Opinions On Eveything

Old Time Radio enthusiasts rejoice!

I found a great site with over 11 thousand episodes of 160 different OTR series. This is a treasure trove of nostalgia all on one site! The best part of it, it's free!

Now for those of you at work who may be bored and by a computer I urge you to check out the Old Time Radio Network.

I first got into OTR last summer when I was bored out of my skull and decided to look up nostalgia sites. I found one that had downloads of OTR shows and lots of great information. I was hooked right then and there.

Since i'm sure all my readers (the one or two of you out there) are like me and not old enough to remember or even know of this stuff I will reccomend some shows on the site I linked.

Comedy:

Amos n' Andy: I'm sure you've at least heard of the piss poor Sam Jackson/Nick Cage movie of the same name but this is a completely different show. It's about two down and out black guys who move to New York. The hijinks ensue from there. I know it's not politically correct these days to like this show but the humour is just very good. (tho I do cringe at times) Despite the fact that the show was done by two white guys they treated their characters with respect and the situations in the show are pretty universal.

Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy: Charlie McCarthy is the ventriloquest (sp) doll made famous by Candice Bergen's father. It was a pretty amusing show with surprisingly sharp humour. Unfortunately this site only has 6 eps but I have an MP3 disc here with quite a few shows on it. There's an infamous adam and eve sketch that they did with Mae West that caused oodles of controversy. Thankfully that episode is on the site so I urge you to check that one out at least. W.C. Fields was also a great guest on that show as he and Charlie would insult each other to no end.

Fibber McGee and Molly: Another great show from the golden days. This started off as more of a slice of life program that evolved into a comedy. Fibber McGee would always find himself in a pickle due to his blustery nature and telling "small" fibs at times. The two enduring parts of the show was Fibber McGee's closet which he'd open and tons of stuff would fall all over him without fail. The other enduring thing about the show was The Great Gildersleeve which leads into my next comedy pick....

The Great Gildersleeve: This was a spinoff of Fibber McGee and Molly and it was just as popular, if not more so then the original show. Gildersleeve is the epitome of the guy with bravado, bluster and overconfidence that always gets busted. You have to hear this show to believe it. I've heard some episodes where I actually had a long 1-2 minute laugh.


I think that'll be all for tonight. I will do more comedy picks tomorrow and eventually we'll go through crime/mystery shows and lastly westerns.

Hey who said it has to be real life women?

I remember the first time I watched WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT and i'm not ashamed to say I got fuzzy feelings seeing her on screen. Now i'm not one of those weirdos who get all hot and steamed up over cartoon characters but how can you not love a character that's drawn with so much curves and big breasts. :D

In fact she's a "frankenstein" of movie goddesses. She has the Lauren Bacall voice, Betty Grable legs, Marilyn Monroe butt and torso, Jayne Mansfield breasts, Veronica Lake hair, Marlene Dietrich eyes and a singing voice based on Judy Garland.

Also something you may or may not know but Kathleen turner was the voice of Jessica in the movie. She did a great job vocalizing a sultry sex bomb and for that Jessica Rabbit is in the Betty Boop echelon of well drawn, sexy cartoon characters.

Too bad Kim Bassinger's Holli Would in COOL WORLD was just a crass, oversexed character.

I've just recently gotten back into comics. I was never really a big reader of the superhero genre but I did read a few Batman, Spiderman, Superman issues as a kid. I've now started buying comics again and I find the industry more confusing then ever. So this post is going to simplify DC IMO and lead to a more consistent DC Universe as well.

I send questions to Mark Fossen over at Focused Totality/Operation Sports about the comics industry and such. Last night I asked if we'd ever see a boom period again and he basically said "not in the current format" tho he did mention that Trade PaperBacks and Graphic Novels are going through their own little boom. This got me thinking about how I would run DC to bring on better sales and such because as Fossen also said to me, the readership is aging rapidly.

So here's my model for DC Comics:

It's a 3 tier model with a "sandwich" tier between Tier 1 and Tier 2. There'll be different pricing for each tier and within the first Tier there's sub-divisions.

TIER ONE: Monthly Issues

First of all, I think the monthlies are far too skimpy for what they charge. 22 pages is NOT enough. I'm one of those people that likes to take their time reading but i've found that i've blown by the monthlies i've bought in 5 minutes or less! This, coming from a guy who likes to study the panels and such before flipping the page. So what needs to be done is simple. I think there should be a 48 page format and nothing less. There's also the issue of how many books should a character have. It seems to me that Batman and Superman have far too many books associated with them so a new rule i'd institute is "2 books associated with a character". That way you don't have to go all over the place to follow one hero's storyline and whatnot.

As i've said Tier One is subdivided:

1A) This is your main DC universe titles of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman JLA, JSA, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow and whatever else you want to put in there. These would be priced at $2 a pop. One thing i'd like to see in the main DCverse is a return to making the characters matter and less emphasis on the creative teams. This would mean giving any writer a bible to work off of for the title they're working on. That way they'd be forced to write good stories rather then putting in their little quirks on the table.

1B) This is my revolutionary idea. As we all know the comics readership is aging so I think a GENIUNE Silver Age/Multiverse imprint should be instituted. It'd also allow the writers to be creative and have fun with the characters. The All-Star line was SUPPOSED to do this but well Frank Miller went all dark with Bats and while i've heard the Superman one is actually a good nod to the Silver Age it's still pretty much rooted in Bronze Age stuff. So this imprint would be the answer. I'd like to see someone who worked in the SA handle editorial duties on this imprint.

Also in this tier would be an Elseworlds imprint, again it would allow the creative teams to really let their imagination run wild while not having to be tied down to continuity. I think this imprint wouldn't necessarily be a regular monthly but it'd come out enough that a seperate imprint is needed.

1C) This would be the DC Animated division. It's more or less the animated versions of the main DCverse as well as the Cartoon Network books. These would be in the format we see them today of 22 pages and the same price as well.


"SANDWICH"

Basically this'd be where you release mini-series and crossover events. One word about this tho, DC needs to have more clarity with their Mega Events. I know that Infinite Crisis is a once in 20 years kind of event but do we really need a what seems like 4-5 different mini-series surrounding the main event of Infinite Crisis? I mean this is just overkill. This event is supposed to bring new readership but when you have all this other stuff going on it's kinda hard to hook new readers when they have to buy 50 books just to follow the damn thing! (i'm exaggerating but i'm pretty sure that number is pretty accurate)

Anyways these mini-series and crossover events would then convert over Tier Two a year after the mini has fully been published. That way the TPB doesn't take away the sales of the mini. Even then a mini-series would be up for TPB form but that doesn't mean you have to publish it straight away.

Again these would be 48 pages and the price would go up to $2.50 per issue.


TIER TWO: TPBs and GNs

DC has a wealth of comic book goodness in the vaults that ache for a TPB/GN treatment. In fact, I have an idea for a TPB series. We all know that some writers have slavish fans so i'd like to see a Writer X TPB series where you'd get the full run of your fave writer on a book. To make my point clearer how about something like Marv Wolfman's run on Teen Titans. So if you're a fan of Wolfman you'd see a series of TPBs of his entire run of that title.

I like the pricing for these things so i'd keep it as is. I know TPBs and GNs have become the "in thing" so i'd like to see WB (which owns DC) to strike a deal with a major book chain to sell them exclusively or something. I know they sell TPBs at some major chains but I think it'd be more profitable to make it a permanent thing.


TIER THREE: Archives Editions and Specialty Items

I truly love the Archives Edition program at DC and hope to see even more of these bad boys. Yes the price is exorbitant but just look at the quality you're getting. It's money well spent. I think that DC could also put encyclopedias, artist specific artbooks and CD-Rom versions of the Archives Editions. The CD-Rom idea comes from the Marvel CD-Roms i've seen which offers full runs of the Avengers, Spider-man, Fantastic Four and the X-Men. Now unless those were not liscenced by Marvel then this is a great idea for DC to get at the tech crowd.


So there you have it, my idea to make DC more viable. DC also has a great parent company in WB. I think Warners should really ramp up the DC properties in other media. The cartoons have been wildly successful and the live action TV side seems to be doing well. I've even heard they're doing an Aquaman series! The movies are only now starting to get going again with the new Batman films and Superman coming out this summer.

The only thing WB needs to do more of is to actually, you know advertise DC a bit more. There should be more synergy with the TV and movie incarnation of the characters.

So my ideas would do this:

1. Simplify, while at the same time diversifying the DC Universe

2. Emphasizing character rather then the creative teams behind them

3. Put an emphasis on catering to the divergent fanbase: a streamlined DCverse for the ongoing series and a Silver Age/Elseworlds imprint for the older crowd who wish for simpler and lighter entertainment.

4. Make the TPB/GN side of the business at the forefront for mainstream exposure.

5. Synergy between the different incarnations of the DC properties.

The NFL has always been a league that tries to honour tradition. It's no accident that 3 of my favourite NFL uniforms all echo the past. There's something about old style NFL designs that just get to me. I think it's the originality and the fact that they weren't cookie cutter that brings out the joy in watching them in their glory.

In a related story it looks like the Vikings will be getting their purple pants back WOOHOO! Sadly the design that i've seen looks VERY cookie cutter. It looks like a mix of the Rams, Broncos and Chargers. "sigh".

Oh well, at least the pants are back!




I have to include the greatest uniform in all of sports. It's a shame that Spanos (the owner in San Diego) doesn't like them that much. The uniform has such an iconic yet "cool" look to it. I do have to say I really enjoyed the game last year on National TV where the Chargers organization totally went back to the future by giving Qualcomm a throwback look in terms of the football field logos and such.

I really think this should be something done for every team once a year but then again it'd probably be too much work for a one game event.







The Washington Redskins 70th anniversary uniform was just BRILLIANT! I loved the burgundy colour, the nod to the 'Skins past with the spear/feather helmet logo and the sock striping. Sadly, it seemed this was just a one year anniversary uniform. There was talk that it was a trial run for Daniel Snyder to actually RENAME the team. Luckily that never came to pass but the uniform itself is just GOOOORGEUS. It's a shame we'll probably never see this uniform again.




last but not least is the current New York Jets uniform. It's a great tribute to .the 1969 Jets. It's not a completely accurate reproduction but it's good enough. I like the fact that the oval that the word "Jets" is in looks a little more refined then the '69 version which looked more like a football shape. The only thing that's bad about the current set is the green pants. Personally I think it looks alright but a classic uniform doesn't need a monochrome set!

Welcome to the NHL Edition of this 4 part series. I might as well get the non-traditional uniform out of the way. As you can see the Thrashers' 3rd uniform uses my fave colour blue and it boasts a very unique design. It has an almost unfinished quality to it by having "Atlanta" written down on one sleeve and nothing on the other side. The mesh on the sides/under arms is pretty interesting as well tho it does make the players look like they're sweating. Overall it's a pretty busy design but for some odd reason I like it. Maybe it's the blue :)






I know it may seem like i'm a homer with the Leafs pick but it's a very simple and clean design. I actually like their 3rd uni better then the home/away set as the 3rd acknowledges the 1930s/40s design while also having the blue shoulders that the Leafs had in the 70s right on up to when Cliff Fletcher took over.






Last but not least, The Montreal Canadiens. This uniform just oozes hockey tradition. I love the way the logo has a message similar to other logos in the past where it's more then just the letters and such. You know, logos like the Whalers and Brewers where the logo has letters but it makes up an image. That's not the case with the Canadiens logo but it does emphasize the Canadien name and the Habitants as they're called the Habs.

So tonight I was reading OS and there was a thread about the Mets uniform. This inspired me to post my top 3 fave uniforms in major league sports.

Tonight, we'll start with MLB:



Houston Astros' rainbow uniforms were pretty "spacey agey" for the time. Today it's a bad 70s acid trip. I actually like the uniform, maybe it's the interesting use of colours that you don't usually see used well in MLB uniforms






The Toronto Blue Jays powder blues really impressed me as a kid. My fave colour is blue so I guess it's natural. Baseball in the '70s and '80s was just so damn colourful and FUN. I wish we would see the use of brighter colours or interesting designs like we did back then.



The Pittsburgh Pirates of the late '70s seemed to have a million different uniform combos. They were the Mets before the Mets fell in love with black and using tons of alternates. It seems I like gaudy uniforms but you'll see that i'm a traditionalist with the other sports. I'm not a total fruit loop for the bright colours.

I was going to mention this in my last post but it was getting a bit lengthy and I didn't want to go off on a tangent.

I notice that a lot of Marvin's '70s work featured bongo drums extensively and I have to admit when I think of Marvin I think of the bongo drums. The instrument really has an addictive quality to the ear. I think I could just sit and listen to bongo drums for hours on end and never get tired of it.

It's a shame that a lot of modern R&B doesn't utilize it the way Marvin did. Even when they want to use something of that quality they go with electronic beat box type of machines that just don't capture the rythm of the actual bongos. I know that Marvin was heading in that direction in the 80s but i'm sure he would've found a use for the bongo drums.

So to end this post off:

R&B acts, USE THE BONGO DRUMS FOR GOODNESS SAKES!!!!

Yesterday I went and picked up this great new DVD collection of Marvin Gaye in performance. This is the first in what should be a series of like minded DVDs for Motown artists. It's only fitting that the first DVD would feature the Prince of Soul Marvin Gaye.

Marvin was never comfortable performing in front of an audience and wasn't much of a dancer either but despite these knocks against his live performing he was still able to exude charm and captivate an audience.

The DVD features fully remastered mixes of his lip-synched performances that really makes the aural experience much better.

Here are the track listings and my thoughts on a couple of them:

1. Hitch Hike (Filmed In 1964)

2. Pride And Joy (Filmed In 1965)
3. Can I Get A Witness (Filmed In 1965)
4. Pretty Little Baby (Filmed In 1965)
5. Ain’t That Peculiar (Filmed In 1965)
6. You’re A Wonderful One (Filmed In 1965)
7. Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (with Tammi Terrell) (Filmed In 1967)
8. I Heard It Through The Grapevine (1969) (Filmed In 1969)
9. What’s Going On (Filmed In 1972)
10. What’s Happening Brother (Filmed In 1972)
11. Come Get To This (Filmed In 1981)
12. Let’s Get It On (Filmed In 1981)
13. Distant Lover (Filmed In 1979)
14. A Funky Space Reincarnation (Filmed In 1979)
15. Ego Tripping Out (Filmed In 1979)
16. Heavy Love Affair (Filmed In 1981)

The "I Heard it through the Grapevine" performance is the first non lip synched song and it's just amazing. I've only seen snippets of this performance so I had no idea how great it was. Marvin sang the song on a sparse arrangement that was heavily piano based. You could feel the pain in his voice as he sang the song and the piano playing was VERY jazz influenced. In fact the sound of this arrangement is very much in the vein of what would become What's Going On. At the end of the song Marvin gets into an ad lib session where Marvin sounds like a jazz man in his element.

"What's Going On" and "What's Happening Brother" are from the long lost Save the Children film that was backed by the Rainbow-PUSH coalition headed up by Jesse Jackson. Again i've only seen snippets of that performance. This performance was seminal Marvin Gaye. The bongo heavy arrangement with Marvin on piano is just out of this world. At about the halfway point of the song Marvin decides to turn it into a jazz jam session. Marvin was more of a two fisted piano player but when he's on top of his game his piano playing is superb.

So at this point in the song Marvin gets more into a scat rythm with his singing that's very intereting. Now on the original album "What's going on" bridges to "what's happening brother" and Marvin does this in the live performance. As they bridge to the latter song everything is cut out except the bongos and the piano. Marvin sings the last part of the song and he sounds incredibly heavenly as if the spirit of God has taken over. When I heard that I immediately got chills up and down my back. It's very hard to explain but for that short instant in time I was taken away and wrapped up in Marvin's piano playing. So if anyone had doubts that What's Going On was a divine album then watch this performance. It's easily the best on the disc.

Did you know Marvin did a music video? It's true!

Apparently it was a "promotional film" of the song "A funky space reincarnation" from the neglected (at the time) Hear My Dear album. Marvin looks like he was hanging out with Isaac Hayes and George Clinton! The set was elaborate and eye candy was used a bit as well. All of that would become a staple of music videos in the 80s. So I guess Marvin was ahead of his time....again

The last two performances on the disc are from his last sessions at Motown. Interestingly tho these lip synched performances are the most animated out of all of marvin's performances on the disc.

On "ego tripping out" Marvin actually looks like he's having fun singing about his ego and the redemption of himself as he's dancing and grooving to the beat. As I said earlier he was never a great dancer and at times he looks like a chuck and jive type of performer but that's not such a bad thing with the song he was performing in that clip.

The DVD includes interview clips interspersed with the performances. Most of which comes from various Dinah Shore shows. The last couple clips really made me feel sorry as Marvin looked really beat up. Marvin was a talent that was never meant to last a full lifetime. He took on so much emotional, mental and physical abuse in his life that's it's amazing that he lasted as long as he did.

The interview clips are interesting tho and I had a good belly laugh at one clip where he, Dinah Shore and a couple other ppl are talking about Hear My Dear and Sally Struthers blurts out "you wrote that!?" and Dinah had to explain that Marvin basically did everything on that album. You could see that Dinah was slightly annoyed at Struthers' stupidity.

Last but not least 7 performances are included in a cappella form where you hear Marvin recording his 60s hits. It's very interesting to hear marvin singing without the music backing him up. You really get a sense of how amazing his voice was and how he could change his vocal range within a song.

Overall this DVD is highly recommended for Marvin Gaye fans and for anyone wanting to see a master on stage.

Sometimes I hate being Canadian....

Rogers Sportsnet here in Canada are the rights holder of MLB in Canada but it seems they can't come up with a deal to air games. (other then Jays games)

Why?

Because of money

I e-mailed the Toronto Star's sports media reporter and he isn't so sure why but thinks it has to do with money. What a crummy way to start the season. Yeah, I know the Sox game got delayed a lot last night but it would've been better then poker for Heavens sake!

Let's hope RSN can cut a deal sooner or later.

MEET THE PRESS transcript

This past Sunday John McCain was a guest on NBC's Meet The Press. The interview disappointed me in many ways. I first really paid attention to McCain back in 2000 when he ran for president and his brand of politics was very refreshing. In a world where politicians often sell their souls to special interests and the almighty dollar; it was refreshing to see someone buck the trend. The Straight Talk Express was something new in a jaded society that has mistrust in their leaders. McCain was someone who connected to all segments of society. Yes, he lost the primaries in 2000 but that was mainly due the Bush spin doctors who created bad publicity for McCain.

Now i've seen some recent news stories and they've made mention of the fact that McCain has been cozying up to conservative base of the GOP and I thought that he was being smart. Unfortunately, it looks like doing that has had affect on his stands on the issues and the way he presents himself.

Examples: