When I was just a kid, there were a series of Coke commercials that aired in the US featuring a strange, stuttering, and profoundly bizarre character named Max Headroom. The character has the ability to randomly appear and interact with people near his television set, and soon became the main character of his own TV show (as well as the single-episode talk show that became the basis of the US TV series).

The show lasted eleven episodes before being canceled, but Max’s popularity remained for several years afterwards. Recently, British Television’s Channel 4 launched a campaign promoting its upcoming Digital programming featuring Max Headroom as its spokesperson, albeit a slightly older version.

Actor Matt Frewer portrays both the young and old version of Max. An interesting bit of trivia: The original Max Headroom was in fact NOT computer animated. Technology of the time prevented full-person rendering, so they “tricked” the viewer by dressing Matt Frewer up in a latex and foam rubber costume and cell-shading the geometric lines and shapes that appear behind him.

For more on Max Headroom, see Wikipedia’s article here

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This post could be titled “Good Son/Bad Son”. Good Son because I drove to Houston and back twice so my Mom could spend Thanksgiving with me. Bad Son because I’m totally about to make fun of her.

“Black Friday” was originally so named because of the heavy traffic on that day, although most contemporary uses of the term refer instead to it as the beginning of the period in which retailers are in the black (i.e., turning a profit)

On that very day I was taking my Mom downtown to do touristy stuff (like see the Alamo, tour the Riverwalk, all the things I don’t do now that I live here), and one of the best places to park is the mall parking garage downtown.

I mentioned this and immediately retorted, “Ooh, wait. We can’t park there, it’s Black Friday. Going to be a madhouse at the mall.” (Luckily, nobody seems to like that mall so it was quite empty with plenty of parking.)

My mom, confused look on her face, says, “What does that mean?”

“Black Friday, ya know.” I respond, thinking she would understand the term by me simply repeating it. Why doesn’t that ever seem to work?

Pause, looking sheepish, almost whispering. “… is that when all the Black people come out?”

I laughed for a good minute before replying, “Yes Mom, that’s the one day they come out of their houses, but if they see their shadow they go back indoors for another 6 weeks.”

“Oh shut up,” was her only response. I <3 my Mom. XD

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Yes, I’m a huge nerd and also a World of Warcraft addict.

And if you’ve never played the game (or any MMO, for that matter) you won’t get the jokes in the animated image above.

N00b.

My favorite part has to be that they suspect Boromir of being a ninja. “I get plate drops kk?”

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When you look up “hip indie music” in the dictionary, Sonic Youth’s band picture is shown. Their bizarre/catchy song Bull In The Heather off of the Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star album released May 3, 1994 is the focus of today’s Flashback Friday.

The album this track appears on was my first Sonic Youth album, and even then I only had a marginal understanding of the music. I was just starting to get into alternative and independent music, and I felt so.. hip listening to them. Kinda like the kids that listened to Dinosaur Jr., I felt by knowing who Sonic Youth even was added cool points to me. Ahh the simplicity of the teenage years.

From their Last.fm Bio:

Initially inspired by the experimentation of Glenn Branca and The Velvet Underground and the heavy garage rock of The Stooges, they are known for using a variety of unorthodox guitar tunings, and for applying screwdrivers, drumsticks or other preparations to guitars to alter the instruments timbre.

Members of the band have released books of poetry and prose (a beatnik influence is evident in both their writing and lyrics), produced, written and performed in films (such as “1991: The Year Punk Broke”, “Perfect Partner”, “(this is known as) the blues scale” and “last days”). They have staged shows of visual art, and curated the All Tomorrows Parties music festival. They’ve even appeared in and performed a version of the theme song for “The Simpsons”.

In addition to their 21 albums as Sonic Youth there is much material recorded and performed with other artists, solo albums, and side-projects. It can be said that Sonic Youth are an artistic collective just as much as they are a traditional rock/pop band.

Big plus to Thurston Moore himself for uploading their videos to YouTube. Enjoy!

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I’ve been quite the shutter bug since I finally got around to buying myself a digital camera again after I lost the last one in California. I try to find any opportunity to take photos now just to fulfill the secret desire to be a decent photographer.

I switched from Flickr to Picasa Web Albums a few months back (which I recommend everyone do, they offer 2gb of photo space and unlimited albums without the 200-picture restriction Flickr has), and I’ve gotten quite the collection built up.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here’s five thousand of my recent words:

Brackenridge Park is right across the street from my apartments, and I finally remembered to take my camera with me on a few trips to the park. This was from a rose bush right outside one of the main entrances. The light was just right in that part of the day that it made the whole picture glow.

(more…)

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Suzanne Vega’s 99.9F° is today’s Flashback Friday, off of the album of the same name. Suzanne Vega had a few major breakout hits in the late 80’s/early 90’s, including “Luka” and of course the remixed “Tom’s Diner“. FYI - The original Tom’s Diner was a capella!

The track and both the album were phenomenal, but only received lukewarm airplay compared to previously released tracks. Other standout tracks on the album were “Blood Makes Noise” and one of my personal favorites, “In Liverpool“.

A little more about Ms. Vega from Last.fm’s artist bio:

Suzanne Vega (born Suzanne Nadine Vega, 11 July 1959, Santa Monica, California) is an American singer-songwriter noted for her eclectic folk-inspired music. She lived most of her life in New York City, attending the New York City High School of the Performing Arts (the school seen in the feature film musical Fame), where she studied modern dance.

However, Vega realized that her talent in dance was not sufficient to make her living doing it. While attending Columbia studying English, she penned many songs and performed in the Greenwich Village area.

She was discovered in 1984, releasing her eponymous debut the following year. However, it was not until her sophomore effort, Solitude Standing, that Vega hit the big time.

Have a great weekend!

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REAL ULTIMATE POWER!!!!11!!

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Today’s Flashback Friday comes courtesy of my friends and former roommates, who managed to pull this gem of a track out of my memory. The song is Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen), by Baz Luhrmann off of the Everything For Everybody album, released March 31, 1998.

Baz Luhrmann is probably best known for his directorial skills in such films as Mulan Rouge, however in 1998 he released this collection of songs that included extended version and remixes of other popular songs from several different eras covering everything from Prince’s “When Doves Cry” to Doris Day’s “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps.” The most notable song off the album is this track, which got some serious radio and video airplay when released.

The legend says the wording was from a graduation speech at MIT while in truth they were a journalist writing what she would say at such a speech, but either way their insight isn’t lost. The lyrics were actually taken from a column published in The Chicago Tribune in 1997. The song even had a seal of approval from the Bishop of Liverpool who said at the time that he believed ‘Everybody’s Free’ carried an important moral message.

Enjoy the track, and remember to wear your sunscreen!

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I’ve mentioned before of my love for ICanHasCheezburger and LOLCats, but this mornings post has given me a serious case of the giggles and I cannot stop laughing.

Seriously. So dumb.

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I thought i’d take a turn from the jaded slacker music of the 90’s to something a little more upbeat, if not completely ridiculous. Today’s Flashback Friday is none other than the three-member Presidents of the United States of America doing their biggest hit, Lump, from their self-titled debut released on July 25, 1995.

PUSA had quite a few hit tracks off the album, including Boll Weavel, Peaches, and one of my personal fav’s, Kitty (on my foot and I wanna touch it). They released two more albums which received lackluster sales but high reviews from critics before breaking up in 1998. The members were involved in several solo projects and collaborations with other artists before finally reuniting in 2000, and launching their own record label in 2004.

Enjoy the video, and have a great weekend!

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