Monthly Archives: May 2013

From the office down the hall…

Geek humor can be funny. Geek humor can even be hilarious.
Let’s face it though…geek humor is rare.
Very few are good at it.
The artist that stands out in my mind when someone mentions it is Jonathan Coulton.
He has a laid back style that is comforting, and yet, at times, a bit unsettling.
No critique at all, he wants it that way.
One of the best songs of his is Creepy Doll.
He plants images in your head that are frightening.
That is a good thing.
As good as that piece is there is one that I like even better.
It not only puts some decent imagery into your mind but
actually has you rooting, kinda, for the antagonist.
I cannot find a good rendition of it without ads, or the sound quality is pretty poor.
So I bring you a fan tribute video for…Re:Your Brains!

I’ll keep searching for JC material and bring you more in the future.

Pickles and Bikes are not a good combo

Spring around here brings forth many things. Black flies, mosquitoes and noisy motorcycles.
Well, many more things than that actually but those are the ones that stand out.
It was the last one that got me to thinking. What can I play on the show that profiles
a blustery, noise making extension of the male ego?
Then I thought of Arlo Guthrie. Well, wouldn’t you?!
This is an early version of a classic song by him…

As good as he is as a serious artist I find his humorous stuff to be a real treat!

Hey…I’m on the Phone!

Every now and then I encounter an artist/group/entity that I, no matter how hard I try,
cannot find out anything more about than what I have stumbled upon while perusing some obscure website.
Or some variation of that theme…you get the idea.
HYULP is one such band. I don’t know why they are not more well known,
they certainly seem to have their artistic chops together.
One of my favorites from them are Si-Fi-Hi but, alas, I can find nary a morsel of that one.
While recently searching for a short list of said artists I stumbled upon another little gem by them.
Live pieces are seldom as good as the studio version, for many reasons, but this rendition is pretty neat.
Here is HYULP with a piece that I play on the show called “I’m on the Phone!”. Enjoy…

If anyone out there finds Si-Fi-Hi on YouTube PLEASE drop me a line. I will appreciate it muchly!

Go placidly amid the noise and waste…

I have a deep respect for National Lampoon. I grew up on the National Lampoon Radio hour, a mid seventies show that had some great comedic talent. John Belushi, Christopher Guest, Chevy Chase, Brian Doyle-Murray and a host of others, were featured. I also read and have every single National Lampoon Magazine from that time period, and then some. Names like Matty Simmons, Dog Kenney and Henry Beard were like gods to me, still are. This is the entity that comprised most of the Original Not Ready for Prime time Players from the first Saturday Night Live days. THIS, my dear friends, is why SNL is as popular as it is. Think about that for a moment. SNL is what it IS because the core group that made it a household name came from the radio show. In 1972 National Lampoon released an album called Radio Dinner (I have several copies) that had a really cool ditty on it performed by Norman Rose and Melissa Manchester. It was a parody of a poem written in 1927 by the late Max Ehrmann, called Desiderata. The piece is called Deteriorata. I play it on the show as much as I can, It is iconic, superb and deserving of repeat listening. There is no live version of it, that I know of, but this is an entertaining rendition that is worthy of attention.
Deteriorata…you gotta love it!

Thinking ahead to Summer

Oh, I do so loves me some eclectic artists. I intentionally seek them out, for they can make a great product. Even superb, on occasion. Kenny Young and the Eggplants are a great example of this. They have a bunch of really good songs that play quite well on the show. A few are very humorous. One in particular sticks in my head for days after I hear it, and nothing short of the business end of a baseball bat can get it out! That’s a compliment…I think.
It’s a great Spring/Summer tune also. Give it a listen and see if it doesn’t get you going as well…

Cool little ditty!
He’s in the artists link section, check it out for more info.

Middle Class and Proud of it

There are a lot of artists, who are pretty talented but, for whatever reason, do not get a lot of exposure. Dave Dingwall is one of those people. He is known in the Philly area for a low budget cable TV show that he hosts but outside of PA he does not have much recognition. This video is a very entertaining piece that sticks in your head for quite a while after listening to it.
The music, lyrics and acting are quite good.
For a guy in his mid sixties, in 2009 when he created this, it’s a darned good effort.
I bring you, The Blue Collar Shuffle…

Nice piece, don’t you think…?

Take a hint already!

The last post was a little biased towards the satirical side of things. There is something to be said about great satire, a good case could be made that it makes the world go around. I certainly believe that. This time around I thought that I’d spotlight the man who brings us some of the best parody out there…Weird Al Yankovic.
I am going to be a bit cagey here, it isn’t really parody, just a bit. As I said before, I prefer his original material. This is one of my favorite pieces by him, great lyrics, well acted and the ending is sublime.
I played it on the show recently to good reviews. It’s even better with the visuals…

Did I mention that I liked the ending?

You have to love satire and parody!

Lately I have been thinking a lot about Satire and Parody. Admittedly there are times when I cannot tell the difference, they do blur together a bit. Masters of the genre intrigue me. Tom Lehrer is/was very adept at satire, maybe the best. His lyrics are just sublime. Combine that with his zeal for the performance and you have something very good indeed. Parody has its masters also. One of the most visible is Weird Al Yankovic. He certainly has made a decent living at it. I enjoy his talents but consider his efforts to be mixed…some superb stuff there but others, not so much. Personally, I always thought his best work was his original material. In the next few posts I will show you some of the best of both artists. Before that though I wanted to share this video with you. If I am not mistaken, this has both Satire and Parody. I really like it. The powers that be won’t let me imbed it but here is the link. I do believe that you will appreciate it. Enjoy…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk15H6PjBis