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The Seed That Grew Into An Empire
On this day 79 years ago, the Disney empire was born. Walt Disney produced the first animated short feature film with a completely post-produced soundtrack of music, dialogue, and sound effects. This cartoon was called Steamboat Willie and it also gave birth to the worlds most famous cartoon characters, Mickey Mouse.
Great Live Performance
Earlier this year, the Live Earth concert gave us a number of great performances. I thought this one really stuck out as one of the better overall moments of the concert.
Lord Of The Three Ring Binder
If you thought Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and its related movies were the stuff of nerd heaven, then what do you make of it when it’s translated into origami?
That’s right … the figures in the above photograph are made of a single piece of paper!
Check out some of the fine detail:
Hello, Is It Me You’re Looking For?
Remember the great Lionel Richie video for the song Hello? You know, the one were the Lionel stalks a young blind woman, then she makes an exact sculpture of him even thought she has never seen or touched his face. Did you ever wonder if you could create such a great sculpture of Lionel Richie if you were blind? You not the only one.
Face Is Much Better Than Rod
Before Rod Stewart was wooing the panties off of fat, unmarried old maids and playing elevator music, he was the hard rocking blues singer for Faces.
Rolling Around In Foo
It seems strange that the person who gained the most from the death of Kurt Cobain, was not the person who killed him, COURTNEY LOVE. It was actually Dave Grohl. Had Cobain lived and Nirvana continued, Grohl would have been left buried behind the drum kit with all of his talent trapped inside of just two small drum sticks. After all, drummers are never allowed to write songs.
Garth Is Back And Doing It Right
Garth Brooks is making a comeback of sorts. A new album, a few concerts, a number one song and a shot on the big screen, sort of. His November 12th concert in Kansas City will be simulcast to more than 300 movie theaters nationwide.
Classic Beat Off
We have mentioned numerous times, on this site how great the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson was. We could do classic Tonight Show moments every day and not run out of clips. One of my favorite clips was a drum off between two of the world’s greatest drummers.
Hail Hail Rock n’ Roll
Today the man responsible for the sound we know as Rock ‘n Roll, Chuck Berry, turned 81. Berry’s music continues to impact and inspire young musicians. Berry like the music he created has never stopped. He still performs with passion and energy, and is even still doing the duck walk. He has a concert once a month, in his hometown of St. Louis, at the small club, Blueberry Hill.
Berry will take a rare month off from playing Blueberry Hill, in November, because he is off to Europe for two weeks of shows. Berry is one of our last musical legends, so if you get the chance to see him perform, don’t pass it up. You won’t be disappointed.
Burning Down The Show
Man, I can’t wait for Jay Leno to retire. Once he finally does, Conan O’Brien will get to take over and the Tonight Show will finally be funny again. This past Monday, during the taping of Late Night, Conan showed why he’s is the second best guy on Late Night (sorry, but Letterman is still the king).
The Imperial Scratch
How does a white boy win a a DJ battle? Read more
The Sky Is Still Crying
Today would have been the 53rd birthday of legendary blues/rock guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. Stevie was one of the most accomplished blues guitarist ever to play a note. He may not have been a smooth and polished as Clapton or as eccentric as Hendrix, but his guitar skills and love for the blues were equally as good.
Do It Yourself Filmmaking
Hollywood continues to make worthless, creatively-bankrupt shit-flicks that rob audiences of intelligence, self-worth, and the will to live. Billions of dollars - money that could be used to change our world for the better - go inexplicably instead to finance cold, bloody cumstains like Norbit and Wild Hogs. Thinking people everywhere might be right to wonder if Hollywood’s modus operandi is to destroy the world.
Fortunately some out there make movies simply for the joy of the process. And thanks to technology, the ability to express their art has been made much simpler and easier.
A group called Mediashed has developed a system for making movies - and it’s entirely free.
Radioheadjob
Remember when Radiohead was just another Nirvana knockoff with a quiet-loud-quiet-loud song structure with their hit song Creep?
Things have changed.
The band is set to release a new album of material, and they are doing something revolutionary in the process.
Hearts Still Breaking
Since we first learned about Pixar’s upcoming film, Wall-E, we here at The Rec have been eagerly anticipating what is to come. When Ray wrote this story, we all wanted to turn in applications at Pixar because of what they are accomplishing.
Now they give us this brilliant, tear-jerking poster:
I absolutely cannot wait for this movie. It looks 100% gorgeous, and this little robot is going to draw emotions from anyone who sees this film. Just look at those puppy dog eyes! As it turns out, there is still some creativity left in the movie-making industry. Pixar just has a monopoly on most of that talent.
The Simpsons Keep On Going
The Simpsons is, of course, the greatest comedy miracle in television history. No matter what trends come and go, the show remains the gold standard.
This past summer, the show made a successful leap onto movie screens. For me, it was one of the few entertaining films in a bitterly disappointing summer. The premiere episode of the current season last night gave fans of the show and the film a terrific variation of the show’s famous opening.
Check it out:
Music Biz Gets Nailed
Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails has been a provocateur for years. Most of the time his antics are showy, artistic displays. But for once, Reznor says the right thing at the right time.
Time To Get Real
Outside of the venerable Daily Show with Jon Stewart, few shows on television attack difficult and pressing issues with as much wit and intelligence as Real Time With Bill Maher. And I’m not just saying that because Maher loves our favorite Presidential candidate, Ron Paul.
On a weekly basis since 2003, Maher has been lascerating all manner of current events. And unlike most shows of this sort, Maher’s has only gotten stronger and more invigorating over the years. Just check out this absolutely brilliant and hilarious closing monologue from last Friday’s episode:
Great Live Performance
So this is what happens when you put the greatest trumpeter ever with a bunch of puppets.
It’s Saturday Night
Remember when “Saturday Night Live” didn’t suck?
Since it’s Saturday night and SNL sucks, lets look back at when it didn’t.
