RETROCRUSH

1970′s “Tea For The Tillerman” is one of the great underrated gems in music. It doesn’t hurt that Yusuf Islam could sing the phone book and make it listenable, but from start to finish, “Tea” is full of outstanding timeless songs that still have the ability to make you relax, think, and just enjoy life with both happiness and/melancholy depending on what you’re looking for.

“Where The Children Play” has a great slow build that ends with gut wrenching vocals that show off Islam’s range beautifully. Other highlights include “Father and Son” (which is an infinitely better song about that relationship than Harry Chapin’s insipid Cat’s In The Cradle”), “Hard Headed Woman”, “Into White”, “Sad Lisa”, “Wild World”, and the wonderful closing title track which was co-opted as the theme song to Ricky Gervais’ show “Extras”.

This was the album that made Cat Stevens huge. Its success convinced the producers of Harold and Maude to include tracks in the film’s soundtrack and he went on to a string of great albums to follow. In this iTunes age, it’s easy to handpick your favorite singles, or go for the lazy “Best of…” collections when you’re buying older albums, but you’d do well to pick this one up in its entirety.

By the way, Stevens himself is the album cover artist! He would have been a great children’s book illustrator. His music fits in nicely while reading “There The Wild Things Are”, too.

If you’re lucky enough to live in the UK, you can see him in concert this fall! CLICK HERE for details.

Back in early 2004, San Francisco METREON complex used to have a gorgeous walk through attraction based on “Where The Wild Things Are”. Though it was only $4 to walk through (and $6 for stupid kids), it didn’t last for more than a year before it shut down. I’m sure the sky high rent in that place was a factor for so much square footage being used. They even had a Night Kitchen restaurant to enjoy pancakes and such. Here’s a collection of photos I took from the event. I wonder where these cool props are stored away now?

Where The Wild Things Are is a holy book of childhood wonder perfection that will live forever. Maurice Sendak was able to capture the magic of the youthful trouble, fun, creativity, and love with brilliant illustrations and perfect sparse writing that few stories have been able to equal. So how do you make a movie of this without screwing it up? Hollywood can take a work of brief simple beauty like The Polar Express and turn it into a soul free Disneyland ride. Spike Jonze and David Eggers found a way to make something completely new that both honors the original work, yet works with Sendak to make it grow and affect the soul in a way that the book did not.

As much as the commercials show all sorts of wild rumpus action, there’s a poignant melancholy to this film I didn’t expect. You get the freedom of rolling around with crazy monsters mixed with the pain of missing your home. There’s the pure glee of dirt clod fights that ends with the sorrow of that final dirt clod that really hurts somebody. The pride of builidng something beautiful crushed by a bully who tears it down. Or the unexpected hurtful drama of another friend who is jealous of your best friend.

As we walked out of the theater, I asked my 10 year old son Wyatt if he liked the film. He looked a bit dazed and shrugged his shoulders with a simple, “It was OK”. Many other kids reacted in a similar fashion. This is less a movie for kids and more an experience for people like me who can reflect on the horrors and triumphs of childhood with an adult perspective.

The costumes are pure fantatsic. The voice acting is great. The locations are wonderful. The sets and art design are both faithful to Sendak yet show a freedom and creativity that goes beyond the book in a perfectly organic way.

And Max Powers is about the most perfect casting choice for Max they could have decided on. His range is phenomenal.

I loved Where The Wild Things Are a lot, and can’t wait to see it again.

Mark Ferrari and Joseph Huckaby created some gorgeous animated art using 8 bit color and HTML 5 color cycling. I have no idea what that means, but it’s like someone opened up a Nintendo NES system and found a way to make gorgeous nature scenes. They kind of remind me of those funky old lighted waterfall signs you’d see in cheezy bars and restaurants back in the day. CLICK HERE to see them in action.

George Lindsey, who played “Goober” on The Andy Griffith Show, passed away today at the age of 76.  Lindsey was a solid comedic character actor, and his Goober character lived on via Hee Haw for more than 20 years after Griffith was cancelled. Lindsey was a memorable standout on a show full of colorful characters. Farewell you goofy bastard, you will be missed. WSFA has a nice in depth write up you can read here.

Before George Clooney became famous in the classic medical drama ER, he was in a rotten ’80s sitcom called “E/R”. Here’s a clip to celebrate his 51st birthday today. He’s certainly charming in it, but not even his charisma can save the shitty writing.

by Skid Jones- dasfinger@yahoo.com

In the early ’90s there was a shoe company named Airwalk. They made skateboard shoes, for the most part. They also made these awesome suede desert boots, and I absolutely loved them. Aside from the fact that they were well made and I thought they looked cool, they were also extremely comfortable…something that I rarely find as a guy with flat feet.

After a few years and a few pairs, I was heartbroken to learn that they were no longer going to make them. I went out in search of every pair I could find in my size twelve. Sadly, I was only able to find two pair.

I wrote to the company…trying to find out if they had any extras laying around that I could purchase, but never received a response. Eventually, Al Gore invented the internet and I was able to send them emails. The years went by and my final two pair of boots were disintegrating, but I never stopped writing…with no response.

I would routinely check their web page to see if there was going to be a miracle, but the shoes that they still did make were so fucking ugly that I just got depressed. I gave up. I rationed my wearing of the final pair. Desperate to make them last, I only wore them for special occasions. In the meantime, I reverted to Vans. They were fine, but they were no badass suede desert boots.

About three years ago, I was still wearing what was left of that last pair. On a lark, I decided to check out Airwalk’s website and was astounded to see that they were bringing back the desert boot…but there was a catch.

Apparently, Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys also dug the desert boots, and in honor of him starting some film company or something, Airwalk was going to make a limited number of desert boots. The kicker – they were going to be given away to the guests of his party in New York. But there was hope! The webpage stated that there was a drawing with a chance to win an invitation.

My last grasp at the brass ring was immediately dashed when I read a little further and discovered that the drawing had already happened and that the party was actually taking place as I read this woeful news.

I was fucking irate! I wish I still had the original email I sent to Airwalk, but I can still remember the gist of my message: How fucking dare you?

I wrote the whole story of my love for the boots. The despair at no longer being able to find them, the dozens of inquiries I had made that were ignored…the fact that I offered to pay any price to have a pair made for me. I bemoaned their betrayal of a loyal customer and summed up with something very close to this:

“For years you have ignored me and my hard-earned money, but when some piece of shit rap douche millionaire wants shoes for himself and his hipster, loser fuck face friends, you can’t get his cock in your mouth fast enough. Go fuck yourself, Airwalk. I hope you all get your goddamn feet chopped off, you star-fucking ass lickers!

p.s. I wear a size twelve.”

Two weeks later I came home to find a huge box on my front porch. It’s from Airwalk. Inside are two brand new pairs of badass suede desert boots…one tan pair, the other black, both size twelve. Also included – about twenty pair of socks, a couple of T shirts, two pairs of shorts, a gym bag and a bunch of stickers.

At the bottom of the box was a note:

“Hey Skid,

Your email has been shared with everyone at the Airwalk office…they loved it! The folks at Airwalk passed it along to me and we decided that it was so funny that you MUST have your beloved desert boots. We know you’ll enjoy them!

Best, Adam Yauch”

Chen Guangcheng is a dissident in China in the news these days. Why the fuck does every bit of media have to label him as “Blind Chinese Activist”, as if that is what defines him? It’s as offensive as “Black President Barack Obama”, “Handicapped Scientist Steven Hawking”, or “Lazy Eyed Actor Forrest Whittaker”. Fuck you CNN, Fox, Drudge, MSNBC, and just about every other news source out there.

Hey there fans of super cool cartoons! We’re giving away a beautiful Collector’s Edition of  The Complete Underdog courtesy of the fine folks at Shout Factory. All you have to do is draw a picture of Underdog doing something super awesome. The winner will be chosen on May 15th. Send all entries to rberry@retrocrush.com.

A friend at work knew I had drawn some funny lunch bags for my kids, so he asked me to make him a special request. It’s about time Bel Biv Devoe got on a paper bag, yo!