Category Archives: Pop Culture

My favorite metal band, Queensrÿche, now exists as two bands. 

It’s a mess.  Despite a rather large anti-Tate/Pro-Wilson bias, this article here does a decent job of detailing the twists and turns of the band’s craziness.  What I find most interesting about the split (other than how much the whole thing resembles a divorce – and considering one of the band members married and then quickly divorced Geoff Tate’s daughter, that couldn’t have helped band dynamics) were the competing visions.  In essence (and despite the fact both versions of the band are releasing new albums), Geoff Tate wanted to keep recording and playing new music, and the rest of the band rather explicitly stated they preferred to play songs from the first five albums (their most popular ones, and their most “metal” ones).  In essence, the debate was over progressing musically or else becoming your own cover/tribute band.

It seems like that step is inevitable.  It seems very few artists have the longevity to keep releasing new music that sells well their entire careers.  Most bands, at some point, start playing their own oldies (even if they may throw in a new tune here or there – I saw America in concert once, and in the two hour concert, they played a total of two songs that were “new-ish” and the rest were their oldest and greatest hits).

I have no real insight on this topic.  I just found it somewhat interesting.  It’ll be interesting to see which version of the band actually prevails in court over the legal right to the name.

Notes from a Q&A with Sam Mendes held on 14th February, 2013 at the Corpus Room in Cambridge, UK

There is no real logic to these notes but they are rather just my attempt to capture what I could. It goes without saying, nothing here should be used as direct quote from Mendes.

- I was a student at Peterhouse, Cambridge, not living in college, and in 1987 a friend of mine mentioned that he wanted to direct a play he had seen called ‘Gotcha!’. I told him that he was too shy to direct. and that I should do it instead, so I did. That was the first of 3 plays that I directed in quick succession and it was after that experience that I was left with a burning desire for more. But there was no Damascus moment. Read the rest of this entry →

Les Mis has been nominated for a total of 8 eight Oscars.  I am not all that worried about Makeup, Sound Mixing, Production Design, and even Music.  That leaves four (real) categories and I do not think Les Mis deserves to win any of these.

Read the rest of this entry →

As probably none of you know I have an actual career.  I build tools for retailers to do data analytics.  Such being the case I have access to about 40 super markets worth of sales data.  In the wake of the collapse of Hostess no doubt some of you are wondering how quickly the Twinkies ran out.

Read the rest of this entry →

What do you think so far?

I’m still undecided. I think it has potential, but so far it hasn’t really hooked me.

Read the rest of this entry →

Update: 3/Sep/12

The book came. Begins in Chicago with Indy almost getting into trouble with some bootleggers before he heads off to the Sorbonne to begin his graduate studies. Breathless!

***

This site is home to the favourite thing I have ever written. With rage pouring through my creative veins, I wrote a review of Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull which, unlike most of what I have written in the past, is a post I can still read and am still proud of.

There may be better films, but Raiders is the greatest (sic). So when I caught it on the telly the other night, I inevitably paused between channels to see Indy race away from Belloq and urge Jock to “start the plane!” Jock has “Sky Pirates” written on his shirt and I thought, as one does, “I would like to own that shirt . . . and who are the Sky Pirates anyway?”

(Such is the way my brain works.)

I’ve long enjoyed the Lucasfilm Expanded Universe (EU). In fact, many of the Star Wars Dark Horse comics are the best things to happen to Star Wars since 1980. I suspected that my questions regarding Jock (also, where did he get his pet snake Reggie?) had been answered and the Indiana Jones wiki confirmed it:

Jock Lindsey was an American freelance pilot. Lindsey cut his teeth as a stunt pilot performing in Midwest airshows and relocated to Venezuela after a rumored flight-related tragedy. He frequently was hired by Indiana Jones to fly the archaeologist to remote parts of the world.

And so for reasons perhaps related to my mild OCD I have decided not only to read more about Jock and his Sky Pirates, but also to enjoy the Indiana Jones EU chronologically. I am skipping the Young Indiana Jones ouevre (a few years ago my kids and I did a young Indy marathon) and am starting  instead in 1922 which is the agreed terminus for the adventures of non-Young Indy, marking the first fictional event after Hollywood Follies (the last of the Young Indy films).

I have ordered from Ebay a copy of Indiana Jones and the Peril at Delphi, a novel in which “Indy descends into the bottomless pit of the serpent god and finds a sacred stone that holds the key to the [Delphic] oracle’s prophecies.” Sounds hokey but fun and I shall probably read it  to the kids.

Kultur? Obviously not, but I need an escape from the middle-brow psychedelia of Johns Fowles’s The Magus (my summer read) and I have a feeling I’m going to love this journey of geekery. There are a dozen novels, a few comic books and short stories, and a couple of video games.

I have even cleared a space on my shelf for this Indiana Jones literary collection. Right next to my newly restored Rancor. Expect reviews here at KB. Should be riveting stuff.