arrested development vs modern family

dear project leader:

this alien, in an earlier post, made a comparison between ABC's "modern family" and the dearly-departed FOX show, "arrested development". what this alien came to realize while catching up on a few episodes recently is that, while the tone of the two shows is very similar, "modern family" is missing that central character through whom viewers see and relate, a la jason bateman's michael bluth.

this alien's vote would go to "claire", played by julie bowen. she seems the most "normal" of all those in the family.



still, an aggressive clown nailing a confrontation at the gas station...funny!

seagulls

dear project leader:

this alien has been accused of being an unrepentant fan of early flock of seagulls. this alien will not dignify that libelous accusation with a response. but hopes you enjoy the following:



?

old news

dear project leader,

this alien's longtime readers have already seen this...but since i referenced it in the earlier post:

the wrestler

dear project leader:

this alien finally, finally saw the wrestler, starring mickey rourke (thank you, HBO lords). aged pro wrestling star tries to keep on keepin on, both in his professional,and his personal life. the character was so engrossing, that this alien couldn't help but cheer on the guy...much like wrestling fans themselves, watching their favorite player make a comeback in the ring, perhaps.

and "everybody likes a second act", as the humans say.

when the wrestler's life was good, this alien was happy and relieved for him; when things went bad, this alien really felt badly for the guy. that's an engaging character. fortunately, there were enough good times to make the overall bearable.

what wasn't bearable, at times, was the physical brutality. (deli slicers? aaaagh, avert one's eyes! ALL one's eyes!)

cassidy, the dancer friend played by marisa tomei, merits a mention, too. this alien is very off-and-on with tomei in general, but she worked well in this part.

this alien cannot account for having waited so long to see this movie, but he is mightly glad he finally did.

another year-end list: music

dear project leader:

it's near the end of the human's calendar year, so year-end lists appear everywhere. here's a small entry into this custom by this alien:

SINGLE OF THE YEAR: "spaceman" by the killers
cleverly simple sci-fi lyrics, instantly accessible pop tune, great video that starts out weird, but turns into a carnival. it is what pop songs are supposed to look and sound like.

and the public don't dwell on my transmission
cause it wasn't televised

RUNNER UP:

pet shop boys, "pandemonium" (with "can you forgive her" mixed in). this alien cannot stop watching this very, very simple dance video.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR: UN by dan black
organic, unique and all electro. every track a winner, with lyrics that instantly create sentimental visuals. this alien hasn't been this in love with an album since cut copy's bright like neon love.

BAND OF THE YEAR: empire of the sun
this alien is impressed with the band's ability to create an entirely new existence in the packaging of their videos, graphics and most of all, music. their sound goes all over the place, like great late-70's AM radio pop music.

this alien only became aware of empire this year, but it turns out they have been big down under since last year. this alien wonders if they will tour in the US soon? if so, i will gladly take on the assignment to report, dear project leader.

year-end lists

project leader:

this alien likes year-end lists. here's Q magazine's best 50 albums of 2010 (via stereogum), with my impressions attached:

↑ = like it
↓ = don't care for it
→ = interested in exploring it


50 Jarvis Cocker - Further Complications
49 Bob Dylan - Together Through Life
48 Ian Brown - My Way
↑ 47 Madness - The Liberty Of Norton Folgate
46 Golden Silvers - True Romance
↑ 45 Conor Oberst And The Mystic Valley Band - Outer South
44 The View - Which Bitch?
43 Tinariwen - Imidiwen Companions
42 Mariachi El Bronx - Mariachi El Bronx
41 Wild Beasts - Two Dancers
40 Cheryl Cole - 3 Words
39 The Horrors - Primary Colours
38 Richard Hawley - Truelove's Gutter
37 Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport
→ 36 Sonic Youth - The Eternal
35 Pearl Jam - Backspacer
34 White Lies - To Lose My Life
33 Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
32 Paolo Nutini - Sunny Side Up
31 Biffy Clyro - Only Revolutions
↑ 30 La Roux - La Roux
29 Wilco - Wilco (The Album)
↓28 Bruce Springsteen - Walking On A Dream
27 The Dead Weather - Horehound
→ 26 Bat For Lashes - Two Suns
→ 25 Noah And The Whale - The First Days Of Spring
24 Mos Def - The Ecstatic
23 The Prodigy - Invaders Must Die
22 The Low Anthem - Oh My God, Charlie Darwin
21 Jamie T - Kings & Queens
20 Fever Ray - Fever Ray
19 Monsters Of Folk - Monsters Of Folk
↑↑ 18 Mika - The Boy Who Knew Too Much
→ 17 Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown
↑↑ 16 Empire Of The Sun - Walking On A Dream
15 Dizzee Rascal - Tongue N' Cheek
14 Devendra Banhart - What Will We Be
13 Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
12 Jack Penate - Everything Is New
11 Doves - Kingdom Of Rust
↑ 10 Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
↓ 09 U2 - No Line On The Horizon
→ 08 Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You
↑↑↑ 07 Muse - The Resistance
06 Arctic Monkeys - Humbug
05 Manic Street Preachers - Journal For Plague Lovers
04 Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion
↑ 03 Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
02 Florence And The Machine - Lungs
01 Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

about the rest, i know nothing.

don't want to

dear project leader:

this alien is a sucker for a soon-to-be-broken-heart-because-i-can't-stop-you-from-leaving song. surprisingly, they aren't quite a dime a dozen. but weezer came out with a good one on their new album, raditude:

weezer - i don't want to let you go

black friday

dear project leader:

black friday: the friday after US thanksgiving holiday, when a majority of laborers have / take the day off and trek to the shopping centers at 4:00 AM for one-day special pricing on two or three undesirable items.

this alien doesn't indulge in the shopping orgy...mainly because he doesn't have the funds to do so (which is not a complaint, project leader). but this alien is impacted, in that his human coworkers DO indulge, leaving him to cover their workday tasks.

this alien does, however, find the event interesting enough to monitor online, seeing which retailers offer what and at what price. nothing so far made this alien regret that he is working-not-spending today.

holiday

dear project leader:

this alien is headed to a quick holiday with the human companion's family.

happy US thanksgiving to project leader! and this alien's US readers!

cursed

dear project leader:

this alien has, as assigned, been following the tweets of blondie founding member and guitarist, chris stein, who relates progress on their upcoming album. ("still in the studio..." as of this posting.)

this alien has developed a deep, obsessive crush on the band; a crush steadily growing over many projects. mainly because of tracks like this one over which to swoon:

blondie - background melody

ko-ke-ko-kooo

dear project leader:

this alien often wakes early when he isn't required to do so.

mika, rain

dear project leader:

this alien listens to this song, RAIN, an awful lot. the single came out this week, though the album, the boy who knew too much, has been out for a while.

track for track, it's a terrific album, even better than mika's first album, life in cartoon motion, which included the single, grace kelly...a song this alien referred to as "that george michael 'freddie mercury' song" until he figured out who the singer / what the title actually was.

mika - rain
mika - grace kelly


Is it really necessary
Every single day
You're making me more ordinary
In every possible way

This ordinary mind is broken
You did it and you don't even know
You're leaving me with words unspoken
You better get back because I'm ready for

More than this whatever it is
Baby, I hate days like this
Caught in a trap I can't look back
Baby, I hate days like this

When it rain and rain and rain and rain
When it rain and rain and rain and rain
When it rain and rain and rain and rain
When it rain and rain and rain and rain

More than this
Baby, I hate days like

Is it really necessary
Every single day
You're making me more ordinary
In every possible way

This ordinary mind is broken
You did it and you don't even know
You're leaving me with words unspoken
You better get back because I'm ready for

More than this whatever it is
Baby, I hate days like this
Caught in a trap, I can't look back
Baby, I hate days like this

When it rain and rain and rain and rain
When it rain and rain and rain and rain
When it rain and rain and rain and rain
When it rain and rain and rain and rain

When it rain and rain and rain and rain
When it rain and rain and rain and rain
When it rain and rain and rain and rain
When it rain and rain and rain and rain

More than this
Baby, I hate days like this
More than this
Baby I hate days like

preaching, not practicing

dear project leader:

this alien asks: what's similar between john edwards (former senator, D-presidential candidate) and carrie prejean (former pageant title holder, conservative political spokesmodel)?

and answers: both put themselves in positions in which many, many people entrusted the two to represent them. and both hid facts about themselves that, when exposed to the light of day, proved that they shouldn't have put themselves in those positions.

this alien asks: what's different between edwards and prejean?

and answers: edwards knew when to shut the hell up.

for the record, this alien had many, many conservative political figures with recent scandals to use in the "vs prejean" questions above, but chose to select a non-conservative for a little balance. but really...this alien wonders why the conservatives (quite literally) don't practice what they preach?

confidential message to project leader:dfldpoek
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cruising

dear project leader:

this alien is a big fan of cruise vacations for their easy extravagances...but he's never experienced this much extravagance.

yet.

royal caribbean is this alien's favorite cruise line because the ships are so nice. but holy moley.

this alien has been on two royal caribbean cruises (and two norwegians); the larger of the two had almost 3,000 passengers. the oasis and allure, pictured above, carry 5,000 passengers, each.

5,000 passengers. EACH. with 7 neighborhoods onboard. neighborhoods on a ship! this is like intergalactic travel.

see the slide show here. read more about the ships, here. book this alien a trip, anywhere.

"rednecks"

Close Encounters of the Redneck Kind from Marc Bullard on Vimeo.

bad publishing company

dear project leader:

this alien is mad at the music publishing world because he is unable to find a link for the (not live performance) video, "discoball world", by david garza.

the song came out in 1998, and has been on heavy rotation on this alien's (various) player(s) since that time. it's the song this alien mentally dances to with abandonment. ecstatically.

every day i miss the you i used to know
before i let you down
before you let me go
we'd listen to the left side
of the radio

and you were so fine with your train track smile
i fell for your coffee eyes
your half and half
white lies
back around 92
i lost god
i found you
i found you

i found you dancin
with the blissed out brothers
and the dred locked white girls
spinnin like a discoball world yeah
with the extra virgins
and the gold teethed stoners
spinnin like a discoball world yeah

the flowers that we stole from san jancinto
they're in the vodka vases
by the window
i can't forget the date that you forgot me

when you kisses got so vicious

and i fell for your coffee eyes
your half and half
white lies
back around 92
i lost god
i found you
i found you

i found you dancin with the blissed out brothers
and the dred locked white girls
spinnin like a discoball world
yeah, yeah
with the extra virgins
and the laptop loners
spinnin like a disco ball world
yeah, yeah
alright

alright

can i dance with you baby?
can i dance with you? with you

david garza - discoball world

so regulate it

dear project leader:

this alien is devastated to learn that movie popcorn can
make
you
fat.

why do humans constantly make a vice of everything...to ensure it's dangerfun?

adam ant / & the ants

dear project leader:

this alien won't rehash a thousand other online articles re adam and his career and / or life, but report that a previous project to which i was assigned, living on this planet during the 1980's, made the subsequent projects / decades somewhat...disappointing. adam perfectly encapsulated all that was right about the decade's pop:

1. clever characterization
   
2. costuming and makeup just crazy enough to intrigue, yet not require full buy-in
   
3. a catchy, well-delivered, rhythm-heavy sound with
   
4. lyrics that tip to the "IS" end of the "is he or isn't he" scale
   
5. integrity of pop with enough bite to be recalled fondly almost 30 years later.

this alien's "college years" project: of course he'd heard of adam and the ants, but didn't really have the opportunity to view them. (early 80's midwest US media outlets were few, and most were afraid to venture off the shores of the states.) somehow, "friend or foe" hit the mainstream, and then this alien remembered he HAD heard adam and crew for a few years...but always in the back, not foreground, and the search was on to catch up. to really unplug the jukebox.

every record became a favorite and every image studied repeatedly. because there was something there that was so...alien. yet so...embraceable.

it's true this alien is on a different set of tasks now...but popping adam into the player transports this alien to a media era that made a memorable, unrepeatable yet again desired, impression.

(but empire of the sun are making a worthy attempt at repeating that impression.)

adam and the ants - antmusic.

cancelled soon

dear project leader:

this alien is often assigned the task of following tv series that are doomed for cancellation. if this curse continues, the following shows should be making their final appearances fairly soon...much to the detriment of human society:

1. community (NBC): like cheers, interesting characters interact a lot, but without the drinking theme. (go human beings!)
   
2. modern family (ABC): similar to "arrested development" in tone (but nothing will ever match that one)
   
3. flash forward (ABC): favorite of the year; this alien will make no comparisons to LOST
   
4. glee (FOX): yeah, everyone talks about this one, and deservedly so.

this alien has seen one episode each of cougar town (ABC) and V (ABC), and couldn't care if they both disappear...so they'll probably stay on forever. this alien needn't mention that V gives us a bad name.

hugh hugh grant grant

dear project leader:

i don't understand how an actor can play the same character in dozens of movies and still sell tickets. can anyone tell one "hugh grant" trailer from another...except by the presence of the female lead?

disclosure: this alien has seen approximately 2.45 hugh grant movies.

urinal proximity

dear project leader:

i had dinner with his work group, including the boss's boss's boss, which was great fun. but somehow this alien ended up in the restroom at the same time as the boss's boss's boss, literally toe-to-toe at the urinals.

one wishes the designers of the restroom would have considered separating the urinals somewhat. specifically, this one wishes such.

also, what's with the human's need to talk while peeing?

end of their world

dear project leader:

my human companion wants to see 2012, depicting the end of his world, despite the critical media's almost unanimous verdict on this flick.

what this alien doesn't understand is why humans seek the opinions of critics, only to neglect what they have to offer. i suspect it is so that the reader can reinforce his own judgments or hopes, based on a trailer that is formulated to give you the very impression you wish to reinforce.

i will likely be forced to see 2012, since he will do most anything his human companion asks of him. fortunately, 2012 doesn't depict the end of his world at the hands of our race.

does it?

dreamy to the max

dear project leader:

i was exploring the amazon, when it was recommended to me that i purchase stephen tintin duffy's, the ups and the downs. awesome recommendation by the amazonians...ups and downs is an album this alien thoroughly enjoyed during the decade i first landed, the 80's.

the graphics on the album packaging were a little better thought out than most, with sparse graphics on the outside sleeve (b+w photo, typeface set just-so), and a splatter of big pink dots on the liner sleeve. it was an import album (import to my land, that is), so the quality of the pressing and packaging was better than most of my collection of the time. it was also much more expensive than many LPs in my collection.

what initially drew me to the album (back then) was a reworking of "kiss me", originally released as a club single under the artist name tin-tin. the album version was really good...not an improvement, per se, but different enough and really good. (the new digital collection includes another tin-tin single, "hold it", which those of the era will recall was a FANTASTIC track, as well as other remixes that weren't readily available back then.)

the other tracks on the album play well together, and there's not a "miss" in the whole lot. dreamy to the max, agreed...but is it art? a masterpiece! this alien believes in him.

stephen tin tin duffy - hold it (remixed)