there, by the time I left to go to college it was a city of 100k.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Tommy: The song was written by Springsteen, but he gave it to Patti Smith because of contract things. Patti did a version of the song that few others could match. Any questions?
dance around in your bones
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): Heh.
Tommy is right, though, that MTV Unplugged has produced some great shows. Put the artists/bands out there with acoustic guitars and minimal equipment and they come up with some pure gold.
Tommy
@Little Boots: Maybe I am just getting old, but I can’t believe even with the Internet, there isn’t a chance for a music video channel. You know what MTV used to be. For example, years ago I kept hearing about Lady Gaga. Not normally the type of music I enjoy. But went to YouTube and was blown away, in a good way, by some of her music. The videos, stunning IMHO. I’d watch a channel playing stuff like that.
Anne Laurie
@Karen in GA: Oops! (thanks… )
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Tommy: Good god, do some searches.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): Springsteen couldn’t record for a couple of years due to a contractual problem, I think with his record company. But he was still writing and gave away a bunch of songs that other folk had hits with.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@BillinGlendaleCA: Yep, and that led to the PS song.
James E. Powell
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
The Number One song on the date of your birth – one of the best from the best
Tommy
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): Search for what exactly?
dance around in your bones
@BillinGlendaleCA: It was a cleaning powder AND a dessert topping!
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Tommy: Music.
Anne Laurie
@Tommy:
I tend to use YouTube that way — click from a link on comment (or a website) and follow the right-hand suggested for you!!! thread down into the wormhole.
Thought this was just because I’m so old, my first exposure to pop music was on a candy-colored transistor radio that only drew the AM stations… but the mainstream media tells me it’s what a lot of The Youngs do these days, too also (which is why the bidniz folk get their boxers in a bunch whenever YT screws around with its algorithms).
Tommy
@BillinGlendaleCA: Ten miles is clearly too far to walk. But this is a pet peeve of mine. I once asked my parents, and I am 45, why I walked to school. They said there were two reasons. One was personal responsibility. I had to go to school each day and I needed to get their on my own. The second, which I find more telling, is they said I needed to learn to live. That I might encounter something I didn’t know. Be confused. But that is life and they wanted me to understand it. My parents are rock stars and IMHO this is just another example of it.
Tommy
@Anne Laurie: As do I. This is the music I tend to listen to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFFnNri15-4
But I’ve found YouTube is a place I can find and listen to music I would not normally listen to. My point about a music only TV station. I have found and then I might add bought, a ton of music from places I’d not normally even interact with.
dance around in your bones
Here’s Bruce doing ‘Because The Night’ and looking very young and skinny, but rocking the guitar.
I still love Patti Smith’s version best, though. I heard it on the radio driving through a warm SoCal night with my best friend and we both sang at the top of our lungs and wanted to drive on into the night forever…
BillinGlendaleCA
I just scanned a picture of a woman sitting on a large mushroom.
Tommy
@dance around in your bones: That is very interesting to watch. As was pointed out to me in this thread I didn’t even realize Bruce did this song. I always thought it was the 10,000 Manics. In fact I will get pounded for this, not even a fan Springsteen. But watching your video, a little more of a fan of the dude.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Tommy: How about “Blinded by the Light” by Manfred Mann, also a Springsteen song. Also the Pointer Sisters, “Fire”.
Mike J
Heh. Dave Grohl on Almost Live from back when the first Foos album came out.
Tommy
@BillinGlendaleCA: I often joke I learn something new everyday. Never ceases to amaze me how little I know about this world. I did not know, as others and you have now told me, Bruce just seemed to give away songs. Songs that became hits.
heckblazer
@Hal:
I dunno. Watchmen? V for Vendetta? Constantine? The Losers? The Road to Perdition? A History of Violence? (Those last two were originally graphic novels published by Paradox Press, a DC imprint).
BillinGlendaleCA
@Tommy: As Omnes and I were talking about earlier, Springsteen couldn’t record them for about 2 years(thinking 76-78), due to contractual problems. So, he let other people record his music.
Tommy
@BillinGlendaleCA: I got that from your comments and those of Omnes. Makes me like the dude more. Again not a huge fan of his music but to just give away your songs when a record company is fucking you, well I can get behind that.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Tommy: He’s not my favorite, my tastes tend more to the UK(Kinks and Beatles) and locally(Beach Boys and Doors).
Tommy
@BillinGlendaleCA: I can get behind all those bands, well not the Beach Boys :). But I get it. I have this thing with John Denver that I assumed would confuse most.
Anne Laurie
@Tommy: Yeah, but I think Tha Kids tend to use the web (ergo, YouTube) the way my/your generation used TV — as the backing track to whatever they’re doing. I’ve got a dear friend who can’t walk into a room, or fall asleep at night, without automatically turning on the TV, but I think her (hypothetical) grandkids use their cellphones that way, instead!
Tommy
@Anne Laurie: I tend to be a jam band dude with a lot of jazz put into the mix. As a kid my local radio station rocked. KSHE 95. Talk to people in the industry and it was the best of the best. Sunday evenings they’d just play an entire albums, no ads. Just let the thing play. First time I heard Pink Floyd or this, via Rush.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDRPtg0kmJU
It wasn’t an album, it was just hours and hours of it.
Lurking Canadian
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): I went to bed too early. Happy birthday, Omnes! I hope you have memorable plans to celebrate the round number.
Bostondreams, PhD
@Hal:
DC has recently ‘simplified’ her origins, removing much of the backstory and simply making her the daughter of Zeus and Hippoylta. And turned the Amazons into murdering rapists that sell their male children into slavery in exchange for weapons.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@rikyrah: The post-credits scene was pure fan service, two cameos, one that fans were hoping for and one that triggered an “OH MY GOD!” from some guy behind me.
Also, even knowing going in what Nathan Fillion’s cameo would be, I did not recognize his voice. I’m sure he had fun doing it.
Tractarian
Is Scarlett Johansson Walks out on DVD yet? Netflix?
Southern Beale
We saw “Boyhood” yesterday. Loved it.
Bob In Portland
Because genocide.
Bob In Portland
Well, there’s at least someone asking about national interests.
Tehanu
Scarlett J’s entire talent consists of being a hot babe. Oh, she’s a professional — I even kind of liked her in the Captain America movie — but puhleeze! Does anybody really think she would be getting all this work if she looked like Mayim Bialik?