Favorite TV 2015

Supergirl-  A lot of fun. Not too deep but a promising step in the right direction for female supercharacters.

Agents of SHIELD- I'm not a fan of this more cynical, damaged Coulson (wasn't part of the reason Fury picked him to be in charge the fact that he wasn't cynical?)--- hopefully, this is just a character Arc and he'll emerge as an older, wiser version of his old self.

Parks and Rec- I was wondering how the show could possibly top last seasons finale in terms of making a graceful exit but the final seasons entire premise of jumping ahead 3 years made it work brilliantly.

Game of Thrones- Perhaps not a strong as last season but the show has actually made it past the books in some respects of the story so that made some revelations from this season particularly noteworthy.

The Flash- This is my Junk Food.  It's not breaking new ground like Daredevil and Jessica Jones but it's still fun with tons of fanboy moments this season.

Master of None- Aziz Ansari's brilliant new show is funny and sweet and picks up where his wonderful book, Modern Romance leaves off.





Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt- My favorite new comedy, hands down!  How can you not totally crush on Ellie Kemper? It's exactly like 30 Rock except for the plot, story, and characters (this makes more sense than you might think; trust me).  The same razor-sharp wit and fast and furious punchlines. The most quotable show of the year. "Troll the respawn, Jeremy!"

Daredevil- Yes! This! Finally something to wash the taste of that terrible movie out of my mouth! This is Matt Murdock as he should be portrayed--- dark, gritty, and the most tortured hero of the Marvel Universe (cinematic or otherwise). Kudos for everyone for nailing the show and making it what it should be: a gritty crime noir in which the Wilson Fisk is portrayed with just as much complexity as Daredevil. D'Onofrio's Kingpin is terrifying; a big (but not green) rage monster that makes the Hulk look zen by comparison. Also: Scott Glenn as Stick? Brilliant!

Better Call Saul - For a spin off of what might be the greatest television drama of all time that started as a joke on that show's DVD commentaries, Saul far exceeds expectations on every level. Odenkirk gives his greatest performance ever and is supported by an all around stellar supporting cast including Michael McKean and Jonathan Banks reprising his (now twice Emmy nominated) role as Mike Ehrmantraut. Time will tell whether it will reach the same level of greatness as Breaking Bad but, if not, thus far it's still pretty great in its own right.







Jessica Jones- Yes! This!  If Daredevil was the first prestige-difficult-man-as-superhero-drama then Jessica Jones has at last given us the 'Difficult Woman' version of that and actually surpassed that show in terms of overall quality (not an easy thing to do when you consider how great Daredevil already was).  It serves as a bookend to Supergirl's rose colored 'girl power' take on superheroines. The women on this show are still strong but they're also flawed--- an important part of making a character truly relatable and compelling for the audience.  On top of all of that, it tackles some of the most difficult of women's issues without preaching to the audience.  David Tennant's Kilgrave is the most terrifying villain to emerge from the MCU yet---- not easy to do when you consider D'Onofrio's Wilson Fisk set a pretty high standard.

Favorite Music 2015

10. Star Wars - Wilco-  I don't think it's one of their best by any means, but, considering I got it for free, I can't complain about the price.

9. No Cities to Love- Sleater-Kinney- 90's Riot Grrrls come roaring back without losing any of their ferocity.

8. 25 - Adele- At first, I thought it had one to many ballads--- but then I realized complaining about too many ballads on an Adele album is like complaining about to many sweet riffs on an AC/DC album....

7. Tetsuo and Youth - Lupe Fiasco- not as solid as Food Liquor II but perhaps Fiasco's trippiest
release yet.

6. A Head Full of Dreams- Coldplay- A welcome uptempo return after the plodding, low-key Ghost Stories (an album which seemed play into every naysayers perception of Coldplay that I almost felt they were trolling everyone); It's their strongest since Viva La Vida!

5. Kauai- Childish Gambino- Technically this came out late last year but I didn't get it until early this year, Donald Glover keeps getting better in his musical alter ego.

4.Dodge and Burn - The Dead Weather- I'm a fan of anything Jack White does; this might be his most diverse set with The Dead Weather: Key Track: closing torch song "Impossible Winner"

3. To Pimp a Butterfly- Kendrick Lamar- I am just now getting into him but Lamar has more depth and lyricism than pretty much any rapper since Nas.

2. What A Terrible World, What a Beautiful World- The Decemberist- this is the first release by the band that I purchased immediately upon release.  Old school fans may decry it's not "as good as their earlier stuff" but, screw that, it's their most accessible batch yet.

1. 1989- Ryan Adams- I would like to emphasize that, once again, this is MY PERSONAL FAVORITES not an objective best of list (To Pimp a Butterfly is obviously of a far greater cultural importance) and this was the album I most enjoyed this year.  Adams turns dance-pop into acoustic ballads and reveals their underlying sorrow and turns "Style" into a U2-ish anthem.  Plus, I love the rewrite of the lyrics to "You got that daydream nation look in your eyes"

So, life happens....

So, just after I recommitted to writing more post, I agreed to teach 6 classes with 3 plans--- so it goes! In any case, next semester I'm only teaching 4 courses (one of which is online) so, hopefully, I'll be a little less busy, but I'll try to start geeking out some more and soon!

On the 50th Anniversary of the Help! and the Beatles Shea Stadium Concert!

Help! is often quite maligned as far as Beatles projects go. As a film, the movie doesn't stumble into the accidental genius of A Hard Day's Night (which also serves as a definitive document of 'Beatlemania'), however, that makes it no less enjoyable as a fun little romp with the Fab Four; if nothing else, it works as a kids film (I'd rather watch this than Yellow Submarine).

The accompanying album is also, sometimes, categorized as one of their worst. In fact, according to Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time it is their lowest ranking album aside from Let It Be, an album that was, essentially, made as the band was falling apart (the only two Beatles albums to not be included on the list at all are Beatles for Sale and Magical Mystery Tour--- the former is still a pretty great album--- "No Reply", "I'm a Loser", "Eight Days a Week"--- but is, perhaps, weighed down by some of their weaker covers. While the latter is pretty much universally--- alongside the accompanying film--- considered the worst thing the band did but, hey, it did give us "I am the Walrus").  Now, if we are discussing the original US, United Artist Soundtrack, it is a pretty terrible listening experience.  The songs from the film are inter-cut with incidental music from the score.

However, if we are talking about the original UK album (which for cataloging purposes has been the most widely released on CD--- and can be considered the band's 'intended' version) it can hardly be considered terrible by anyone's standards and, most likely, it is only because  it has to stand next to four or five of the best albums ever made by any band, that it is so often panned.  Sure, it is not as brilliant as Rubber Soul (which would follow only 4 short months later) or Revolver, nor does it have the historical importance of Meet The Beatles (really the American version of With The Beatles) or Please Please Me, and it doesn't stand as a perfect summation of everything that was great about those early, mop top years of the band like A Hard Day's Night but it still contains some of the best music ever recorded.

Remember, in addition to Lennon's brilliant title track the album also contains "Ticket to Ride", (and while Lennon's assertion that this song invented heavy metal seems dubious at best, it was one of the band's most sonically adventurous tunes at that point--- hints of eastern influence can be detected in the song's pulse) and  "Yesterday", the most covered Lennon/McCartney composition.  So, while it might not encapsulate the mop top years the way earlier albums did and it was not as groundbreaking as the work from the 'studio years', the album does serve as an important bridge between the two eras.

The first 'side' of the album is, basically, the songs from the film.  While none of the other songs can compete with "Help!" or "Ticket to Ride", when listened to on their own, they are not without their charm.  The band was growing.  These were very different from the songs of a year earlier--- there was a bit more soul here, a little more country there.  And we also get "I Need You": a nice early songwriting contribution from George Harrison that almost serves as a sort of prototype to his first great song, "If I Needed Someone".

The second half of the album, aside from a couple of throwaway covers, serves as a kind of proto-Rubber Soul.  The folksier, acoustic numbers (also represented on the first side with "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away") not only gave us "Yesterday" but also the delightful "I've Just Seen A Face" which, in fact, was pulled (along with "It's Only Love") and used to open the American version of Rubber Soul (I'm with Little Steven on this one; the song just makes more sense there).

This might be one of the Beatles' 'worst' albums but it certainly isn't bad. In fact, I prefer not to think of it so much as one of their worst as much as I think of it as my least favorite.

Another thing I really like about the album is the fact that it was, really, the last album where they were just a rock and roll band.  "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" might have been a throwaway cover, but it still showcased the group's ability to tear through an old school rock tune.  Which leads me to this week's second 50th Beatles anniversary: The Shea Stadium concert.

The Beatles have often been accused of being 'a terrible live band'. There is some truth to this; most of the surviving recordings from the height of 'Beatlemania' are pretty unlistenable.  However, this has less to do with the band than the audience and the technology. Not only did the screams of thousands of teenage girls drown out much of sound of the band but, remember, the Beatles were probably the first band to play arenas and stadiums.  Most acts were still playing theaters and clubs. The technology simply wasn't there to accommodate the terrible acoustics of these venues; they weren't made to play music in.  Along the same lines, the technology for recording live (especially over all those screaming girls) had not yet evolved to record this type of concert act.  If you doubt me, listen to some of the live recordings (most of them available on the Anthology collections) where the band was playing under more 'ideal' conditions (see also the Live at the BBC collections--- technically most of these were 'live in the studio' but, still, most songs were captured in one or two takes without overdubs).

So, that brings us to Shea Stadium; the performance has never been given a proper, official release (apart from about 4 or five of the songs being featured on the DVD release of The Beatles Anthology; seriously, if you're a Beatles fan and don't own this you need to rethink your life). But, in the days of the internets, full recordings can be found quite easily online.  Sure, the vocals are raw and the harmonies aren't as tight as they are on the album (considering the fact that they couldn't hear themselves, it's a minor miracle they weren't much, much worse), but their playing is tight, on point, yet, also filled with energy and abandon (especially on the show's closer "I'm Down", where Lennon just goes nuts on the electric piano). So, at the end of the day, this is Beatles being what I really most love about them: a good little rock band.

A Silver Lining to the Cancellation of Hannibal

I'll admit that I was slow to warm up to Bryan Fuller's Hannibal; I found it difficult to accept the show's interpretation of a character that I felt had already been adequately immortalized by Anthony Hopkins in three films (of admittedly varying quality).  This was mostly due to the fact that the Hannibal I was used to was, more or less, depicted in a realistic/naturalistic world. Fuller and company opted for a far more operatic environment to explore the character. Rather than taking the suspense/thriller route of the films, the show goes more for horror. It is romantic, not realistic.

 Once I finally came around, I fell in love with the show:  It is one of the most visually breathtaking shows on television (I really should get it on blu-ray). The plots are more far-fetched and convoluted than what we see in the original films and novels but, that's ok, this is high opera (seriously, look up the plots to some of those things). It's smart--- probably too smart for its own good; I still feel it takes itself a little to seriously from time to time myself.

And, like most shows that are a little too intellectually challenging for the average viewer, it had difficulty finding its viewership and, ultimately, found itself cancelled by NBC. However, this might not be as bad as it seems.

This was, more or less, Fuller's original plan for the show: seasons 1 -3 would be a 'prequel' to Red Dragon, 4 would have adapted Red Dragon itself, 5 would have taken on Silence of the Lambs, 6 would be Hannibal, and then the 7th season would have gone beyond Hannibal to resolve the fate of the titular character.

However, MGM would not release the rights to certain characters that they, somehow, hold exlusive rights to--- namely, Silence of the Lambs characters Clarice Starling, Jamie "Buffalo Bill" Gumb, and Barney Matthews (the orderly who manages to stay on Hannibal's good side). And, it would seem, the show sort of invented their own versions of these characters with Anna Chlumsky playing a 'Silence of the Lambs-era Clarice-like' character in Miriam Lass and with Gilian Anderson's Dr. Du Maurier filling the Hannibal/post-Hannibal role of the character.

Additionally, Hannibal and Hannibal Rising (the only novels that they have the total rights to) have both been mined heavily for plot throughout the 2nd and 3rd seasons.  The first half of season 3 was, in fact, very much this show's version of Hannibal; it covers Hannibal's escape to Italy, his pursuit by a corrupt police officer, and his capture by and escape from Mason Verger (in a twist, it is an unconscious Will Graham that Hannibal carries in his arms,  as he flees from the Verger estate--- in place of Clarice Starling; the show is kind of a really twisted bromance).

So, if the final episodes of this season are adapting Red Dragon, they will have effectively exhausted their source material. And, as much as it sucks that the show will be cut short, it is a good way to end the series.  The story of Red Dragon has always been about how Will Graham, traumatized by his previous experiences as a profiler and, in particular, his near death at the hands of Lecter, comes out of retirement confronts Lecter and his own Demons, and emerges triumphant and lives happily ever after (and, when one considers what the character has been through on the show, this resolution will be all the more poignant). Will's story is finished and, to continue it beyond this, would feel forced.

If nothing else, perhaps the additional time off will allow them to secure the rights to Clarice and Silence of the Lambs and return in a couple of years with a couple of new principals and a new sense of purpose on, presumably, a new medium....

Heroescon 2015: How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love Comics Again

ABOVE: The famous Heroes Aren't Hard To Find; the tiny store that puts on the biggest private comic convention in the country.

This is the first post in a while and I hope to start doing 2 things: 1) Post more regularly 2) be more geeky.... I tended to concentrate too much on music and, while someone can certainly be a music geek, it is not considered as much a geeky pursuit as other things.

As hard as it is for many to believe, I attended my first major comic book convention this year (I had been to a couple of smaller, more local cons over the years). My choice was mostly Geographical; Heroescon is based out of Charlotte which is just a little over two hours from me.  It also just happens to be the biggest convention put on privately and one of the few comic conventions that manages to, more or less, focus on comics (rather than movies, TV shows, video games, etc.).

And, it is that latter feature, which has managed to have the most significant effect on me: I have fallen in love with comics again. So haven't I always loved comics?  Well, I have always liked comics but I don't always love them.  However, the experience of the convention, the opportunity to meet so many creators who are doing so much creative and interesting work has renewed my love for the art form and my admiration for those who practice it.

One of the coolest things about comics: everyone is so nice!  Sure, these are people whose names are renowned throughout the industry but they are hardly celebrities.  As a result, they are just as likely to be as enthusiastic about their work as you are!  They haven't heard it a millions times and done exhausting press junkets where they're sick of questions about their work; they actually want to talk to you about it. Along the same lines, they're also fans of comics themselves.  Comics is still not the most profitable of creative outlets (in comparison to,say, TV or movies).  These people work in the medium because they love it.

Another result was learning to appreciate the physical objects themselves:  the covers, the interior art, the layout of the pages (I had Klaus Janson sign one of his favorite pages from TDKR). I learned to love just flipping through the pages and looking at the art again. I learned to appreciate vintage comics and the work of artists past. The technique required to create an engaging cover that would fly off the shelves.  

Most important of all was this: hope for the future of comics.  First of all, the crowd itself was quite diverse with women easily representing 50% of the attendees--- not only that, but they were some of the most enthusiastic!  More ladies did cosplay than the gentlemen and their character choices were more esoteric and showed an even greater dedication and attention to detain than the guys.

Secondly, comics themselves have never been better; just as television has increased in its quality over the last few years so have comics.  Never have people been buzzing more about creator owned properties than right now; the hottest book of the con was Jason Aaron and Jason Latour's  Southern Bastards (the best way I can describe it is Southern Fried-Sopranos-meets-Friday-Night-Lights)--- there was nary a cape to be found and I'm not even sure much of anyone you could call a 'hero' in any traditional sense of the word.  Much like the recent televolution, people simply want stories that are well told--- and brilliant art doesn't hurt either.

And it's not just the indies that are tearing it up right now, the big boys seem to have finally found the balance between massive crossover events and just telling solid stand alone, character-driven stories.  They're more willing to let writers and artist flex their creative muscle on these properties and allow them to both make them their own and create great iconic representations of classic characters. Snyder has been killing it with Batman for four years now but Pak's current Superman story is finally delivering on the promise of Morrison's failed attempt to both strip the character to his basic/original form as well as reinvent him for a new era. I would be remiss if I didn't mention Waid's Daredevil and Fraction's Hawkeye along the same lines and  Cameron Stewart and Babs Tarr have done the best thing that anyone has done with Batgirl in about 40 years.

On top of that, up and coming artist are taking up and coming characters and creating a whole new fan-base: Wilsons's Ms. Marvel, Latour and Rodriguez's Spider-Gwen, and North and Hendersons The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl are managing to appeal, not only to more women, also people who are tired of the 'muscles n' boobs in tights as usual' and are looking for something different (it's worth mentioning that, while guys all lined up for the old pros like Stan Lee, Klaus Janson, and Tim Sale; it was the ladies who were lining up for people like Matt Fraction, Kelly Sue Deconnick, and Babs Tarr). For the first time in years, I truly think comics has a chance of gaining a newer, younger, hipper, more diverse audience rather than the same old 'nerdy white dudes'.

I also have to give props to the guys from Heroes Aren't Hard to Find and its staff for creating one of the most open and inviting atmospheres for both the con and the store itself.  We're all familiar with the snooty, condescending type of comic store patron best represented by The Simpsons Comic Book Guy.  These types often create an intimidating atmosphere for the uninitiated, particularly women, that makes it difficult for them to feel comfortable even venturing into a comic shop.  The Heroes staff were some of the most friendly and welcoming  people at the con (which is a small miracle considering how stressful the whole operation must be for them to manage over the weekend); they didn't care if you wanted to read Squirrel-Girl, Southern Bastards, Teen Titans, Go! or Archie--- they were just glad you wanted to read comics and were always happy to help and offer suggestions. 

I have also found my collector's drive reinvigorated--- for the last ten years or so, I have been content with trades, only buying single issues when I felt like getting a sampling of what was going on at the moment (or, if someone was doing something really awesome---stuff like All Star Superman). Now, I find myself wanting to buy the comics, issue by issue to experience them 'live' so to speak, not to mention seeking out vintage back issues.... this might not be good for my wallet....

February Album of the Month: Bob Dylan's Self Potrait, Another Self Potrait and The Complete Basement Tapes

It's been a while since I've done one of these so I figured I'd make up for lost time by doing 2 double albums and a 6 disc boxed set!

I had a friend from high school who had a four track cassette recorder.   Every six months or so he would have a new 'album' that was a collection of his most recent recordings.  He actually got pretty good at it and many of the recordings were almost professional in their quality (pretty damn miraculous if you consider the technology--- this wasn't Pro-Tools).  In any case, the recordings were often documents of what he was into at the time:  he dated a girl who played flute, so there would be some songs with flutes on them; he dug up his dad's old Hank Williams records, so there would be a country songs; he'd be really into classic rock one week so there would be an attempt at a Zeppelin/Aerosmith type song. Some of them were recorded with other friends and musicians, various band incarnations, some were all him. Now, he was pretty talented so these were all distinctly him but it was clear that he was wearing many of his influences on his sleeve on many of the recordings.

And that's what I feel we get with these three Dylan projects: the sound of a guy messing around.  A very talented guy.... but messing around nonetheless.  Sometimes he'd mess around with some friends, sometimes he'd mess around on his own. He'd play around with different styles and sounds, play old favorites, popular songs of the time, and originals. Sometimes he'd do his 'Country Crooner' voice, sometimes his old 'Nasaly' one (on his version of  "The Boxer" he duets using each of them). Sometimes the results would be brilliant, sometimes they would be ... interesting. But, they would always be Dylan. These recordings, most of which were never intended for commercial release (even the original Self-Portrait is ambiguous on this), are the sound of an artists trying to find a new voice (after already establishing a good 2 or 3 for himself in the previous decade).

Key Tracks: Basement Tapes: "Folsom Prison Blues", "I'm Not There", "Going to Alcapoco", "It Ain't Me, Babe", "Odds and Ends", "One Kind Favor", "Lo and Behold", Self-Portrait: "Like a Rolling Stone" (Live), "The Boxer" Another Self-Portrait: "Highway 61 Revisited" (Live), "Days of '49", "If Not For You", "Working on a Guru", "New Morning (with horns)"