2015.01.02
- Pay Day (Tasha) Yoon Mi-Rae is suing Sony for use in "The Interview". Four stars because that "Drumline" music never gets old for me, and the rest (including some Korean) is solid.
- Happy (NEUS Remix) (Pharrell Williams) You know, I just love the message of this song, and this is a good remix.
- Hippy Shit (Akasha) Used in the game "Far Cry 4"...
- The Bombay Twist (The Bombay Royale) Also from Far Cry 4, kind of like a India version of Misirlou
- Superman (Remix) (Mika Singh) Folks from work went to the Fresh Pond Cinemas for Bollywood movie night, and this was on one of the previews.
- You Don't Know My Mind (Hugh Laurie) I honestly do not know how this album got added to iTunes, but this song is hyper-catchy.
- It's Almost Christmas Again (Chandler Travis Philharmonic) My favorite song that I helped with at the Johnny D's gig.
- I Just Want the Girl In the Blue Dress to Keep On Dancing (Mike Doughty) The perfect song for the bows after "The Slutcracker" burlesque. I had no idea it was the same guy from Soul Coughing!
- The World Is Just Awesome (Boom De Yada) (Discovery Channel) A commercial from a while back... I just saw its parody on xkcd and realized it's an awesome sentiment, and a catchy tune.
- A Little Respect (UVA Sil'hooettes) An obscure but lovely cover EB had on CD, when they sang with the 'Bubs. Some 80s just seem sonically designed for college a cappella, and sometimes the female voice adds a sweetness as well.
- Shimmy Shimmy Ya (El Michel's Affair) Big horns in this Wu-Tang spinoff thing.
- Christmas Wrapping (Single Edit) (The Waitresses) Someone on twitter said this is the best Christmas song of the last 33 years. I love its slice of life nature.
- With a Little Help from My Friends (Joe Cocker) RIP Joe Cocker
- It's The Hard-Knock Life (Annie 2014) I'm happy hollywood has caught up to Euclid High School 1990, in terms of a black actress for Annie! Anyway, I like the modernization of this version.
- Keep Your Hands to Yourself (The Georgia Satellites) There's something about that 80s southern rock sound.
- Sloop John B (Me First and The Gimme Gimmes) Respectable little cover I heard in "The Wolf of Wall Street"
- Carol of the Bells (Pentatonix) An a cappella-ish version of one of my Christmas favs.
- Vinter Undervare (Stan Boreson) Corny old Dr. Demento song.
- groot struck (tumblr) An odd, but brief, mashup. "I am groot". Can't find much info on it, but I guess it's a genre piece.
TIL "50 Shades of Grey" was originally Twilight Fan Fiction.
I don't mean to be totally dismissive of Fan Fiction, but I got to say it explains my reaction to how it felt when I started reading it. There's just a clumsiness to it, with characters really clearly being just the way they are for the author's convenience (and a giant heap of Mary Sue-ism) rather than feeling grounded in some kind of reality and more generalized relatability. (Then again, the original Twilight felt the same way, kind of like it's its own fan fiction...) Though maybe I'm just not used to first person narration in general.
Alright, Aesop, but what happened after the wolf gave up on the sour grapes? Maybe he opened a grape farm. Maybe there's a type of grape that gives him superpowers. Are there other trees with different fruits? Maybe there's a Mrs. Wolf. You've crafted a very interesting universe here, Aesop, and we'd like to explore it.
Director's Commentary for this year's Advent Calendar.