September 30, 2009

We're off to see…

Look at that beautiful picture… As I announced at last Monday's show (and here), at the next BQT, October 12, we'll be doing a Wizard of Oz–themed audio round, something I've been mentally cooking up for quite some time. And as I promised, no Wizard of Oz knowledge (or at least very little) is necessary. To explain: It's pop songs that are thematically linked to the mythos of TWOZ, if only tenuously. I don't want to give anything awaym but here's something: I considered including a song by the band Rainbow, Ritchie Blackmore's post–Deep Purple band (get it? "Rainbow"). I decided otherwise, partly because the band was just a touch too obscure for my purposes (though "Since You Been Gone" rocks). But you get the idea.

Plus, we had a Wizard of Oz four-parter last Monday. Yes, I've had the film on the brain lately, but so have a lot of people: It was released 70 years ago last month, is being issued on a new deluxe DVD and all that. But it's also one of my absolute favorite films, and deserves all the attention it gets. It's the nearly perfect movie: Funny, clever, great for kids and adults, well acted and beautifully designed, with spectacular music. The special effects look great seven decades later, particularly the makeup, which accomplishes the rare feat of making the actors look otherworldly without impeding any emotional expression. My favorite song:



BTW, I know it's Dorothy—from Kansas—who utters the name, but I love the implication that people in Oz know who Abraham Lincoln is.

Also, I must say, I'm a fan of the whole
Dark Side of the Moon legend/rumor/bullshit; I find it amusing. I've tried the synchronized screening a total of three times, and it worked only once—it's very tricky to get it right—but it's an interesting exercise in the juxtaposition of sound and image, an instructive from a media studies point of view. (the moment when Dorothy goes from black and white to color is worth two bong hits all by itself).

Finally, some BQT Wizard of Oz trivia through the years. Are you sure I'm not gay?

In The Wizard of Oz
, what does the Wicked Witch of the West skywrite above the Emerald City?


What was the original published title of the book commonly called The Wizard of Oz?


Four-part question: Wizard of Oz urban legends.

a. The members of BLANK totally made their album to sync up with the movie

b. A depressed actor who played BLANK can be seen hanging himself onscreen

c. As Miss Gulch, Margaret Hamilton utters the then-scandalous word of BLANK

d. That guy from The Beverly Hillbillies had to drop out of playing the Tin Man because he was allergic to BLANK.


In 2004, Bravo counted down “The 100 Scariest Movie Moments.” The two live-action children's movies on the list were The Wizard of Oz and what else?


What trademarked name for a dessert comes from a 1939 movie?

See you October 12: We get our courage, finally.

September 29, 2009

Speeling it-out fore yoo


Yo, as they say on the Coney Island Boardwalk. Thanks for attending last night's Big Quiz Thing (or merely reading this blog post, if you did not attend). We were without EDP, the crowd was on the light side (perhaps you're a better Jew than I), and Fantastic Fourincators won…a-gain! Such is life in the business we call show.

First, the particulars: We brought back the "Proofread-O-Rama" (click here for the first edition), a video round near and dear to my grammar junkie heart. Now you know all about the conditional mood; sad that it's too late to rub William Safire's face in it.

As for the audio round, "Jazz for Dummies," you all clearly are not dummies (or perhaps you are, since you did so well). Hurray to the two teams guessing DJ Jazzy Jeff.

Now, the standings. Yes, the Fantastic Fourincators won yet again, so let's see what we can do about this. Perhaps I might hobble them. Some options:

-- I make them all play wearing blindfolds, with dispensation for one member designated the team secretary. Would this impact their trivia ability? Perhaps not, but it might be amusing.

-- I impose upon them, and them only, an eight-drink minimum.

-- I dock them a tenth of a point for their first wrong answer. Then a two tenths for the next wrong answer. Then three tenths, etc. This will give me a math headache.

-- I spend much of my spare time investigating their private lives and personal interests. Then, I craft the questions to veer decisively away their expertise. The advantage of this is that we all learn a little about these mysterious blackguards: Which Fournicator has an extra finger on his left hand? Is it true that another member once interned for Diane Von Furstenburg? Who's sleeping with whom? The possibilities are endless.

I like the blindfold idea. Perhaps. Your thoughts?

Otherwise…

1. Fantastic Fournicators
2. Strippers for Stephen Hawking
3. Gerard Depardouche
4. Squirrels on Film
5. Jefferson Davis Starship/Sugah Titz (tie)

Join us again, friends, on October 12. "The Movie Quote Thesaurus" and the long-awaited Wizard of Oz audio round. My chest hair is tingling with excitement.

September 22, 2009

NT's greatest hits, vol. 20 (of 34)

And we're off!

"Shake Some Action" by the Flamin' Groovies

Several years ago, someone asked me if, typically, I'm more attracted to a song for its lyrics or for its music. My knee-jerk answer was lyrics, but after a microsecond of reflection, I realized that I was completely self-deluded. Just taking a look at my list of favorite songs shatters this theory: I have no idea what half of these tunes' lyrics are about.

This entry underlines the point, not only because I never much paid attention the the lyrics of "Shake Some Action" (there's not much to pay attention to, other than the kicky title), but because a song like this is so thoroughly a creature of its instrumentation and production. The Flamin' Groovies were a greasy, blues-soaked rock & roll band, emerging in late-'60s San Francisco just when their sound became the least hip thing in the universe (read: they were nothing like the Grateful Dead). Truth be told, I don't care for much of their output from this era, but they soldiered on until 1976, when Welsh pub-rock genius Dave Edmunds produced their album Shake Some Action, an unlikely hit among the emerging elite of British power pop.

This title track is easily the Flamin' Groovies' best-known song (it's appeared on a couple million power-pop compilations, and Cracker covered it in the film Clueless), a remarkably canny synthesis of raggedly, lo-fi performance and soaring hooks. Both the chiming guitar (yes, there's the Byrds, again) and the intensely untrained vocals have a muted tone, working together perfectly to lull the listener in. And atypically for the power-pop genre, typified by punchy rock nuggets, the Groovies spread out over four and a half minutes, constructing an almost hermetic, wistful pop nirvana. It completely doesn't matter what the lyrical content is; the pure sound of this song has an almost neurological effect on me.

I am heartbroken that I cannot find the original recording on the Web to share with you here. The best I can do is this, a passable live version, but nowhere near the primary document. Or check out my man John Davis's radio show, 1-2-3-4 More More More, and scroll down to the 9/12 show (only there for a limited time); he starts the broadcast with the real thing.

Of course, you can get it from iTunes, and you really should. You need to hear my favorite moment: At 2:14, when the one of the vocalist goes, "Whoo!" He knows what I'm talking about.

More of NT's greatest hits:
"Chips Ahoy!," "Radio, Radio," "Could You Be the One?," "Summer in the City," "Teenage Kicks," "Strawberry Fields Forever, " "Tunnel of Love," "I Get Around," "Local Girls," "Don't Let's Start," "Suffragette City," "See-Saw," "My Name Is Jonas," "Mr. Tambourine Man," "Reelin' in the Years," "Objects of My Affection" and "Crimson and Clover," "OK Apartment" and "Just What I Needed"

September 16, 2009

Sex, Drugs & Gefilte Fish

Three of my favorite things.

As mentioned at a recent show, I've written an essay for the new book Sex, Drugs & Gefilte Fish: The Heeb Storytelling Collection, a forthcoming compendium of tales from the local Jew-hipster magazine's storytelling series. My mother is very proud. Hoping to score a few copies to give away at upcoming shows.

But the best part: Here's the book's promo video, featuring a few pretty shots of me (I usually recoil in horror to video footage of myself, but this don't look half bad, I must say). And yes, everything in the essay is true: cats, pills, harness. You'll have to buy (or win) to learn the deep, dark secrets…


September 15, 2009

Learning a lot about your quizmaster

I have no idea why the fonts are doing this…

Last night's Big Quiz Thing provided some rare (?) insight into the life of your quizmaster. Thanks to our video round, "Brand Name Bonanza," you got to see what kind of consumer products I purchase—yes, my apartment is full of Kozy Shack pudding and Scotch tape. The audio round, "There Is No Shame in A Cappella," revisited a dark chapter in my life, when I was a member of a collegiate a cappella group. And, as usual, questions straight out my all-time favorite book, the Merriam-Webster's dictionary. (Eleventh edition, of course.) A matching pair:

What website’s name is in the latest edition of Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, lowercased, as a verb meaning to use that website specifically?

And…


What computer program’s name is in the latest edition of Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, lowercased, as a verb meaning to use the program or one like it?


Otherwise, it was a competitive, spirited evening; at the midpoint, longtime bridesmaids the Cunning Stunts held the lead and returning champs Fantastic Fournicators languished in a tie for fifth place, but a mere two points separated them. Thus, by the time the dust settled, they'd traded places; FF reprised their victory (after vanquishing Sugah Titz in a tie-breaker), the Stunts tied for fifth. What a world.


The standings:

1. Fantastic Fournicators: Pulling it out in the tie-breaker, thanks to
"Contrary to myth, violin strings were never made from body parts of what animal?" and "What well-known dessert's name is German for 'whirlpool'?"
2. Sugah Titz: Ooh, so close

3. Cash Cab for Cuties
4. Jefferson Davis Starship: Not in 5th place, for once
5. The Cunning Stunts/Strippers for Stephen Hawking (tie)

Props to Gerard Depardouche, who didn't even come close this week (tie for 12th), but gave us some good Smart-Ass answers in the Lighting Round (the southernmost point in Africa is the Cape of Good Head, the state that six of the first ten Presidents were born in was "nudity," etc.).

We're back at Crash Mansion on September 28, immediately post-atonement. Hoping to be back at (Le) Poisson Rouge in November; will let you know.