Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Unyielding Commissioning Defends The Urban Achievers

The gang at Mental Floss has been speaking our language lately. So we're just going to run the voodoo down quickly for ya. The first four links come from them.

Ten Crazy Music Managers - just what it sounds like.

Me Quiz - a fun little movie quiz about movies with "Me" in the title. No, there's no Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, but there should be.

Flangers and Phasers - an understanding of Flangers and Phasers, complete with audio clips. A bit basic, but enlighening if you had no idea what flangers and phasers were before. I didn't. See, I'm not such a know-it-all soemtimes. This is about audio recording, by the way.

The Ultimate Spinal Tap Quiz" - They had the penultimate one earlier which was rather easy. This one's a bit tougher. Betcha can't get a perfect score. I got a 6. Therefore the review of my output is a mere two words: Shit Sandwich. I think my performance was affected by the little bread.

Randall's Top Ten Descents Into Madness - Um, also just like it sounds. Kudos for including The Wall. But there are some good ones absent. Decide it yourself.

Decade of The Dude - a Rolling Stone article claiming that The Big Lebowski has hit its stride now, ten years after its initial release, because he is finally the man for his time and place. He fits right in there now. Well, permit me a rebuttal. I remember seeing this movie and laughing my ass off at times while the rest of the theater remained silent.

There's nothing profound about this article to me. It all rings true - only in ideas many have long thought about for ten years now. Even as I first watched the thing, I realized that there was a lot I could learn from The Dude. Like many, I have worked hard at cultivating my inner Dude - ironic though that may be. I know some Coen Brothers fans who claim that while The Big Lebowski is an excellent romp, there is no substance to it. Its staying power proves otherwise, and in that regard, I agree with this article.

The thing that's wrong about columns like this is that they talk about the fan mania as though it is suddenly significant. The true story is the "why behind the buy". There is a reason why people are obsessed. Greene touches on this, but incorrectly put it into today's terms. These fans have been around since the movie's theater run. If anything, their organization and ubiquity are solely because of things like e-mail, the internet and iPods. The Dude-heads I know have felt this way for ten years. It has nothing to do with our time or our generation. We don't idolize the Dude. We may find him endearing, but really, it's just that the movie is so goddamn hilarious.

Those prices are just too high - Caught this movie on TV the other night. I had forgotten how hilarious it is. Without context, this clip may make no sense, but do yourself a favor and go out and rent Used Cars starring Kurt Russell sometime. They don't make movies like this anymore.

1 comment:

Scene-Stealers said...

9 out of 10 ain't bad, and I'm pissed at the one I missed. (What year was "Smell the Glove" released?) I remembered at the release party that Bobbi Fleckman tells Ian "That's right it's 1982, get out of the Dark Ages." But I remembered it too late.