Gone, And Already Forgotten

In Memoriam: Bands We Lost In 2011 from stereogum on Vimeo.

Stereogum's list of bands that called it shits this year. I've only heard of a half dozen or so of them, and really only gave a toss about one (and it's not REM).

Shit

Cheetah has gone to monkey heaven.

Who knew he was still alive?  Those movies were as much a part of my childhood as Cap'n Crunch and lunchboxes.   

2011, Buh-Bye!

FedEx In The News

Thermals Keep Me Warm

If you don't got no Thermals, better get you a damn Snuggie.

Hope You All Got My Card

Remember Tonto Tonto?

Jay does! This is the same guy as a singer in the Sopranos.  Ha ha

Oh, Baby!

Saw this trailer last night before The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  (The brief glimpses of the space jockey's ship gave me geek wood.) I know Ridley Scott's good movies are few and far between these days, but color me cautiously optimistic.

We Have A Contender

Look out Weiland, Billy is hot on your heels for shittiest Christmas album this year.

Disintermediated Content!

Louis C.K. is selling his new hour-long comedy special for $5, DRM-free at his own website.

His own take on this new model of distribution:
The show went on sale at noon on Saturday, December 10th. 12 hours later, we had over 50,000 purchases and had earned $250,000, breaking even on the cost of production and website. As of Today, we’ve sold over 110,000 copies for a total of over $500,000. Minus some money for PayPal charges etc, I have a profit around $200,000 (after taxes $75.58). This is less than I would have been paid by a large company to simply perform the show and let them sell it to you, but they would have charged you about $20 for the video. They would have given you an encrypted and regionally restricted video of limited value, and they would have owned your private information for their own use. They would have withheld international availability indefinitely. This way, you only paid $5, you can use the video any way you want, and you can watch it in Dublin, whatever the city is in Belgium, or Dubai. I got paid nice, and I still own the video (as do you). You never have to join anything, and you never have to hear from us again.

Our Grand Poo-Bah in Action

I was proud to see this video of our grand poo-bah providing half time entertainment this weekend...


This totally looks like Eric's avatar.

I've Ordered My Copy

Pick yours up here.  Also, just on a housekeeping note, someone's been overfeeding Munchie.

Shit

Shit

What is it you most dislike?
Stupidity, especially in its nastiest forms of racism and superstition.
― Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22

Holiday Treats / TGIF Division

Who's ready for Feats of Strength?

Holiday Treats / Overachievers Division

Beats fruitcake.

Cinema 2011: It Occurs To Me That I Don't See Enough Movies

What convinced me that I'm now officially out of touch:  I kept waiting for scenes from Lord of the Rings.  I guess that must've been last year (or earlier). 

Jack MFing Davis

The A.V. Club posted a chat with Jack Davis that's certainly worth a look.  (Davis is pitching a new book.)

His name may not be spoken in the same breath as Harvey Kurtzman’s or Wally Wood’s, but few artists made as profound an impact in as many corners of the EC comics empire as Jack Davis. His supple style lent itself as well to the gritty battlefield stories of Two-Fisted Tales as to the gleeful grotesques of Tales From The Crypt, and when Kurtzman convinced EC head William Gaines to let him head the company’s new humor magazine, Davis left a formidable stamp on Mad as well. Unlike many of his peers, though, Davis spun off his comic-book work into a highly successful illustration career, doing covers for Time and TV Guide as well as iconic movie posters for the likes of It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, which, according to Fantagraphics’ new career-spanning collection Jack Davis: Drawing American Pop Culture, netted him an annual salary that at its height stretched into seven figures. Now in his late 80s, Davis has naturally slowed down in recent years, but the book has provided the occasion for a well-earned victory lap, which brought him to New York’s Society Of Illustrators for a talk with The A.V. Club.

Check it out!

Holiday Cheer

I'm sure that you bastards will getting your drink on this holiday season, so I thought I'd share this little chart with you. Now you'll have a little guide to keep you in line so you don't over-do it and barf in the punch bowl...

I don't know what this is from, but go to around the 2:35 mark. I dare you.

 Oh yeah, I saw Wilco on Friday night in Milwaukee! I picked up a shitty ticket (balcony) for cheap, the show was within walking distance of my hotel, and the bar was close to my seats. Nick Lowe was great and the his coming out to do Cruel to Be Kind with Wilco was certainly my concert highlight of the year.

Who Loves Ya?

Happy Friday.  

TGIF Don't Let This Happen To You

Don't let an overcommitted holiday season keep you from embracing your inner reveler.

Book for the Undiscerning Bastard

If the widely accepted theory that the best way to judge a book is by its cover is true, then I think this would be surprisingly awesomer than some other proposed holiday reads.  And if fonts are your thing, this instant classic has pages and pages of them. 

More Books For The Discerning Bastard

Enjoying the journey here -- a passage in the Jobs biography about calligraphy and fonts got me Jonesing for the above book. Surprisingly awesome read. You comic enthusiasts all need a copy.

At Least They Got The Original Cast

Midseason premiere! Who's in?

More All-Name Team 2011 Nominations

                                                           BEAT FEUZ

This guy is a Swiss ski racer. I don't speak uh, the Swiss, so one of you more worldly types can clue us in to pro-nun-ci-ation. For now I'll do it my way which is "beet fuse".

Depressing Flash Fiction

"For sale:
Baby shoes. Never worn."
E. Hemingway

Think you can do better? Let's hear it.

Have You Tried Turning It Off And On Again?

Any IT Crowd lovers? They need to hurry up with season five. (Or maybe Netflix does.)