Ok so there’s two things that really irk the living hell out of me about Weezer. (Neither of which have anything to do with the band themselves).
Number 1 with a bullet is the insane or just asinine idea that they are an emo band. Or that they founded emo. Or were a huge influence on emo. I don’t know where these perceptions come from but I hear precisely ZERO emo in their sound. Moreover I personally hate bands commercially marketed as emo. And certainly none of them sound remotely as good as Weezer.
From what I’ve read, emo has been around at least since the 80s. So if anything, Weezer would have been influenced by it and not the reverse. However statements by frontman Rivers Cuomo indicate emo was not an influence on the band.
Moreover, I think in the American way of trying to slap a label on anything and everything (for easier marketability!), record companies and press have been mis-applying the term ‘emo’ for years now on all these shitty bands that really have no connection with what emo was originally about or sounded like. In effect, the bands most commonly known as ‘emo’ bands today are to emo as Avril Lavigne is to punk.
The number 2 issue I have is the supposed inconsistency of sound in their albums. Where their debut was an instant classic, Pinkerton was a commercial/critical failure at first, has since been heralded as a great album. Pinkerton was also described as having a ‘darker’ sound. When their third record came out – once again eponymous and commonly known as “The Green Album” – it was viewed as a sonic return to form.
Maladroit was their weakest selling album and is not liked as well as the previous ones.
Once “Make Believe” came out, everybody I know said it sucked.
Yet, I’ve always listened to Weezer on burned cds and mp3s. The result being that I actually don’t really know which songs are from what album. And to me they all sound like they could be from the same album. The band’s sound never really changes to me. “Keep Fishin” coulda been on their first record. “Pork and Beans” coulda been on Pinkerton for all I know.
All I DO know is that this modern pseudo emo really really sucks and Weezer doesn’t.
I don’t care what they say about us anyway. I don’t care about that.
Since the passing of the legendary Billy Lee Riley, the importance of the few remaining 1st generation rockabilly musicians has come into focus for me again.
If Sam Phillips had just one talent – it was an ear for picking out immensely talented musicians. This founder of Memphis’ Sun Records label had the greatest list of rock musicians under one banner ever assembled:
Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbision, Jerry Lee Lewis, Harold Jenkins (who would later be known better as Conway Twitty), Charlie Rich, Chalie Feathers, Billy Lee Riley & The Little Green Men, Warren Smith, Sonny Burgess & The Pacers. All of which recorded great records for Sam Phillips’ Sun label in the 1950s.
While there are still some sidemen around, like W.S. Holland, Scotty Moore, and JM Van Eaton… All that remains of the great rockabilly singers of that era are Jerry Lee Lewis and Sonny Burgess.
It is this same Sonny Burgess & The Legendary Pacers I went to see Saturday afternoon. They were playing for free to the general public at the West Point Prairie Arts Festival. This 78 year old Burgess proves that rock n roll truly is the elixir of youth.
While in the 50s, they were noted for their wildly raucous shows and animated stage presence… the passage of time has of course removed most of that reckless abandon of youth. What has not faded is the talent. These septuaginarians, Sonny Burgess and Kern Kennedy – the two original members of the Pacers lineup of yore are almost as good as they ever were. The short way to say it is that Sonny’s still got it.
I had met Sonny once before at another outdoor festival. He’s a nice guy.
This show was not as musically good as the previous show I’d seen. It seemed like saxophonist Jim Aldridge sang a bit better at the first one…. and they just had a better setlist that time. However the Pacers themselves were much more animated at this show. Particularly Sonny who seemed to be having a really good time, despite the cooking heat.
The increasing obscurity of these 1st generation rockabilly performers makes me re-think my own ideas about retiring my band.
When they’re gone… who else will keep playing rockabilly the way it was MEANT to be played: countryfied, hyper-energetic, and with reckless abandon? If I don’t do it – who will?
Like I said. These guys are increasingly rare. Jerry Lee Lewis can still play as good as he ever could, but the majority of his sets these days are honky-tonk numbers. Not that there’s anything wrong with honky-tonk. And he certainly has the right to play whatever he pleases.
But for pure rockabilly/rock n roll – The Pacers are your best bet. Catch em while you can.
So a while back, Tupelo Underground was a success. Then I went down to shoot an episode about my films on a TV show that will debut soon, as you already know. And I got paid to license one of my songs (even after I had already just given it for free!).
Then this past friday, my band played a show at Boondocks. Despite not knowing there was no house PA, and having to dig up a rather crappy one, it was a good show.
Somebody told me something along the lines of: “Your music makes me want to destroy stuff! It makes me want to pick up my chair and throw it through the fucking window!”
I dunno what ole Paul Thorn’s fans tell him, but I bet he’s never once gotten a compliment that awesome.
Unbeknownst to me, we were actually supposed to get paid for that show. (I’m so used to being ripped off, I stopped bothering to ask. I figure if they’re going to pay me, they’ll pay me.) The following night, I got a call that they had some dough waiting for me at the bar. I got paid the most I’ve ever been paid for a show. That was a pleasant surprise.
The following night of my band’s show, the improv group I’m in – West of Shake Rag – did their debut show for the paying public. The Lyric Theatre was PACKED. It was the largest collected crowd I’ve ever done any kind of live performance for. And the group hit a home run. We received a standing ovation.
I was never nervous about the show. Like most endeavours I embark on, I had forseen how it would play out as sort of a vision in my head. The reality of the show was actually about 10% better than the vision.
Lately the visions have been closer and closer than ever to what the reality becomes.
It’s a strange feeling to stand in front of 250 applauding people having always known they would be there. It was kind of like “Ah… there you are. I’ve been expecting you. What took you so long?”
I had always seen myself doing some sort of performance in that type of setting for that large of a crowd and getting THAT good of a response. Although to be honest, how I arrived there was something of a surprise.
I see all possible positive futures and take various steps to make subtle course corrections of the journey that is my life to get there.
So having arrived at that particular destination, it has now transitioned into being not a destination at all – simply another stepping stone on the way to some other place that will hopefully be even bigger and better. The true traveler actually has no particular real destination. It’s just a journey. This part of it ends when I die. What happens after that is beyond any of our knowing, really. For all the theories about heaven and afterlife, nobody knows firsthand what happens when we die.
As great as the improv show was – I think maybe the only sad or unfortunate thing about it is that perhaps the members of the group may not have any idea just how good they actually are.
The point here is that there has been so much forward momentum this past year. I have been given more respect and love these past couple years than pretty much all years before combined. I wish there was some way to express the gratitude I feel for it all, but words could not do it justice.
So what happens next? Well, I’ve already seen the next few stops of the journey in my head. But I’m not going to spoil it for you…. it would ruin the surprise!
Just know that I think of you (even the people I don’t even know are reading this. You are represented by a faceless silhouette in my head) and I am trying to share my experiences with you as best I can. My success is your success. We are all connected on some level and the journey is a shared one.
The 80s represented the Golden Age of fantasy films. I think we’re in a New Golden Age now, but as great as flicks like The Fellowship of the Ring are, I prefer the 80s era. Call me nostalgic.
But I can’t decide what exactly is my favorite 80s era fantasy film. There are many classics, to be sure. Legend. Masters of the Universe. The Dark Crystal. Excalibur. The Last Unicorn. The Conan films. Neverending Story. Return to Oz….. the list goes on and on and on. But two stand out. My all-time two favs have gotta be Labyrinth and The Princess Bride.
The Princess Bride seems to just be bursting with an abundance of joy. I suspect the actors were having the time of their lives making that movie, and it comes through when you watch it. Any time it comes on cable, I can’t help but to stop what I’m doing and watch it with a big smile.
Labyrinth is, in my opinion, Mississippi-born Jim Henson’s best feature film – not to take anything away from the Muppets. The production design, costumes, sets, and puppetry are absolutely fantastic and represent a remarkable cinematic achievement – especially in the era before CGI.
But I can’t pick a favorite between the two!! On one hand, Andre the Giant was my favorite professional wrestler for years – and I love him as Fezzik in this movie…. it tips the scales toward PB….
But then Labyrinth has that great soundtrack with that wonderful song – “As The World Falls Down” which moves the needle back the other way!
They’re both unique and awesome in their own ways.
I think the two will pretty much be battling it out in my head for supremacy till the end of time. It’d be like picking a favorite child. I’d rather jump off the Cliffs of Insanity than have to choose. The hell with choices! They have no power over me!
My day just got markedly improved by an exponential factor! I just found out while looking for track listings on Johnny Cash’s American Recordings (I coulda sworn there was a song with the I V VI IV chord progression) that there will be an American VI!!
Here is the track listing as verified by John Carter Cash. It will be released sometime this year!
A while back the City of Tupelo contacted me asking if I would donate some music for some kinda commerical they were planning on playing at Cannes Film Festival. It made no sense at the time, but I gave em a cd full of music and they explained they were cutting together a spot to run on these massive Jumbotrons all around the theater.
Well, they’ve uploaded the spot to Youtube. In fact, I’ve never even seen it myself till tonight. Here it is:
I thought at the time it was a spot for the Tupelo Film Festival. Actually, it’s just advertising the city to filmmakers in the hopes they come shoot something here. Which is fine by me, as the more productions shoot here, the more movies I can be in.
The whole thing is just funny to me. This is the same city that used to send the cops to go harass kids and kick them out of my punk shows. Now they want to use my music to represent them!? The same music they were always opposing? What the fuck happened? It proves a theory i had that if you stick to doing something long enough, you go from being some unwanted, misunderstood segment of society to becoming an institution.
Look at blues. It was this frowned-upon, ‘indecent’, ‘primitive’, uncultured, immoral noisy race ruckus back in its day. But now they study that 3 chord crap from the working-class masses at Juilliard!
And you know, I actually just gave Tupelo the song. Call it a gift. After the fact, they actually went back and paid me for it. Not that I don’t appreciate the sentiment (it’s the thought that counts), but now you know where your municipal tax dollars are going. Into the pockets of a punk rock kid like me who writes songs about ghosts and murder.
But then again I dunno. If the government – the establishment actually pays a punk for something….. is he no longer a punk? Or does that make him MORE punk?
Somewhere, the ghost of Sid Vicious is laughing. You can decided for yourself which party he’s laughing AT.
So this past friday, I drove down to Jackson to shoot an episode of a TV show that Mississippi Public Broadcasting is producing about MS filmmakers. I was honored to be asked to be on it.
I was supposed to arrive at 10 am… but as always Google Maps lied about driving time. (When am I gonna learn?) I took the Natchez Trace down. The awesome part about the Natchez Trace is that it’s all parkland and trees and natural beauty – and there’s hardly any traffic. A nice quiet drive in solitude without jerks cutting you off.
The downside is that it has a 50 mph speed limit. I arrived at the location at like 10:30. It’s weird. It’s in the middle of Jackson but you can’t see it. You’d think a TV station might be easy to spot, but it’s on a patch of land surrounded by woods. So I get over the little hill past the trees and see a sprawling campus that looks more like a community college than a TV station. Indeed there were Jackson State University buildings on the campus. I called the person who invited me to come, but as Murphy and his damnable law would have it, he wasn’t answering his phone just then. I figure “Well maybe I can just figure out which of these buildings is the right one.”
It didn’t prove difficult. I entered the building, and to be honest – seeing as how it’s PUBLIC tv (and therefore the evil government), I was expecting some run-down looking Soviet-era stuff. To my surprise they had a really nice reception room with a big monitor showing whatever was airing live on PBS at the moment. There were also just DOZENS and DOZENS of trophies. And on a pedestal all by itself under a plexiglass case was one lone Emmy.
I’d never seen a REAL LIVE EMMY before, and it was bigger than I thought one might be. The base looked like it weighed 25lbs. Thoughts of stealing this thing and mailing it to Cash4Gold ran through my mind, but Daniel Lee is an honest thief. I wouldn’t do that to them. Now maybe if they had six Emmys they wouldn’t miss just one…… Kidding.
So I was waiting on the couch and Edward, the show’s host walks up and starts talking about casting me as a Gestapo agent in his Nazi U-boat short film. This would be awesome as I’m both a WWII buff AND a submarine/sub movie buff. He’s going to shoot on an actual WWII sub, which is even more awesome, although my character is a landlubber.
Anyways, we go downstairs into this labyrinth of hallways and editing room after editing room after control room after equipment room.
I met the director of the show, who was a really nice fellow. In fact, the whole crew were nice people. They take me into the studio which looked like this:
It was chilly as a meat locker in there. I had considered wearing a suit for the show, but ironically thought “Well no it’ll be too hot under those lights anyway.” I thought they’d turn on some of the other lights, but nope – what you see in the pic was the whole light setup. And those big ones are flourescent, to so they put out no heat whatsoever. As a consequence, I was freezing to death in that room.
We sat in the chairs while they did all the setup for a while. Then upon getting everything zeroed in and properly tweaked, the director called for lunch break. Quite anti-climactic. His theory was “A happy crew is a productive crew,” which is definitely true.
So they showed me some of the finished edit of a previous episode they shot, and I was surprised how bright and warm the cut looked compared to how dim and cold the studio seems in real life. Then they bought me lunch! It was a pretty tasty roast beef sandwich.
We started shooting eventually, and I was a little lost when we jumped right into “So tell me about The Picture….” I wasn’t sure if there was going to be some sort of introduction or how it worked. Actually the whole thing was really akward at first and I didn’t know what to say.
I had assumed all the film acting and public speaking/onstage performance I’d done would prepare me for this. I was wrong. It’s a lot easier when you have all your lines written for you and a character to play. Even when I perform music and talk to the crowd, it’s different. I’m usually acting out a persona that is a composite of several professional wrestlers. And I take command of the room. Just trying to be myself in the midst of a freezing, sterile, alien sort of setting was really akward and uncomfortable.
But eventually, I overcame the akwardness and tuned out the environment I think we got some really good stuff. Well I’m sure of it by how enthusiastic the director was when we cut and took a break. There’s feigned enthusiasm when you’re trying to get morale or confidence up – and then there’s the REAL enthusiasm that’s just an uncontrollable natural reaction and I always know the difference. April had told me before I left something like “Don’t freeze up and get stiff like you sometimes do when people ask you questions on camera. You’re Captain Charisma! You gotta relax and just be Captain Charisma.” For at least the middle part of the interview segment – which is the bulk of it, thankfully – I was able to relax and just ramble on like only I can do. Fortunately, there’s editing to cut out some of my rambling, haha!
When we took a break, I went outside where it was hot to stop shivering and get my body temp up. The director was outside smoking and he said I was the best guest they’d had on so far. I scoffed “Haha what, out of the whopping two shows you’ve done so far?” He said they’d done four, so I guess that’s pretty good.
At some point while I was there, I was looking into a control room through the window at a supermonitor. On one of the sub-monitors, the live PBS air feed was playing. Right next to it, another sub-monitor had Sabrina Hawkins getting out of bed in “The Collectors” playing on it. The PBS feed had Sesame Street. That was a really surreal experience. And kinda cosmic as I’m just now thinking about the fact that Jim Henson (creator of the Muppets) is himself from Mississippi! And as I grew up on Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, Dark Crystal and all of that… It’s always been a big influence on me and my brother. (He is himself a filmmaker and puppeteer.) Maybe it’s sort of a passive cosmic endorsement - like the time Andy Kaufman met Elvis and told him he was his idol and he wanted to be famous just like him. Elvis (another mississippian – see how this works?) replied “I’m sure you will.”
Well let’s hope that sorta thing works again. It’s not easy being green.
So we finished up the shoot and I talked to the director some more and eventually left. Another crew member had said “You’re one of the best guests we’ve had on!” That’s pretty awesome. I’m happy I didn’t disapoint.
Oh I forgot to mention that while talking to somebody about technical stuff involving transferring footage from DVD to whatever format they use, I made an offhand mention as we walked past the “Tape Library”, “You got any Tomes & Talismans in there?” They surprised me with the notoriously so-bad-its-good educational series on DVD. It’s one of April’s favorites. So I brought it home and completely surprised her. She had been lamenting not really being able to get that show for a couple years now. It’s this awesomely-bad post-apocalyptic science fiction show that’s intended to teach you all about the Dewey Decimal system. I’m a sucker for sci-fi. And a sucker for post-apocalyptic sci-fi. And a sucker for really bad post-apocalyptic sci-fi! (Robot Holocaust is a horrible movie everyone should watch!) Witness the awesomely badness of Tomes & Talismans here:
So I left MPB. And there the story ends? WRONG!! As I’m merging onto I-55 and weaving around traffic, the A/C stops working. I start freaking out going “WHY IS IT SO HOT!?” and realize the car is overheating. I pulled over under an overpass and turned off the car to let it cool down. Fortunately, April had put a gallon jug of water in the backseat as a precaution should her car ever overheat on her. It was a Godsend! Rather, SHES a godsend. Anyways, I put the water in, went to a gas station and bought coolant and filled the reservoir up. Apparently it had gotten a little low and caused the car to overheat, which caused even more to boil out once i took off the radiator cap. I got the car acting right in short order and headed home without further incident.
The only other incident was not really paying attention to an exit and I ended up going home through Oxford instead of Winona, which adds a few extra miles but no biggie. On the bright side, by going this way, I got to see THE WORLD’S LARGEST CEDAR BUCKET!!! I’m a real sucker for roadside attractions and had previously seen this object in the film Double Decker Confidential by Oxford’s own Thad Lee (no relation) and was wondering where the bucket was. Now I know.
I’m not sure exactly when this TV show will air, but as soon as I know of course I’ll tell all my friends and fans. To be honest, I’m not sure I want to see it. I can watch myself act in movies with no problem, but I hate watching any footage where I’m just myself. It’s painful. And I’m not sure what all I said. I’ll lose even more of my anonymity. And I’m afraid of how completely eccentric I may come across. I believe that I’m perfectly normal, however people frequently laugh at me spontaneously or are even frightened of me. I’m told that I’m eccentric. I really don’t see why people think this.
I’m just an average blue-collar joe. But then they say crazy people don’t know they’re crazy, so I guess I wouldn’t think of myself as eccentric then, would I?
Oh well. When my friends see their work on TV, I’m sure any discomfort on my part will be well worth it. Thanks everybody for making our films possible. And thanks MPB and Edward for putting me on this show and bringing our work to a wider audience!
One of my biggest pet peeves is people who take their lawns seriously. Somebody at work was asking me about my lawn care. I stated that I cut the grass only as little as I could possibly get away with. About twice a month is the norm, unless there’s a dry spell. Then I only cut it once a month.
He said something like “Well you can’t keep it looking nice unless you cut it at least once a week.” I said “Who cares?”
I mean for fuck’s sake. It’s just grass. He asked what chemical additive I sprayed the lawn with to keep weeds from growing. I said that I didn’t do any such thing. He said “Well then don’t you get weeds growing in your lawn?” I said “Yes.”
If I recall correctly, his head exploded about this time. He was incredulous that I just didn’t care about stray weeds popping up here and there. But why should I care if a weed grows? What does it matter? Biodiversity is the natural order of things. I have never come across an acre of wilderness in which only one single species of plant life – and one alone – grew.
For that matter, I’d rather have stray weeds pop up than get cancer from god-knows-what Agent Orange type shit I’d be spraying all over my yard.
Which brings me to my arch nemeses…. Homeowner’s Associations and Charter Communities. These are the bane of my existence. I for the life of me cannot understand why in the hell anybody buys homes under this kind of authority.
There are basically two kinds of people in the world. There’s people who aren’t worried about how other people live their lives – and then there’s people who have a vision of some ideal and actively try to impose that ideal on everybody else. I remember a guy who attempted to impose his ideal on everybody else. You might’ve heard of him. Adolf Hitler ring a bell?
This was the Nazi way. Force the whole of society to conform to the ideal. Ethnic cleansing. Homogenous culture. ALL…THINGS…MUST….BE….SAME!
The Soviets were just as bad. All must conform to the uniform ideal of the state. All who don’t will be eliminated.
This obsession with imposing uniformity upon the world is completely unnatural. There are no two things the same. You will never find two identical snowflakes. No two identical tomatoes. Identical twins aren’t even identical. In nature, nothing is the same. Everything is individual and unique. This is the natural order of things.
This is the way God intended. Those who put themselves in opposition to diversity are putting themselves in opposition to God. Therefore, homeowner’s associations are Satanists.
Where I come from, when people try to tell you what to do with your own property - you shoot them, kill them, and start your own damn country. That’s what Solomon Strickland did. That’s what Henry H. Strickland did. And by gaw, you come around here bitching about my lawn and I’ll answer you with a muzzle full of lead, and if I’m in a good mood (and lucky for you I always am) you’ll get ten seconds to clear outta here before I figure out what kind of lawn fertilizer your grey matter will make!
I have been really busy lately and a lot has been going on. In one period of four days, I auditioned for a couple movie roles, acted in another movie, did an improv practice, worked my normal full-time day job, then acted in a movie at night for two nights.
I was awfully tired! But then two weeks later, I was busy putting on the Tupelo Underground Film and Art festival.
Basically, what happened was that a lot of people I know got rejected from the Tupelo Film Festival. So I thought that if they decided not to screen the movies we submitted, maybe I could. We rounded up several short films and feature films to screen. I found a good venue for it. And so we set about trying to find a screen/projector, and spreading the word to actually get people there.
I also figured while I was at it – why not use the restaurant space already in the venue to have a small art show? So I rounded up a bunch of people I know that make art. Tupelo has this big Gumtree Festival that they put on every year. It’s a big deal and really popular. It’s also really expensive to buy a booth at it. Most of the artists I know don’t ever fool with it. They also don’t ever bother with the local Gumtree museum either. I just don’t think they have any interest in it.
I knew people would appreciate their art if there was an opportunity for a lot of people to see it so I invited them to bring stuff to Tupelo Underground.
The end result was that we had a lot of people come and watch a lot of movies. The filmmakers were really happy, and I’m glad that my friends got what they felt were good screenings. All the artists had a great time and I think they even all sold some pieces. People told me they thought it was a success and started asking me about next year. I didn’t have any intention of it being an annual thing, really. But I don’t see why not have another one.
Oh, I also got a write-up in the local paper. It’s funny because most of the people at my day job aren’t really aware of what I do oustide of work. I kinda like it that way because I can just clock in, and set about running machines in anonymity. Just another humble low man on the totem pole. But ever since the paper article, a lot of people started asking me about it. One woman gave me some encouragement that I think is sound advice. It went something like this:
“Keep on doing what you’re doing. Don’t let anybody tell you any different. Because there are people out there that will try and knock you down because they see you doing something they can’t. So no matter what they say, don’t stop!”
So this account was created some time ago. But I never bothered to use it. I was just blogging on my myspace page. But seeing as how nobody actually seems to use MySpace anymore, I think maybe I’ll try blogging here.
I’m not sure why anybody would be interested in what I have to say. My opinions are no more or less valid than anyone else’s, really.
I tried using Facebook notes but they’re uselsess for anything but words. It’s not possible to post a picture, which is unfortunate as a picture often says things that words cannot. Also, I don’t know that anybody ever reads anything I post to FB notes. They just don’t seem very functional.
Now, I always enjoyed hearing my grandparents and their siblings tell stories. It was always really neat to hear accounts of antiquated ways of life we younger generations will never experience firsthand. So perhaps I will post stories from my own past experiences from time to time. There are some funny ones, and truth is often stranger than fiction. Hopefully you will enjoy them.
I’d never seen a REAL LIVE EMMY before, and it was bigger than I thought one might be. The base looked like it weighed 25lbs. Thoughts of stealing this thing and mailing it to Cash4Gold ran through my mind, but Daniel Lee is an honest thief. I wouldn’t do that to them. Now maybe if they had six Emmys they wouldn’t miss just one…… Kidding.
