High Fidelity type musings: or how I learned to be happy and still love Bob Seger

So, I got stood up tonight. I was supposed to meet him at Sligo. Walk in the door Bob Seger is playing on the jukebox, Hollywood Nights and then Turn the Page. I'm in heaven, this night is going to be awesome! For those who don't know, there is little I enjoy more than playing Seger on dive bar jukebox.

Cut to 45 min later, he's a no show, and I'm stood up. He is either very late or was killed in tragic blimp accident over Harvard Stadium. I take off and feel sad. I've got a slight buzz on and just don't feel like being alone.

I walk over to the Davis Square square. A busker is playing guitar, some standard song. Then out of nowhere, the guitar guy starts playing Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key, by Billy Bragg and Woody Guthrie. I love this song. Seriously love this song. This random song, on this weird and random sad night. I can promise you, no one else was meant for that song tonight. It was played for me, and only me. I clapped, gave the guy a dollar and a smile. It makes me think of Rob in High Fidelity: "People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?" Yes, this happens to me, too much Cure and Smiths in my life. But sometimes, the perfect song plays at the perfect time and all is back to right in the world.

It also makes me think about some Badly Drawn Boy lyrics: "And songs are never quite the answer, Just a soundtrack to a life" Tonight, despite being a bit sad, the soundtrack was spot on. Way over Yonder was simple and made me smile. The pure joy of that moment made up for my indulgent sadness. It's these little, simple things; a song playing just for me, just for me in that crowd, that makes all the difference.

Irish That Guy!

Ok, as I've posted in the past, there are a bunch of guys that are known as "That Guys" you might not know their name, but when you someone says..."You Know...That Guy that delivered the pizza to Spicoli in Fast Times", you can immediately picture him. Bill Simmons, has brought the level of "That Guys" to astronomical heights in his column for ESPN page 2.

Today, in preparation for my trip to Ireland, I'd like to add another face to the That Guy Hall Of Fame. The man is Colm Meaney. Some of you may know him as "That Guy From Star Trek The Next Generation"...

Some of you may know him as "That Guy from Cliffhanger with Stallone and Lithgow", some of you still may know him as "That Guy who's car gets smashed when it gets attached to the plane in Con Air"...

Some crazy people out there may even know him as "That Guy that played the mayor in the movie Mystery Alaska, yeah, that guy remember his wife was banging that guy that played Shep in ER the Glory Years before Gilbert Lowe died and Doug Ross went on to win oscars!"

But I'll always know him as "That Guy that is in every movie who needs someone to play either an Irishman, a Scotsman, a Welshman or an Englishman."

So in honor of my trip to Ireland...I hereby enshrine Colm Meaney into the "Duffless Foundation That Guy Hall of Fame"

Congrats Colm.

A Man Called Hal

Why I love Hal.
Hal takes up race walking. Hal built the equivalent of a grown up fort in his garage. Hal has a rich fantasy life. Hal fills the house with the most elaborate Domino display ever. Hal stops going to work because he's rented a steamroller and is busy crushing things for fun. Hal sneaks the boys out to stock car races. Hal loves to roller disco. Hal builds a fighting robot with the nerd kids. Hal dreams of buying a Porsche. Hal leaves a couch on train tracks. Hal is a militant soccer coach. Hal gets carried away with poker bets. Hal gets drunk and tears down walls to put on an addition to the house. Hal is delusional and has beautiful visions of grandeur. Hal takes a baby and daddy class and bets on the babies, such as which baby can fill a diaper the most, baby shuffle board, baby drool-off. Hal has a Christmas tree selling scheme. Hal buys a hot tub. Hal starts a pirate radio station. Hal makes the boys build him a Tiki Hut in the garage. Hal gets caught up in the world of motivational speaking. Hal makes an elaborate pitching machine in the driveway out of toys and garage junk.

But my favorite HAL episode ever is when Dewey has to sell magazines for school, one of the prizes are "Pogo Shoes", Hal then has dreams of himself a neighborhood hero, bouncing around the hood in his pogo shoes, to the envy of all the other neighborhood dads.

This is why I love Hal, he's the dreamer of the family. He's rarely the center of the episode, but for me always the best part. He has a rich fantasy world in his head, he is the ultimate dreamer. Its not that he's a bad dad, in fact he often bonds with his boys over his own crazy schemes and dreams. Malcolm in the Middle is all about Hal. Bryan Cranston, pure genius.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUN_5fecL8Y

Bye Bye Bruno

It's a responsibility that the Foundation takes upon itself...but not one that it necessarily likes to do. We at the Duffless Foundation feel it is our responsibility to report on the deaths of our favorite hollywood celebs...and today, it is with sadness that I announce the passing of one Mr. Bruno Kirby. Kirby, probably best known for his roles opposite Billy Crystal in "When Harry Met Sally" and "City Slickers"...

But I remember him best playing the role of uptight 2nd Lieutentant Steven Hauk. Kirby was great playing the polka loving, radio station lackey that was trying to reel in Robin Williams as Adrian Cronauer.

I'll also remember Bruno as Victor Ray, Carmine's nephew in "The Freshman"...It must have been quite the thrill for Kirby to work next to Ferris Bueller and The Godfather in the same movie! Also, finally, Kirby is also well known by the Foundation in his role in This Is Spinal Tap...In fact we just spoke about this recently. Not even knowing that Mr. Kirby was fighting Leukemia. Kirby played the limo driver Tommy Pischedda. With a remarkable showing in the extra scenes. Truly the best extra scenes a DVD ever included. Just ahead of Just Over Eighteen volume 2...but I digress.

So to wrap up, the Duffless Foundation will point their two dollar beers up towards the heavens this week, in honor of a legend. Mr. Bruno Kirby, dead at age 57.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0456124/

Whacking Day! It's Finally Here!

This Saturday! 5:15pm!! Snakes on a Plane - Boston Common Theater!


BUY TICKETS NOW! - http://www.fandango.com/MoviePage.aspx?date=8/19/2006&mid=88794

Pre Game at The Tam - starting at 3:00pm!

Give a shout out and let me know if you are going!

He was in What?

I was flipping through the channels yesterday on a rather weak Sunday afternoon for television viewing. I was pretty hungover from the day before, so I just really wanted some background noise to hopefully nap to.

I came across the Baseball movie "Angels in the Outfield". I think it's actually a remake of an older film, but this was the one starring Tony Danza, Danny Glover, Christopher Lloyd, That Guy Taylor Negron and a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt of "10 Things I Hate About You fame".

What amazed me about this wonderful piece of trash movie...was that there was not one...but TWO oscar winners in the cast. Playing the role of the Foster Mother who cared for young Levitt was Brenda Fricker, who won her Oscar for Supporting Actress in "My Left Foot". Also, making an appearance was a young Adrian Brody who played young ballplayer Danny Hemmerling. Brody of course won his best actor oscar for his role in the movie "The Piano".

So Fricker actually starred in this film, after her oscar. Maybe she thought that this would help her with the American Audience...I don't know. Brody was much more understandable, he was a young actor trying to make a name. He has since been much more selective with his choices of roles since winning an oscar. Actually come to think of it...I don't even think he's made a movie since he won...maybe he is like George Costanza, he knows when to call it a day.

So when I was watching this, I started to come up with a list of movies that I couldn't believe had Oscar winning actors in it.

We'll start at the top...

Ishtar...Perhaps Dustin Hoffman (wins for Kramer vs. Kramer and Rain Man) and Warren Beatty (never won for actor but did win for Director for Reds) thought that this one looked good on paper, but obviously that didn't translate to the screen.

Every Tom Hanks film until Big.

The Next Karate Kid. Hillary Swank has been in three films that I remember...and won two oscars. One was with Mr. Miyagi...and was pretty awful.

Boat Trip, Snow Dogs, Rat Race and Chill Factor...Cuba Gooding Junior.

Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion...Mira Sorvino.

Rocky Horror Picture Show...Susan Sarandon

Return of the Killer Tomatoes...George Clooney

Satisfaction...Julia Roberts

Toys...Jamie Foxx and Robin Williams and was written and Directed by Oscar Winner Barry Levinson!

Career Opportunities...Jennifer Connelly

And Finally, the classic of all classics...Jury Duty, starring Pauly Shore and Tia Carrerre, also starred two time Oscar award winning Actress Shelly Winters.

Which just goes to prove, that no matter how bad a movie appears to be, you maybe, just maybe may catch either a future oscar winner on the way up...or a former oscar winner who is crashing down, down, down.

Punishment for my month long exile.

I am guity and I must be punished. I've been lazy, busy, away for work, but mostly lazy. For these sins I must be punished. Its been exactly one month since my last post. As absolution to the pop culture Gods, I have watched the following 3x today. Don't get me wrong, I kinda like Guttenberg. Perhaps I'm a glutton for punishment, but I have a soft spot for this guy, he's been the butt of jokes for all these years and always has a smile on his face. All you jaded, gen x cynic types must admit, you kinda liked Mahoney growing up! He's the quintessential nice guy boy man. The definition of non threatening. This video and his moose knuckle find me, for the first time ever, thinking about that fact that Guttenberg probably has a penis.

From You Tube and Gawker - I give you the greatest and worst movie intro of all time, but look at GBerg, look how happy he is! A 2$ Beer to anyone who rents and watches this movie! This song is stuck in my head!