The Best Things: October 2006

The Best Music on Radio Ken (my iTunes library):
Futureheads – “News and Tributes”. 2006. Sure, it's an homage band resurrecting early XTC power pop. But hey, it takes talent to write smart and snappy tunes, and their vocal antics set them apart. Area is an instant hit, a high energy rouser.

Ride – “Going Blank Again”. 1992. Somehow I missed out on this gem from the 90s. Strong vocal melodies with insistent guitar riffs carry you into psychedelic era atmospheres. But once again for me, it's all about the power pop, and Ride has a few classics.

My Bloody Valentine - “Glider” & “Tremolo” EPs . 1990 & 1991. I was watching VH1 Classic's “The Alternative” music video block, playing videos originally seen in the 80's on MTV's “120 Minutes”. They recently played My Bloody Valentine's “Only Shallow”, a haunting collage of Kevin Shields' shimmering psychedelica guitar and Belinda Butcher's soothing vocals. Their album “Loveless” is for certain the greatest forgotten album of the 1990s. I thought it was a shame that the band never did a follow-up. It occurred to me that there may be some B-Sides or other extra tracks from that era. These two EPs contain similar yet standalone tracks. “Off Your Face” from Glider presents hard driving pop reminiscent of “What You Want”. “Swallow” fits right in with the slightly detuned strum “Loomer”, but with a Middle Eastern flavour. For me, these two EPs provide a “Loveless: Part II” that somewhat compensates for the lack of any newer album.

Psychedelic Furs – Should God Forget: A Retrospective . 1997. This 2 disc set features some of the long lost B-Sides and live tracks. It also has a decent collection of their hits like All That Money Wants. The last time I heard the excellent “I Don't Want to be Your Shadow” was something like 1983. The live version of “Heartbeat” rocks as well.


The Best TV Shows on Ken's DVR:
Hawaii 5-O . (Syndicated). For me, Book 'em Danno is all about the hot looking cars with lush backgrounds. It's also about how Jack Lord's hair never moves an inch no matter how fast he runs toward his car. But it's the outrageous plots that keep you coming back. Who knew that Honolulu was a cesspool of Mafia families dealing drugs and weapons, and having gang wars with other rival Hawaiian Mafia families. Every week the tropical paradise was inundated with serial killers, kidnappings, and crazed ex-military nutcases playing deadly cat-and mouse with their arch rival McGarrett. The cardboard cutout Five-O team had the thankless job of pouring over piles of police files, or calling up experts on the mainland in the middle of the night. Each episode finishes off by concealing the final actions of McGarrett to track down and nab the villain right before the credits roll. Jack then gets to look the bad guy in the eyes, “You would have gotten away with it Rocko, if you only remembered not to drop this”, as he shows him some unlikely evidence like a crumpled candy wrapper.

The Office . (NBC). No laugh track and humour that takes a couple Steven Wright beats to sink in. Such as when Mike recounts for the billionth time the one-timer with his flustered boss: “I'm so lucky that Jan and I only got to second base”.

Robot Chicken . (Cartoon). The jokes fly by quickly in this hardcore doll comedy series, similar to “Team America”, my guilty pleasure puppet action film. Robot Chicken is a commercial free barrage that features the likenesses of many celebrities and comic book characters as dolls acting very badly.

The Colbert Report (Comedy Central). Here it is, I try to comprehend the Republican mind and my brain loses touch with reality (or more like motion sickness). Colbert dares to follow all the redneck arguments about Iraq, immigrants, homosexuals, and the rest of their fact-challenged positions to their logical end. It's nice to know that there is one true patriotic American that will dare to stand up in public and call b*llsh*t on the lies perpetuated by the current people in power.


The Best Current Movies on Ken's movie list:
Borat . (Opens Nov 3). Such as The Colbert Report, Borat personifies the ugly part of our culture. His declaration to an unsuspecting rodeo crowd “I support your War of Terror” had me ROTFL. I'm so there.

The Departed . Scorsese does Sopranos does Scorsese with big name stars and gut-splitting raunchy language. Marky Mark gets to rap, Matt Damon gets to intellectualise, Alec Baldwin gets to go over the top, Dicaprio gets to act, and Nicholson gets to channel Lucifer. The scene where Baldwin congratulates Damon on having a kid had me ROTFLOL , “Others know you're not a fag, and that your (pecker) works.”


The Best Movies in Ken's Collection:
Black Rain . 1989. I was in Japan around the time Ridley Scott was shooting this film. I underwent a bit of culture shock while I was visiting my girlfriend, who was part of an English teaching program. We eventually broke up while I was there, and Japan remains a cold and alien memory. Ridley's “Blade Runner” is the father of Asian Neon Sci-Fi worlds that were perpetuated later in Japanese Anime. Ridley would put slowly revolving fans in shots, something that became a fad after Blade Runner came out. Jan de Bont added cinematographic touches by putting fluorescent lights in the shot. The new Collector's Edition DVD sheds a little more light on why the production was pulled halfway through shooting on location. One only needs to be reminded the arrogance Japanese business had over American business back then. They had such an orderly society that they efficiently manufactured electronics and cars better than us. America was judged almost solely by TV shows and movies (Tom Cruise and Sylvester Stallone). The order imposed by the Japanese authorities upon a travelling circus of a movie company caused ridiculous confrontations. The plan given to the authorities would show a light placed in a precise position, but would not be permitted to move it when adjustments were required. I was stunned by the lack of originality. Nobody wore their hair differently or dressed outlandishly. This film represents some of that alien feeling I felt when I was there. Michael Douglas gets to do some strutting and there's a few spurts of action, but this is not a cookie cutter machismo flick.

Tokyo Drifter . 1966. A companion to “Branded to Kill”, shot with bold colours , is one of the few landmark Japanese art films. Another art film I cherish is the long lost “Pastoral Hide and Seek”. Tokyo Drifter has send-ups of gangster films, with humour that makes it Japan's own version of “Whats Up, Tiger Lily?”

The Parallax View . 1974. Warren Beatty is a reporter who infiltrates an assassin recruiting agency. Seeing it now after 9/11 opens your mind. But really, this is a fun action thriller. I have always loved the soundtrack, a juxtaposition of patriotic music and dissonant tones, a very unnerving and striking arrangement. The other memorable scene is the Parallax Test , a manipulative slideshow with music, meant to gauge your reactions: Love, Mom, Home, War, Me. The piece assaults you with Life magazine images of war, poverty, and Hometown USA. Watching the Parallax Test yourself while watching this film screws with your head.


The Best Food on Ken's Meal List:
Mesquite turkey sandwich with pepper jack cheese on onion bun. With a touch of Famous Dave's Devil's spit BBQ sauce for a kick.

Pei-Wei Pad Thai . Que Viet doesn't serve this, and the only other place nearby is this small chain restaurant in the Silver Lake shopping area. Call ahead and it's ready in 5 minutes. Price is reasonable ($7) and portions are large. It's not Seattle, but it'll do.

Ginger Snap Wings. One part Ginger and Sesame marinade with one part Garlic Chili Sauce (LeAnn Chinn's works well). Soak chicken wings in marinade (add a few squirts of Sriracha HOT Chili sauce for extra snap). I lay the wings on the grill while the coals are still hot to char the outside. Then I cover the grill to let them finish, adding a final topping of the marinade near the end. For dipping, there's Daddy Sam's Ginger-Jalapeno BBQ Sawce.

The Best Things To Do in Ken's Spare Time:
Mountain Bike in the Winter . Put on layers like you are cross-country skiing. I bike on trails down by the mighty Mississippi, or go for distance on the old railway lines. The Southwest LRT trail takes you down the valley toward Shakopee, and is especially scenic in the fall.

Explore Saint Paul . I have lived in Minneapolis for almost 30 years now, and still I am unfamiliar with areas in St. Paul, the simpleton brother of hip Minneapolis. Life is more quirky in this overgrown small town, where your odd Curling club or authentic Vietnamese restaurant can be discovered.

Collect 80s Music Videos . Many 80s bands did their “Anthologies” soon after the Beatles did theirs. Along with them, a few bands released collections of their music videos. Back then, MTV prompted any and all new wave bands to put something down on film to get exposure. Many were dumb, many were strange, some were inspired, a few were works of genius. The reward from collecting these videos is I get a small amount of insight to bands that I know little else about. But they are also time capsules, revealing the look and attitude of bands like Ultravox , XTC, YMO, Cocteau Twins , The Jam, and dozens more. I also save choice videos from VH1-Classic's “The Alternative”, but I relish having a copy without the VH1 bug plastered down in the corner.

The Random Booth at Dangerfield's

Typical with my friend Debora, our trip down to the Corn Maze (or is it maize?) was an offbeat script with a couple David Lynch-ian moments.

Now, since I have a particular perspective of my world, when I collude with certain friends, cinematic things occur around us. In this case, I nagged to Debora that her supporting characters were predictable as I viewed myself not as a visitor to an attraction based in a farm field, but as film director Ridley Scott. I was critiquing the location and the need for a crane shot. I wanted to try astral projection. I imagined mothers having to extract kernals of corn from their child's ears and nostrils after they jumped and crawled around 100 tons of cornseed. The design of a Sphinx was made out in the corn, which according to movie reality was created either using a computer system, or alien-like crop circles. I wanted to get to the head of the Sphinx ("I'm inside your head, man" said Debora). We missed the pig races, skipped the soup-on-a-stick, and headed for dinner.

The original destination for dinner was a diner in downtown Shakopee (with a vintage "Eat" sign). I approached it from behind, and we were ready to just park without seeing the front. But I knew I had to circle around. The front of the restaurant revealed that it was obviously closed (despite many lights on and the neon "Open" sign blaring). Debora found this to be a perfect subject for her photography. The next restaurant of choice was Dangerfield's. It was more like a supper club, catering to older and affluent clientele. We were seated next to a booth with an old couple. Within a few minutes, the man started yelling at the waitress "we're leaving!" and stormed out toward the exit. We were center stage of the entire scene from our booth. The old man badgered the manager about how all the employees needed to reprimanded for screwing up his order.

I was impressed. I asked Debora how many times she re-wrote that dialogue to get the right nuances, casting was well done too. She was having a serious flashback to a time when her Dad helped her buy a car, with the same lines, same storming out. Later I noticed a couple with their child gathered in front of the grand piano. There was nice light dinner music, and all three of them spent a few minutes watching nobody play the keyboard (it was a MIDI system). I ordered a Greek Salad with blackened chicken - no mushrooms. Of course, I knew what was coming and announced to Debora "If there is ONE mushroom on that salad, I'm leaving!" Sure enough, it arrived with the fungus. I was humoured by the fact that I can be two steps ahead of myself after living through this over many decades (I hate mushrooms). The salad situation was rectified and assured the waitress that I wouldn't storm out.