The Music of My Life – 2002

Welcome back to The Music of My Life, where I feature ten songs from each year of my life. In most cases, the ten songs I choose will be ones I like personally (unless I explain otherwise). The songs will be selected from Billboard’s Year-end Hot 100 Chart, Acclaimed Music, and will all be released in the featured year.

This particular year is posting on Christmas Day. I wasn’t sure about skipping it or moving it to another day, so here it is. That being said, Merry Christmas to you and yours!

In 2002, I turned 32 years old. I also became a father for the first time. It was a year of change to be sure. I was also a year of struggle, as I would be let go from my radio job shortly after my son was born. I was able to find another radio job, but the rate of pay was so much lower that I would have been better off on unemployment.

Music has always been a way for me to get through tough times. Here are my favorites from 2002:

In February of 2002, the world was introduced to the amazing Norah Jones. The album was Come Away With Me and it was something that really stood out amongst the rest of what was going on musically at the time.

According to Songfacts.com, Norah started performing this song with Jesse Harris (the write of the song) after moving to New York City. Harris “thought it was a good fit for a female voice. Jones changed the key to fit her voice, added a drum beat, then recorded a demo of the song with Harris in October 2000. That demo got the attention of the jazz label Blue Note, which signed Jones and sent her to the studio to record with a group of session musicians. The results were too convoluted, so Jones was assigned to a different producer, Arif Mardin, who had worked with many famous artists, including Aretha Franklin. He was brought in to capture Jones’ distinctive sound, which he did by keeping the original demo take and adding some guitar and a vocal harmony, making Jones harmonize with herself.”

Jesse Harris played guitar on the original demo, which ended up being used on the final recording. He almost stopped the take because he didn’t like the mix in his headphones. He kept going and was glad he did, since that was the keeper. Jones and her band were willing to do another take, but the engineer, Jay Newland, thought it was perfect and wouldn’t let them.

Songfacts says, “Grammy voters were enamored with Jones, nominating her in five categories, with “Don’t Know Why” up for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. After the nominations were announced, the album went to #1 in America, claiming the top spot on January 25, 2003, 11 months after it was released.

Jones cleaned up at the Grammys, winning all five awards she was nominated for, with Come Away With Me earning Album of the Year. Jones also won Best New Artist and performed “Don’t Know Why” on the show.”

It wasn’t long after this that I was watching Sesame Street with my son. Norah sang this with altered lyrics about the letter “Y.”

I Don’t Know Why

The Come Away With Me album is a rare massive seller with no big hits. The only song to land in the Hot 100 was “Don’t Know Why,” which made #30. “Come Away with Me” was the third single, released in December 2002 after the album had been out for nine months. By this time, it has already sold millions of copies, but many were just discovering it.

I love that these two songs really show off the unique voice of Norah Jones.

Come Away With Me

I don’t recall the first time I heard A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton. It is entirely possible that it was years after it was released. I probably heard it for the first time when I was at the Adult Contemporary station I was working for.

I just know that I really liked it. I loved the melody and her voice. I had never seen the video before I watched it to post here.

Vanessa wrote the lyrics after coming up with the song’s piano riff in the summer of 1998 at her parents’ house in Philadelphia. She revealed in a documentary for Vice that she penned the words about a Juilliard student she had a crush on while studying at the School of American Ballet. However, her love was unrequited. “I would never talk to this person,” Carlton said. “I was very shy. I was like, ‘There’s just no way on God’s creation that this would ever happen.'”

She refused to reveal the subject’s name to Vice because he’s a “famous actor” now, apparently.

The song was used in the Shawn and Marlon Wayans movie “White Chicks.” When asked about the song being in the movie, Vanessa said, “I thought it was hilarious. Those guys are really nice, too. I ran into them backstage or something, and they asked me if they could use it. They’re like fans, they’re so cute. But the scene that was in was hilarious.”

A Thousand Miles

Brad Paisley was just coming on the scene when our station brought him to town for a show. He was friendly and a bit shy. When he hit the stage, he was a marvel to watch. I’d watched a lot of people play guitar, but I was in awe of his playing!

His second album, Part II, was released in 2001. One of the songs from it showcases Brad’s playful lyrics and sense of humor. I’m Gonna Miss Her (The Fishing Song) is about a wife who gives her man an ultimatum. He needs to pick between fishing and her. I would imagine this could be re-written as The Golf Song or The Hunting Song, too.

The video is something that takes the song up a notch. Songfacts, quotes Brad:

“I’ve always written with a little humor. Even my saddest songs have a little smile to them,” Paisley recalled in his spotlight interview during the 2018 Country Radio Seminar in Nashville. “So for the [‘I’m Gonna Miss Her’] music video, I pitched this whole idea: I said, ‘I’m gonna do a video that’s gonna take the song to whole other places.’ I was going to get Dan Patrick, who was at ESPN at the time, and have him officiate a fishing tournament. And then Jimmy Dickens was gonna be my fishing buddy. Then, we were going to end up on The Jerry Springer Show. The wives were going to be upset with us, throwing chairs and stuff. [The guy from the label] said, ‘Can you really make this happen?’ And I said, ‘Absolutely.'”

“I walked out of that meeting,” Paisley added, “called my agent and said, ‘I really, really need Dan Patrick’s number.'”

His real life wife, Kimberly Williams, also appears in the video.

I’m Gonna Miss Her

The next song is one that I can relate to quite well. I have been very lucky to still have friends from elementary school (as well as middle and high school). Those elementary school friendships that last are treasures. I have written here many times about my best friend, Jeff, who I have known since second grade.

“We’re Going To Be Friends” by the White Stripes was released on the band’s third album, White Blood Cells. At that time, they were little known outside of their Detroit stomping grounds and in the UK, where they got a lot of love from the music press. But thanks to a surprise hit movie, they gained lots of recognition and fans.

This song plays at the beginning of the 2004 movie Napoleon Dynamite, where it’s used under a clever opening sequence where the credits appear on various everyday objects (lip balm, bag lunch). The film, of course, was a surprise hit and earned a great deal of exposure for the song. The main character, Napoleon, is a strong-willed, talented, quirky type with big ideas. Kinda like the White Stripes frontman, Jack White.

The movie was my first exposure to the song. It led me to dig deeper into their musical catalog.

We’re Going To Be Friends

I have always loved a song that has a Spanish feel to it. There is something about the sound of a Spanish guitar that I really dig. When I first heard My Heart is Lost to You by Brooks and Dunn, I was impressed on many levels. The thing that stuck out most was just how good Ronnie Dunn’s voice fit this type of song.

It only went to #5 on the country charts, and faded away afterward. You rarely hear it on the radio today. It is one of the songs that really got me through a rough patch. It always made me feel good when I heard it.

My Heart Is Lost To You

The 9/11 attacks were still very fresh in our minds in 2002. Patriotism was still on the rise, too. The next song became a sort of anthem for the country, but almost was not released.

Toby Keith wrote Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue shortly after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. He said he wrote the song based on what he thought his father’s thoughts on the terrorist attacks would have been. Keith’s father was a veteran and a patriot.

He told the CBS show 60 Minutes that he wrote this song in just 20 minutes, a week after 9/11. His intention was to play it for troops on USO tours, but not to be part of a commercial release. However, after playing it for Pentagon brass in Washington, the Marine Corps commandant said, according to Keith: “You have to release it. You can serve your country in other ways besides suiting up in combat.”

This was one of many country songs that were written and released after 9/11.

Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue

Elvis Presley had been dead 25 years in 2002, yet, here he is on my list!

Songfacts explains: Mac Davis and Billy Strange wrote A Little Less Conversation for the 1968 Elvis movie Live A Little, Love A Little, which was one of Presley’s last. Davis wrote the original version for Aretha Franklin, but when Billy Strange, who was handling music for the film, approached Davis about contributing a song, he realized that “A Little Less Conversation” fit the scene perfectly, so he reworked it with Strange and Elvis sang it for the film.

This was a fairly obscure Elvis song, peaking at a very un-Kingly #69 in America when it was released in 1968. But when it was remixed and released as a single in 2002, this new version went to #1 in the UK, giving Elvis 18 #1 hits there, the most of any artist. Previously, he was tied with The Beatles at 17. The remix topped the charts in several other countries as well, but only reached #50 in the US.

I do remember the first time I heard this. I was blown away. I thought it sounded modern and fresh. It was great to hear his vocals preserved and this take on the song. I was surprised when high school kids were asking for it at dances, too. They loved it and so did I.

A Little Less Conversation

The band Weezer has made some fantastic and memorable music videos. The next one is no exception.

Maladroit was Weezer’s fourth album. Keep Fishin’ was the second song released from the album. It received some high praise from critics. The AV Club stated: “It’s the kind of infectious, impeccably crafted power-pop rocker Cuomo can probably bang out in his sleep”.

The video is just a joy to watch, especially for folks like me who grew up watching The Muppet Show. The music video features Weezer as guests on The Muppet Show as drummer Patrick Wilson is held captive by none other than Miss Piggy. As noted in the Weezer Video Capture Device DVD, it marks the acting debut for the band members in a music video.

The video premiered on July 14, 2002, on MTV2. It was accompanied by a half-hour special showcasing behind-the-scenes footage from the video’s shoot.

Despite the Muppet Show wrapping in 1979 after five seasons on the air, I can see them having more fun with Weezer and other artists if it were still airing. (The new version from a few years ago took it to a more adult level with themes that I felt were not “Muppet-ish”)

Keep Fishing

Speaking of growing up in the 70’s and 80’s, the next song was like a time capsule. It tossed in many things that I remembered, and many others did, too. It was a crossover hit for Mark Wills called 19 Something.

The song begins with singer’s reminiscence of his formative years, the 1970s and 1980s. In the first verse and chorus, various 1970s-related bits of pop culture are referenced, such as Farrah Fawcett, eight track tapes, and Stretch Armstrong. The first verse also mentions the videogame Pac-man (“I had the Pac-Man pattern memorized.”). The first chorus begins with the line “It was 1970-somethin’ / In the world that I grew up in.” Verse two, similarly, references 1980s pop culture, such as the Rubik’s Cube, a black Pontiac Trans Am, and MTV. The second chorus likewise begins with “It was 1980-somethin’.” In the song’s bridge, the singer then expresses his desire to escape to his childhood years: “Now I’ve got a mortgage and an SUV / All this responsibility makes me wish sometimes / That it was 1980-somethin’.“

It was released as a single from Mark Wills’ Greatest Hits CD. It went to number one on the Country Charts and peaked at number twenty-three on the Hot 100 charts.

19 Something

The final song on my list is a cover of a Joni Mitchell song, Big Yellow Taxi. The song was a hit for her in 1970. She said in an interview: “I wrote ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ on my first trip to Hawaii. I took a taxi to the hotel and when I woke up the next morning, I threw back the curtains and saw these beautiful green mountains in the distance. Then, I looked down and there was a parking lot as far as the eye could see, and it broke my heart… this blight on paradise. That’s when I sat down and wrote the song.”

The Counting Crows covered the song as an afterthought and originally for a hidden track on their 2002 album Hard Candy. It was only released as a single after Vanessa Carlton’s back-up vocals were added for a new version that featured on the soundtrack to the 2003 movie Two Weeks Notice. Their version became the band’s only Top 20 single in the UK, peaking at #13. In the US it reached #42.

If I had to choose between the original and the cover version, I’d choose the original. I don’t think this is a bad cover, but many did. It appears on a few “worst cover song” lists.

I think the song itself is why it is on my list, I love the song. This version doesn’t touch the original, but it did introduce younger folks to the song.

Big Yellow Taxi

Did I leave off one of your favorites from 2002? If so, mention it in the comments.

Next week, we kick off the New Year with 2003. Next to my list for ’03, I wrote “difficult year.” Whether that means that it was hard to narrow my list down to 10 songs or that it was hard to find 10 songs, I don’t remember. I can tell you it features a couple covers songs, a song every parent can relate to, and we learn what beverage equestrians give to their horses.

See you then!

Turntable Talk #23 – The Soundtrack of Our Lives

Once again, Dave Ruch from A Sound Day has offered up a gem of a topic for his monthly Turntable Talk feature! This month it is a topic that I have been hoping he’d get around to. Per his instructions:

“This time around, let’s look for THE SOUNDTRACK OF OUR LIVES ! Pick a great movie soundtrack and talk a bit about it. It can be from a great movie or a dog of one (or anything in between), one made specifically for the film or one assembled from existing tunes as long as it’s one that works for you!“

There are certainly many fantastic soundtracks to choose from. Movies that are known for being a great film and also their great soundtracks include American Graffiti, Smokey and the Bandit, The Wedding Singer, The Sting, and Forrest Gump. Those aren’t even considered “musicals!” When I think about musicals, wow, that list is a long one.

Plenty of movie (and TV) soundtracks can be found in my collection. When I worked in radio, I would often buy soundtracks so I could uses some instrumental tracks as voiceover beds (music that plays underneath your voice as you are doing a bit or talking to a listener). I used a variety of cuts from Napoleon Dynamite, Stripes, The Three Amigos, Dragnet, and movies that were box office bombs! My pick comes from a movie that was far from a bomb. It was one of the biggest films of the 1980’s.

The one soundtrack that has always been a favorite for me (and it doesn’t even contain all the songs featured in the film) is The Blues Brothers. It has some fantastic cuts from Belushi and Aykroyd as well as musical legends like Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and Cab Calloway.

I had this soundtrack on vinyl and I played the heck out of it. Many of the songs were featured on my “driving mix tapes” when I had my first car! While the album contains 11 great tracks, the film included many other classics that I wound up searching for to add to my collection. The music doesn’t follow their chronological appearance in the film for some reason.

She Caught the Katy

The album opens with this Taj Mahal song. The Blues Brothers version has a lot more sound to it. It is so much fuller with the horns and guitars of the band. It is the song that the starring credits roll under. The opening guitar lick leads to the first big horn stab (and we see Belushi) then you have another horn stab (and we see Aykroyd) and the third big horn stab hits as we see the movie’s title card.

Belushi’s vocal on this is perfect. I like his vocal on this cut more than any other song on the album.

Peter Gunn Theme

This is the first of two TV themes on the album. This instrumental plays as the Blues Brothers are driving back to Elwood’s place. There are some really great shots of the city of Chicago in this scene. As you listen to this one, you can hear the talents of Tom “Bones” Malone, “Blue” Lou Marini, and “Mr. Fabulous” Alan Rubin. If I had a dollar for every time I used this as background music to introduce a wedding party I could fly to Italy!

Gimme Some Lovin’

Best known for being a hit for the Spencer Davis Group (and a young Steve Winwood), the soundtrack features the full song. In the film, the band begins to play this song at Bob’s Country Bunker (a country bar) and the owner shuts the lights off on them. If I had to choose between the two, I’d pick the Spencer Davis version over this one, but it is still a great jam.

Shake a Tail Feather

Originally done by the Five Du-Tones of Chicago in 1963, James and Bobby Purify had a bigger hit with it in 1967. This version tops them because of one man – the great Ray Charles. In the film, he owns a music shop and the band is buying new instruments. Ray is asked about a keyboard and Murphy Dunn tells him that the “action” of the keys is not that great. Ray sits down and says, “I don’t see anything wrong with the action on this piano” and launches into this song.

As Ray plays, a crowd gathers outside the store and dances along with the song doing all the dances mentioned in it (the monkey, the jerk, the boogaloo, etc…). This song is fantastic.

Everybody Needs Somebody To Love

The song was written by Solomon Burke and recorded by him in 1964. Wilson Pickett’s 1966 cover is probably the best known version. This song is featured at the Blues Brothers’ big concert toward the end of the film. Over the intro, Elwood (Aykroyd) speaks to the audience and thanks “the members of Illinois law enforcement” who are present and waiting to arrest them. We get to hear a big more of Aykroyd on this track.

The Old Landmark

When you mention the Blues Brothers to someone, they will often quote “We’re on a mission from God.” This song is performed by the Godfather of Soul, James Brown who plays a preacher. Jake and Elwood are attending this church service and it is a pivotal moment in the film (and what sets them off on their “mission from God.”

The Old Landmark is a gospel song written by Dr. William Herbert Brewster Sr. back in 1949. It has been recorded by the Staple Singers, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick and many others. James Brown takes this to a whole new level. It’s hard to imagine anyone performing this. He performed/recorded this one live on set.

Think

The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, performs this one as she is telling off her husband Matt “Guitar” Murphy. The song was a hit for Aretha in 1968. For the film, they bump up the tempo and add some dancers. This track is SO good! ”Blue” Lou Marini grabs his sax midway through the number and really jams through the end.

This was one of the harder songs to do in the film. Aretha had recorded the song and found it difficult to lip synch to her vocals as they filmed. It was a scene that needed many takes to do. This version is far superior to her original version.

Theme From Rawhide

The second TV theme on the album takes place in that country bar. After the lights go out they band has to figure out something that the audience will like. They wind up performing this one. Aykroyd’s vocal is just awesome here not to mention the “call and answer” between him and Belushi. Add in a whip and you have a real country hit on your hands!

This scene always makes me laugh because they perform on a stage surrounded by chicken wire. Why? Because the crowd gets so excited they throw beer bottles at them!

Minnie The Moocher

This was a song that Cab Calloway had been singing for decades! He was the “Hi-De-Ho Man.” I just love this version of the song. The rumor is that Cab wanted to do the disco version of the song that he had recorded in the past. They insisted that it needed to be the jazz/big band sound.

The song itself send you right back to the 1940’s. The full sound of the band, the horn section, and the amazing trumpet solos by Alan Rubin. Without a visual, it is still fantastic. Watching it in the film only enhances the experience.

They band is on stage waiting for Jake and Elwood to arrive. The crowd is getting antsy. The band is dressed in street clothes and look sort of shabby. Cab asks if they know the song and the band says they do. He yells, “Hit it!” and the curtain opens. Out struts Cab in a white tuxedo backed by the band, wearing black tuxes and looking sharp. The stage now has an backdrop of famous 40’s places with neon signs and a sweet looking band stand.

As a trumpet player, I can’t NOT mention the spectacular trumpet playing of Alan Rubin on this one!

Cab was a scat singer and his call and answer with the audience is just priceless. I’m not sure how old he was here, but his vocals are right on! He was a legend!

Sweet Home Chicago

This is the longest track on the soundtrack. The original version was done by Robert Johnson in 1936. This is the second song the band plays at their big concert (and the one where they make their escape, hence the long instrumental ending). As they intro it, they dedicate it to the late, great Magic Sam (who was from Chicago) who recorded it in 1967.

This is such a fun song to listen to and to watch in the film. The looks that they give John Candy’s character and the other folks who have been chasing them always make me smile. The song serves as the background music as we transition from night to day and the ultimate finale of the movie.

Jailhouse Rock

Movie Spoiler: The entire Blues Brothers Band gets arrested at the end of the movie. Naturally, the final song of the movie is Jailhouse Rock, originally done by Elvis Presley. Trivia: In the film, the first “prisoner” to jump up on the tables and dance is Joe Walsh!

On the soundtrack, the song is a bit different than in the film. You have a complete cut on the album, while in the movie each band member has a little solo as their name appears in the credits. In the film version you also get a line or two sung by James Brown, Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles and more. It’s a perfect capstone to wrap the soundtrack.

I have played the songs on this album over and over again on vinyl, cassette, on my iPod, and YouTube. It remains one of my favorite soundtracks of all time! What disappoints me is the many songs that were featured in the film that didn’t make the soundtrack. They are worth finding and checking out!

Of course, I can’t tease those without listing them, so here goes:

Somebody Loan Me a Dime – Fenton Robinson (Plays while Jake is escorted from his prison cell)
Shake Your Moneymaker – Elmore James (Plays while Jake and Elwood visit with Curtis at the orphanage)
Soothe Me/Hold On, I’m Comin’ – Sam and Dave (Plays on the 8 track in the Bluesmobile while Jake and Elwood are driving and get pulled over)
I Can’t Turn You Loose – The Blues Brothers – Originally done by Otis Redding (Plays while they drive through the mall and as they take the stage at the Palace Hotel Ballroom concert)
Let the Good Times Roll – Louis Jordan (Plays on the record player in Elwood’s place)
Anema e core (Until) – Ezio Pinza (The piece is playing the apartment that Tom Malone and Lou Marini used to stay – the “Are you the police?” scene)
Quando, Quando, Quando – Murph and the Magictones (Plays in the Holiday Inn scene)
Just the Way You Are – Muzak version of the Billy Joel song. (Plays in the Holiday Inn scene)
Die Romantiker (The waltz that plays at the Chez Paul restaurant)
Boom Boom – John Lee Hooker (Plays as the Blues Brothers are going to meet Matt “Guitar” Murphy)
Mama Lawdy/Boogie Chillen – John Lee Hooker (Plays when Jake calls Maury Sline and on the way to Bob’s Country Bunker)
Your Cheatin’ Heart – Kitty Wells (Plays as the Blues Brothers enter Bob’s Country Bunker)
Stand By Your Man – The Blues Brothers (Plays at Bob’s Country Bunker)
I’m Walkin’ – Fat’s Domino (Plays as Jake and Elwood and the orphans promote the concert)
Ride of the Valkyries – Richard Wagner (Plays as the Nazis are chasing the Blues Brothers toward the end of the movie)
The Girl from Impanema – Muzak version (Plays, naturally, in an elevator as the Blues Brothers go up the 11th floor with the tax money)

The Blues Brothers may or may not have been the first movie of “mine” that I made my wife watch with me. I’m sure that she made me watch one of her tear jerking chick flicks to get back at me afterward. To me, this movie remains a classic. As far as the sequel – not so much. It did have a decent soundtrack, but that is about it.

I have been wanting to write about this album for a long time and am glad that Dave finally gave me a reason to indulge myself with this blog. I am also excited to see what the rest of the bloggers have chosen for their soundtrack.

I’m already looking forward to next month’s topic! Thanks for reading!

I Hope They Don’t Have to Blast!

When you work mid-nights like I do, you look forward to winter. I sleep better in the winter. The only thing that can really wake you up outside is the garbage truck or a snow plow. In the summer, however, you have kids outside playing, people weed whacking and mowing their lawn, and extremely loud motorcycles. You can imagine what went through my mind when I walked outside today and saw this a couple doors down…

Over the summer, our neighbor was having some sewer issues. It seemed like they were always doing something in their front yard. Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen people out with big trucks in the middle of the street. One day they stuck some huge tube-thing down the sewer for a while before leaving. Obviously, something is up and they will be tearing up the street.

I began to think about my sleep (or lack of) for the next few days (or weeks, depending on what they are doing). I actually chuckled as a movie line popped into my head. In Back to the Future Part III, Marty is told by future Doc in a letter that the Delorean is in an old abandoned mine. Past Doc says to him, “We may have to blast.” They do.

At any rate, I got to thinking about how often dynamite was used in comedies and cartoons. Dynamite and laughs seem to go hand in hand. The Three Stooges used dynamite more than once…

Dynamite was a staple gag in cartoons like Bugs Bunny…

and Tom & Jerry…

And how many explosives did Wyle E. Coyote use trying to catch the Road Runner??

It was not just used in comedy, though. Dynamite was always something you would see in old Westerns…

In the 70’s, it was a TV catchphrase…

… in the 80’s, two good old boys blew up things with dynamite arrows…

and even though TNT is technically different than dynamite, AC/DC still had an explosive hit with …

… and who can forget our favorite nerd …

As a kid, dynamite seemed like it was something that was something very easy to get. I mean, all you needed was an ACME catalog and you could get it from them. I wonder if the coyote had a charge account with them?

Anyway, I know it’s gonna be loud in the neighborhood this week. I just hope they don’t have to blast….

So Bad, It’s Good: Napoleon Dynamite

bad

This blog is part of the Second So Bad It’s Good Blogathon, hosted by Taking Up Room. The idea of this event is to write about a movie that is just SO bad, it’s actually good!

You can see the other entries here:

https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/103513267/posts/42964

Intro

I have many movies that I absolutely love that many would consider “bad”. They are movies that I can sit and watch over and over, and still find great enjoyment from watching them. I probably could have picked any one of them to write about for this blogathon, but instead, I chose Napoleon Dynamite.

I must be honest with you, I wasn’t even aware of this film until it was out on video. I am not really even sure what made me pick up the case to see what it was about. Maybe it was the school lockers in the picture? Maybe it was the picture of the weird looking dude on the cover? Maybe it was because the cover said, “You’ll laugh till it hurts”.

0024543143925_p0_v2_s550x406

No matter what the reason, I decided to rent it. What happened next has NEVER happened before in my entire life. When you see a bad movie, you usually say, “Well, that sucked!” and that’s the end of it. As I sat to watch this film for the first time, I was expecting a full blown comedy. I watched this entire movie – in silence. When it was all over, I turned to my then wife and said, “Did I miss something? What the hell did we just watch!?”

But that’s NOT where the story ends! For the first time in my life, I immediately started the movie over from the beginning and watched it again! It was THAT bad!! The second time through, I found myself chuckling out loud at the absurdity of the whole movie, and the characters in it! Because it was a new release, the rental was for 24 hours. Dear reader, this movie was SO bad, I watched it AGAIN the next day before I took it back to the store! You know what? I found it funnier the third time!

Any time I recommend this film to anyone, I tell them, “Watch it once, and then watch it again. Trust me!”

The movie

kids

It is hard for me to even begin to describe this movie. I am not sure I even can. Yes, there is a plot. There are sub plots. The movie is almost a series of vignettes strung together in a way that sort of makes a story. Yeah, that is probably a terrible description, but that’s really all I can come up with.

Napoleon Dynamite (played by Jon Heder) is … unique. He’s different. He is a loner and he’s kind of happy that way. He is a bullying victim. A day at school is complete misery for him. He is constantly picked on and made fun of.

Napoleon has two friends, Pedro and Deb, who fit right in with him. They all seem to speak in short, simple sentences. They all seem to be very socially awkward. This does not stop Pedro from running for class president, though.

Napoleon lives with his grandmother and his brother, Kip. Kip is also a nerd and spends almost all of his time in chat rooms talking with girls. When their grandma is injured in a Dune Buggy accident (let that sink in for a minute!), we are introduced to their baby sitter – their Uncle.

Uncle Rico is a sleazy dude who drives around in an orange and brown Dodge van selling breast enhancement potions and Tupperware-like storage containers. Poor Rico is fixated on 1982. He was on the football team and they “should have won state!” He constantly talks of how things should have been different. He even bought a “time machine” on the internet to try to go back in time!

rico

The more I write, the more I keep scratching my head and wondering, “Just what was this whole movie about, anyway!?” There are just so many scenes in the movie that leave you wondering “why is this in the movie?” “What was THAT all about?” “Why did he do that?”

Those “what the hell” moments, actually end up being the ones you remember the most! Many of them are some of my favorite scenes!

Some examples:

Napoleon feeding Tina, the llama

tina

When Napoleon throws a wrestling figure out the school bus window

wrestler

Uncle Rico nailing Napoleon with a steak

steak throw

The entire dance scene on stage

dance scene

The bully who asks for some of Napoleon’s tator tots (in his pants pocket!), only to be told “no”….so he smashes them…

tots

The entire Rex Kwon Do scene featuring Diedrich Bader of the Drew Carey Show

rex

Tether Ball, Summer’s cake, the bike that does “sweet jumps”, Ligers, La Fawnduh, I could go on and on to explain why this BAD movie is SO good.

I probably lose a few IQ points after each viewing, and you will too! It is one of those guilty pleasure films for me that I will often quote to friends. You will too! But only if you watch it a second or third time!

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Thanks to my friends at Taking Up Room for allowing me to participate in this fun blogathon…..and for giving me another reason to watch this idiotic movie!

Little Bits of This and That…

Bits

One of the blogs that I follow said that the best way to get more followers is to blog everyday. I get daily writing prompts, and some of them have led to decent blogs, but in all honesty, most of the prompts don’t “move me” to write. Sure, I’d like to write every day, but I feel like I should have something to blog about, you know? I have some stuff in the “to write” files, but I wanted to think a bit more on them. So I went back through the things I wrote down in my notebook, and decided that I could write a blog about some of the little things that happened this week.

Second Ultrasound

Sam is officially 12 weeks pregnant now. We had a second ultrasound and it’s amazing how much the baby changed in a week. In the first one, the baby looked like a little peanut. A week later, we could see a baby. Baby P, as we have been calling her/him, was very active that day. We actually could see the arms moving around and they were able to snap another picture.

We have decided that we are going to find out the baby’s gender and are looking forward to the next ultrasound. We’re going to do one of those 3D ones. We are counting down the days until we get to see Baby P again. Once we find out the gender, we will be sharing that, but the names are something that we will be keeping to ourselves until the baby is born.

Ratings

So last Friday, the radio ratings book came out. It is the results of radio surveys of listeners in the market. I have been doing the Saturday weekend shift at the Moose since the book started. The 12+ numbers are the ones that kind of encompass the whole audience. It is the entire group (male and female) 12 years old and up. There are other breakdowns (Women 25-54, Men 25-54, etc…) and some formats care more about female numbers and others care more about male numbers. Country tends to care about female numbers, while rock tends to lean more male numbers (because of advertisers).

At any rate, I got a text message from my boss on Monday:

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Even though I am only on once a week, it is nice to know that people are listening and made me #1 in my time slot. Thanks, Mid-Michigan!

Radio Hijinks

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As a part timer, sometimes you walk into the on air studio and find remnants from whatever went on during the week. Many times it makes me wish I was back on full time, because I truly miss all the silly stuff that happens throughout the week. One day I walked into the studio and there was a piece of scrap paper that read, “Stop farting!” Obviously a note from one host to another while the microphone was live.

This week I went in and found this:

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Perhaps “little ears” were outside the studio?

At my other station, the morning show co-host compiled a list of “Demerits” for each staff member. I am unaware of what lead to this, but she put them up on the grease board in the studio. Our boss got demerits for not showing up for work (he’s on vacation), she gave herself demerits for being a “clown lover”, the mid-day guy got demerits for always “asking what time it is”, and when I walked in and saw mine – I laughed out loud:

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Yes, I did. I wanted to write underneath, and clarify that it was my wife, when something funnier came to mind. We are a radio station after all, so I thought it’d be funnier to write this:

Demerist

Our morning show celebrated 15 years together as a team this week. They went on the air in 2004 (Believe me, this is a big deal in radio! It is rare for DJ’s to be at the same station for that long!). I wanted to promote the fact that their anniversary was Monday, so I looked back at the year 2004 to see what was going on. In August of 2004, the Summer Olympics were going on in Athens, Greece. So I wrote this line:

“It’s hard to believe that Jim and Jodi have been together for 15 years! When they went on the air 15 years ago, in Athens, Greece, they were throwing around the discus at the Summer Olympics. 15 years later, Jim is throwing out the discuses (sic) in his back!”

Stan Freberg

The great Stan Freberg would have been 93 this week. What an amazing talent! He did voice work for cartoons (Pete Puma, and many others), had a weekly radio show, released many parody/satirical songs, was a very successful advertising man, appeared on TV and in the movies, and wrote books.

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Some of my favorite Freberg tracks include his Dragnet stuff (which he got Jack Webb’s band to do on each track – St. George and the Dragonet, Little Blue Riding Hood, and Christmas Dragnet), Heartbreak Hotel, Green Chri$tma$, Banana Boat, and Wunnerful, Wunnerful. Until I read his book, I had no idea how many voices he did for cartoons. He sings the story of the 3 Little Pigs in one of my favorite cartoons (I could not find the full cartoon, but here is the audio of it) with Shorty Rogers – The Three Little Bops.

The C Pillow

As mentioned earlier in this blog, my wife is pregnant. Anyone knows that with pregnancy comes the challenge of getting comfortable. Whether someone told her about this thing, or whether she saw it online, she ordered herself the “C Pillow.” It is a HUGE pillow that she can lay on/in to be comfortable in bed.

C-Shaped-Pillow

I am all for my wife being comfortable, and as the pregnancy gets further and further along, I am sure that this will be very helpful to her. Right now, personally, I hate it. This thing takes up so much room on the bed, but that is not why I hate it. I hate it because if it is on the bed, it is very hard to hold my wife. I know, I am being selfish. I love holding my wife when we sleep. I have gotten to where it is hard to sleep without her. This pillow has taken up temporary residence in our bed, and it bothers me a bit.

Monday night I was called off work. I tried to stay up all night in order to keep on my midnight schedule. I made it to about 5a, (usually I go to bed around 9a), and fell asleep. When I fall asleep to early, it really messes with the following night. It was about 1pm when I woke up and couldn’t fall back to sleep. I got up and grabbed my book and went out to the couch to read after laying in bed for an hour and a half.

While I was out there, I heard Sam get up. She came out to the living room and asked why I was up. I told her I couldn’t sleep. She asked if I would come back into bed and just hold her. I put my right arm under her neck and pulled her close to me. She laid her head on my shoulder and I put my other arm around her. I cannot begin to explain how amazing this was. Holding her close, listening to her breathing, kissing her forehead, and just thinking about what a lucky man I am. I held her close and fell deeper and deeper in love with her. Oh, and I was loving the fact that the stupid C Pillow was on the floor!

My pick for this week’s funniest picture on the internet

I really need to write a review on Napoleon Dynamite. It is truly one of the strangest movies I have ever seen, and to date, it is the only movie I watched immediately after watching it for the first time – because I wasn’t sure what I had just seen! If you have seen the movie, this should give you a chuckle.

Rico