I couldn’t resist this. Hulu’s now carrying Mystery Science Theater 3000. Prop up your feet and waste the rest of your workday with The Giant Gila Monster.
In the mid 1990′s, I used to give The Ed a ride to school everyday in a beat up 1987 Pontiac Sunbird. I am pretty sure the first time he ever rode with me he popped in a tape and said “you gotta check this out” – it was The Mighty Mighty Bosstones album More Noise and Other Disturbances and the rest is history.
After the release of Let’s Face It a few years later and the famous “one hit wonder The Impression That I Get, it seemed like the Bosstones were unstoppable. The Third Wave of Ska was at its high point; old fans of the earlier Ska-Core Bosstones were still on board while the suburban teenagers joined in and even a few adult contemporary fans dropped their Kenny G albums and gave the ‘Tones a listen.
But, the Third Wave was a short lived trend with the masses. Even though the follow up album, Pay Attention, was pretty good, it failed to produce a hit. The Bosstones were starting to lose some of their original fan base because the music was not as edgy and the music did not follow the pop trends enough to keep most others interested. The Bosstones followed Pay Attention with another studio album (A Jackknife to a Swan) and a collection of rarities and B-Sides (Medium Rare) but they made barely a blip on the music radar.
Thirteen years, several albums, and nine Bosstones concerts after that fateful day in the Sunbird, I was pretty sure they were done. Lead singer, Dicky Barrett, became Jimmy Kimmel’s Ed McMahon. The band still hosted the annual Christmas music festival, Hometown Throwdown, in Boston but they were not really touring anymore. So, they were hanging around, but would it ever be the same?
Yesterday, they answered the call. A tweet from the Bosstones account (which had been fairly silent until recently) indicated that the new album, Pin Points and Gin Joints, was available now. A quick trip to iTunes showed that it was true. As I prepared to download it, I wondered to myself, would it be good? Would it take me back? Would I want to listen to it over and over again? Was this a last gasp or a resurgence?
Track 1 brought a grin to my face, it was pretty good. But the Bosstones were good at first songs, I would have to keep going. But, by the 4th track, I was still into it. Usually I am not a person who is drawn in the first time I hear an album, but this one was doing it. After I finished my first listen, I was pretty satisfied that they were back. Now, it does not go back to being as edgy and gruff as their first three albums or so, but it is catchy, upbeat, creative, and has decent replay value. With their last couple of albums, I only listened to them once or twice before putting them up for awhile. With this one, I am already on my 5th listen in 24 hours. If I had to compare it to past albums I would say that it is a cross between Pay Attention and Don’t Know How To Party with a little Let’s Face It on top. It has great high energy with some fantastic reggae beats, great lyrics, and a final track that has the longest play time for any Bosstones song at over 6 minutes – kind of their own personal rock opera.
I think that if you have forgotten the Bosstones, you will enjoy listening this and it might take you back a little bit. If nothing else I hope it brings a smile to your face like it did for me.
For those of you who like statistics, here are my ranking of the songs on the album (scale 1 to 5). For me, 4 is a great song while a 5 blew it through the roof.
1. Graffiti Worth Reading – 4 – Upbeat – a great start.
2. Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah – 5 – Goofy and fun – one of the reasons I liked ska in the first place. Makes you wanna drink beer and get rowdy.
3. The Route That I Took – 4
4. You Left Right? - 5 - Very catchy
5. Too Many Stars – 4 – Here’s a little Ska-Core – a political track
6. Your Life – 5 – Great ska rhythm, great lyrics
7. I Wrote It – 4 - The album does seem to flatten out a bit for a few songs starting here
8. Not to Me on That Night - 3
9. Wasted Summers – 3
10. Sister Mary – 5 – Album comes back in a big way here. One of the best on the album. Sweet Hammond organ.
11. It Will Be – 3
12. The Death Valley Vipers – 5 – Not sure I liked this the first time through, but now I love it. A quirky track – one of the Bosstones most unique. Great southwestern trumpet.
13. The Bricklayer’s Story – 4 – The story of a hardworking man
14. A Pretty Sad Excuse – 5 – Slow and fast; good ska rhythm with great lyrics. A great ending to a VERY decent comeback.
4.2 out of 5
Listen and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.
Think guys’ public restrooms are bad? The ladies room can be worse.
Think women don’t have an excretory system? Try holding one in for nine hours for no other reason than the fact that you won’t be considered a “lady.”
Here are five facts about the ladies room you never knew.
1. The “handicapped” stall is always taken.
2. The person in the next stall is talking on her cell phone. Through my 30 seconds next to her I have learned that she’s breaking up with her boyfriend because he’s too insecure: “Like, ohmygod, I mean, like, I’m not gonna try and convince him he’s the one for me if he doesn’t believe it himself. Duh.”
3. After holding it in all day, women let loose noxious, reverberating flatulence behind the relative anonymity of the closed stall door.
4. Most women use the mirrored sinks to check their hair and make-up, not to wash their hands.
5. Since lots of women “hover”, rarely is a toilet seat not christened with tinkle juice.
Enjoy your weekend, and for God’s sake, make sure she washes her hands.
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Front page thumb: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinksherbet/ / CC BY 2.0
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/meddygarnet/ / CC BY 2.0
New York, Chicago, and parts of California are known for the pizza, but why not Cincinnati? Amidst the chain stores that serve their flimsy, soggy cardboard replications of pizza (LaRosa’s included) there stands two places that bake up delicious, gigantic, spicy pies: Adriatico’s and Trotta’s.
Adriatico’s is located in Gaslight Clifton. Their famous “Bearcat” is a counter-top sized pizza piping hot with spicy sauce, loads of cheese, and thick, garlicky crust. There is no where to sit, so all orders are carry-out or delivery. I’d recommend carry-out because you don’t have to wait on the delivery guy, and you can also see the colorful characters who work there. Just be careful in the parking lot. It’s a tight squeeze.
Trotta’s is located on the West side and is also a delivery/carry-out-only establishment. Much like Adriatico’s, they offer a gigantic, delicious, spicy pies (order the Sicilian). Pick up is drive-thru, complete with coolers of beer, wine, and soda.
So this holiday season, when you’re tired of cooking or cleaning up, or just want some pizza, these are the places to start.
Adriatico’s (513) 281-4344
Trotta’s (513) 451-5555
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Front page thumb: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thepizzareview/ / CC BY 2.0
Once again, more nuisances that are not earth ending (a la 2012) but can be quite annoying if you let them get to you (like New Moon).
Salahis: White House trespassing? Now the wife waltzed in to the Washington Redskins Cheerleader camp and acted like she used to be a cheerleader!?!? She even performed during a halftime show. These people are nuts and I am not sure how they haven’t been arrested or beat down yet.
Ocho Cinco Sombrero: Ocho Cinco fined $30 for sombrero. Whether you liked it or not, you have to admit that other players do take off their helmets to put on ball caps. He just chose a traditional mexican hat. Is this move by the NFL racist?
Speaker Box Backlash: People seem to be really angry about this post . If they spent as much energy being happy as they did being intensely angry over this article I think that we would have world peace.
Cincinnati Traffic: I wasn’t there, but I think that Megan’s article sums it up!
Angry at SNL: It seems like every week someone is ticked off at Saturday Night Live for a skit they did. This weekend they parodied the Tiger Woods incident and everyone was in an uproar. I am sure these same people were trading jokes at work, they just were shocked to see it on TV. Look, it is on late at night and it has spent the last 30+ years making fun of current events. Deal.
That’s all… for now. I will now go back to being pleasant (like Ninja Assassin).
Every week, TCM asks its writers to chime in on a particular subject. This week we name our guilty pleasures.
Ed Schindler
Guilty pleasure? Thy name is Bon Jovi.
In the late 80’s, being a Bon Jovi fan was par for the course for rock fans of all genders: male, female, and French. But something happened. Our friend Mr. Jovi got older and more, shall we say, fabulous? He started acting. His lyrics started telling us to lay our hands on him. And when hair metal became less hairy, Jon Bon Jovi led the pack with salon (pronounced: “sa-lawn”) perfected golden locks. Today, Bon Jovi is the musical equivalent of a chick flick.
On a Saturday night playing Rock Band with your friends, you know someone’s wife will take the microphone and pick either “Livin’ on a Prayer” or “Wanted Dead or Alive.” And deep down inside, you will unleash your inner Richie Sambora, grin a little, and stand like a man with your plastic replica guitar. After all, you have also seen a million faces and rocked at least 3/8ths of them.
Adam Hipp
Purple. I love purple. Purple jerseys, purple cars, purple bridges, purple people eaters, purple dinosaurs, purple flowers, making something purple just makes it look better. People always give me this weird look and question my manliness when I tell them purple is my favorite color. Apparently it’s supposed to be red or blue. Screw them, purple is just the best color by far.
Megan
My manly guilty pleasures are filth, gluttony, and ungodly gaseousness. That’s right: I’m dirty, I eat a whole lot, and then when what I eat gets digested, it exits two of my orifices–oral and anal. Mmmm…can you smell the masculinity?
What’s worse: those aren’t really guilty pleasures, but more so just the way I am. Stand back while I light this one.
Matthew
I would have to say that mine is Pop Culture in general. I just want to know everything about everything that is current and popular. Usually this means listening to music, watching tv, reading books, etc. that are considered taboo by the “cool kids”. I might not talk about it when I’m hanging out, but I don’t hesitate to crank up the Lady Gaga or take in an episode of 90210. When I go in for a vicious game of Pop Culture Trivial Pursuit, I want to come out the victor. No, I don’t just want to be the victor, I want to annihilate the competition, total destruction, complete embarrassment!
I’m a Pop Culture junky, and I don’t want to be cured! This also means I am satisfied in any situation – no matter what music is being played, movie being watched, etc. which is a plus.
Mike Hickerson
My guilty pleasure? Comic books. Not “graphic novels” like Maus or Chinese-Born American (both AWESOME, btw) – I’m talking stuff like Superman, Captain America, X-Men, Justice League of America. It gets worse, though. Yes, I feel guilty for being a 30-something father of three who reads comic books. I’m also a hypocrite, because I refuse to associate with other 30-something guys who like comic books. Sorry – you’re just a bunch of nerds. True, I’m also a nerd, but at least I’m ashamed of it.
Jason McGlone
Gossip. More accurately, hearing gossip is a great pleasure to me, and one that I probably don’t get enough of. I have the feeling that were I to get the chance on a more regular basis, I’d tire of folks’ business being passed around like so many dishes at the family dinner table. The mere fact of my manhood, however, means that most people assume I’m not interested. Even though I am interested, and probably more than I should be (certainly enough to be embarrassed enough to deny it), it ends up that I always get enough gossip to fulfill the hungry addiction beast.
