4/17/2009

The Feel Good Revolution


When I was little and my parents were still starting out We used to live in a trailer park. There was this guy in the park who rode motorcycles and I thought he was the coolest dude that ever lived. I called him Motorcycle Joe. I don't know if that was his real name but thats what I called him. I'd hear the rumble of his bike and I'd run outside to catch a glimpse of him, he'd wave to me and rev the bike which made me spazz out with delight. He used to take me for rides around the park, I felt like the most badass kid in the park, frankly because I was. If you were wondering, yes that is a picture of me on one of Motorcycle Joes bikes.
Daniel Johnston - Speeding Motorcycles

The other night I watched "A Bronx Tale" for the 500th time. I have to say that is one of my favorite movies. It touches on so many subjects and it's not your typical mob movie. The Ataris were one of my staple bands growing up. I was just getting out of my punk phase and starting to expand my musical horizons. This song is from what I consider to be the Ataris last really good album. After that they went way more emo and less pop-punk. I think them covering Don Henleys "Boys Of Summer" ruined it for me. Anyway I loved this song even though it is really emo. The main reason for that was because of this clip at the end. At the time I had no idea what movie the clip was from, and didn't know for years after. When I bought "A Bronx Tale" and watched it for the first time and heard this line I knew that this movie was going to be one of my all time favorites.
The Ataris - Your Boyfriend Sucks

Since today is Friday I thought I'd share one of my favorite Friday songs. I worked for a few factories in my day. I didn't mind it, the work week was Monday to Friday, the pay was top notch and I met a lot of cool people. Parts of it did suck though, waking up at 4AM to get ready for work, the heat in the summer (factories usually don't have air conditioning in the plant) and it was fast paced. Come Friday though you knew you had the weekend to relax. So being the music nerd I have always been I would make mix tapes to listen to and keep me motivated. I had one in particular that was my Friday mix. It was filled with poppy happy songs that would make you push through the day, because we all know how hard it is come Friday. You may recognize this song from another little movie called Office Space. It's one of the first songs you hear in the movie when everyone is in traffic. Every time I hear this I crack up because I think of Samir in his car at the beginning.
[Stuck in traffic]
Samir: Mother... shitter... Son of an... ass. I just...
[punches steering wheel]

Happy Friday!
Perez Prado - Mambo 8

The other day my family and I were discussing cartoons. My sister was telling my how she won't let my nephew watch half of the shows on cartoon network because they are just to violent, or all about fighting. Now I know what cartoons have always had violence, but it was usually good versus evil. The characters didn't fight just for the sake of fighting, ok, maybe a few did but it was more slapstick. The same is with regular television too. Things just seem to be getting more and more dark. When I was little you hardly ever heard anyone use the word bitch, or saw dead bodies uncovered. What happened to the good shows that taught morals and decency. The news is the worst. It's nothing but one depressing story after another. People killing people, rape, beatings, bloodshed and all out war. I heard a This American Life story a few weeks ago about a guy who got sick of all the negativity on TV so her tried to pitch a new channel. It was called the puppy channel. Nothing but cute puppies doing puppy things 24/7. I know that life is crazy and fucked up things happen, but damn! Give me something with a little more hope and positivity. Give me the puppy channel!
James Brown - World (Part 1 & 2)

Super Sweet Bonus Song
Ben Sollee - Only A Song

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