Guilty Pleasures

Have you discovered iTunes yet?

[Note to younger people: buy the music, support the artists, especially those who are independents! They need your support. End of sermon.]

One thing about iTunes they don't tell you: nostalgia is reasonable.

(Peter Gabriel. front man of Genesis, circa 1970)

These Apple people keep adding more and more music to the iTunes store-even stuff that's ancient history. Lately, I've been downloading some relics of the past- real guilty pleasures. The Rolling Stones back catalog are right at the top of this list for me. Evidently I am not alone in guilty pleasures.

A friend of mine recently confessed to purchasing, on the cheap through a European iTunes-like service, old rock songs from Genesis. There was a tinge of guilt when he asked if it was normal to be revisiting the music of the past. Of course it's normal, I replied. Nothing wrong with walking down the old nostalgic path, as long as you don't try to live there.

Important note to music snobs: all of us have guilty pleasures when it comes to music. All of us have found pleasure in pop music from time to time. Admit it now and feel better.

Genesis was an art rock band (much like Pink Floyd) before they became corporate FM hitmakers producing painful hits like Invisible Touch and I Can't Dance. This artful era Genesis was the music of our youth.
Just like any teenagers, we idolized Genesis and especially their strange front man, Peter Gabriel. No wonder! Gabriel took to wearing outrageous costumes on stage and at one point sported a haircut that had a small section of his head shaved. Rumors in the press suggested that he was mentally ill. This added to the Gabriel mythos.

(LEFT. Ok, the guy was a little wacky.)

One of our friends got us started on this environmental kick where we revered nature and hated all developments, especially cities. Somehow, we saw all these man-made structures as being destructive to the ultimate beauty and harmony of nature. Long, arduous hikes in Kanawha State Forest were seen as a part of this ideology that sometimes seemed to border on a theology. This wasn't a forest, but a refuge, a sanctuary, and a place to commune with something higher than oneself. Yes, now it sounds ridiculous, but back then we placed all this radical environmental ideology into the music, interpreting lyrics as a sign that Genesis felt the same way we did.

My friend and I have long past these foolish youthful ideas. Eno talks about gracefully giving up "the baggage of youth."Still, I find myself looking at the Stones' back catalog every time I wander into Best Buy. There I look again and again at Some Girls, Goat's Head Soup and Steel Wheels. I finally came to the conclusion that purchasing an entire $13.99 CD is stupid. iTunes will let me download the songs I want at 99 cents a pop. Fine with me.

My friend's conclusion after all this: some of this old music is just unlistenable. Good thing it was cheap.

If you're going to get nostalgic:


don't spend a lot of money.

Ernie's Joke

The following is an original joke by Ernie, AKA, Ernesto Magnito:

This guy went to an appliance store and bought a electric cooking stove. He went home and used it, but then had to take it back. WHY?



Because he got burnt!

Tidbits

Strange coiffures

Last night, after a late night trip to Kroger, drove past the local no-frills barber shop only to see a man getting a haircut at 11 at night.

The Connoiseur's Guide to Carnivorous Cadavers (or He Rambles On Again)

PART ONE: THE BACKGROUND

?

I already know what you're going to say, so just say it and get it over with.

What the heck are you talking about now? Why must you torture us with this nostalgic cinematic minutia?

Answer: because I must!

Let me say this, not as disclaimer, but as something to keep in mind as you read this: there are people who are even worse about this than me. In fact, it is almost a cult.

FACT: There is a fairly strong cult-like following of the horror movie subgenre-zombie movies. So strong that Hollywood and other less powerful filmakers have taken notice and subsequently, films of this genre have been to sprout all over.

I saw Night of the Living Dead (1968) when I was kid living in rural Pennsylvania on the late-night Chiller Theatre on channel 11 out of Pittsburgh. I have blogged about this before, so I skip those details, but imagine a ten or eleven year-old watching this stuff. I was scared out of my mind. This was commercial TV in the 60's, so no ratings for TV programs back then. What would this film get now: an R? PG13?

Romero and company not only created a NEW genre of horror film, but they broke new ground both artistically and the whole gore-violence thing. The premiere was met by outrage, controversy and conversely with undying, unconditional love by the new fan base that Romero had now created.

The real point of this was that this film, the genesis of all zombie films, was made by hometown (Pittsburgh) hero George A. Romero. The film was not only produced by Romero, but shot around Pennsylvania as well, making it a true homestate project and elevating Romero's status among his fans. In fact, people make trips to see the graveyard which opens the film and post their pictures online. It is now a cult.

Then Romero released Dawn of the Dead (1978) which I saw with a few of my college friends. Back then, Dawn freaked me out. We all just spoke in broken phrases on our way back to our dorms. Today it looks a bit comical and low budget, but like Night, it broke new ground in the gore department and truly sealed Romero's status as a cult figure, an icon of international stature. In fact, people take trips to the Monroeville Mall, still in existance, as some kind of baptismal journey-wanting to be just a little closer to the magic of film and history. Long before this cult status, this mall is part of my personal history and was just as surprised as anyone that people would actually view it as such a cult landmark.

YES, you read that correctly-international stature. Romero now has four films in the zombie genre with the last being Land of the Dead in 2005 and since that first film in 1968, each new generation has discovered these films and claims them as their own. Not just in America, but Germany, UK and Italy, there are fanatical followings. Italy's Dario Argento was involved with the making of Dawn and even cut his own version of the film which was revered by the lucky few to get a copy of it (Anchor Bay released a definite FOUR DISC version of this movie because of all the versions floating around.). Italy also has director Luigi Fulci who has come out with his own set of zombie films-all of which owe great debt to Romero.

PART TWO: You must believe

Yes, I include myself among those who call themselves fans of Romero films and all things zombie, BUT you have to go here to really understand the absolute fanaticism that is out there for this stuff:http://www.homepageofthedead.com/

There you will find forums that have virulent debates over the origin of the outerspace virus that caused the outbreak of the living dead. Heated arguments over the detailed knowledge of Dawn of the Dead, the value of the new movie versus the older ones and on and on and on until you log out for fear that you may lose your mind or otherwise permanently lose all sense of reality. The information is vast, mostly accurate and highly subjective because these people are real fans: fanatics of highest order.

There is one point they can ALL agree upon though: They all love George Romero.

And his flesh-eating zombies.