Raised on Radio #13- The Tubes

When putting together this series, I debate whether to make this about now-forgotten songs of my youth or skip the obscure part, and focus just on those songs that were my absolute favorites.

While I decide that, I think that I can go ahead and add The Tubes' "She's a Beauty".

I hesitate to call this a forgotten gem, because it seems it seems to crop up fairly often nowadays. However, I swear that there was probably ten years where I didn't hear this song once on the radio.

It also was on the short list of favorite songs of mine growing up. "She's a Beauty" appeals to pure pop fans, but has enough guitar to be okay with the FM diehards. It's a blend of music (done well by Greg Kihn, not so well by Loverboy)that seemed to be perfect in the glory days of Hot Hits radio in the early 80s, and now once again perfect for the numerous.

I was young, so those slightly younger than me could appreciate Fee Waybill's theatrics or any kind of 'is it punk, new wave o rock?" debate. I just knew this was a great sing-along song.

The Tubes had six songs hit the top 100, and were a fixture on rock radio from 1981-1985, but "Beauty" was their high mark going to #11 in 1983.

Adventures of a Swing-state Voter - "Cow Pie of Distortion " edition

I should probably give an update on where we are in terms of the 2012 election.

Both Obama and Willard made it out this way and gave speeches.

Team Smear the Queer arrived first and littered a speech with plenty of metaphorical references to Prairie Fires.

Now as a native Midwesterner, Prairie Fires are a big, scary deal.  However, I doubt any Midwesterner would use that metaphor.  It sounds like something cribbed from a Cliff's Notes version of Iowa.

A drought of jobs!  A tornado of socialism!  A ragweed war in Afghanistan!

All of these are more in line with what I would say.

So when Team Pander to the Gay Community arrived, Barry O let out with a "Cow Pie of Distortion" blast.

Advantage: Obama.





(editor's note: I really don't believe Mitt is (still) a gay-hating bully or that Obama's pro-gay marriage statement is solely motivated by campaign strategy.  However, the flamebait was too alluring not to throw in)


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We know we are in full campaign mode as both candidates are running constant ads here.  Both are epic American ideals- Obama with a "His mom woke him up early so he would study hard" story and Willard with a "What President Romney would do on Day 1" proposal.

It also should be noted that SuperPAC mudslinging has been wonderfully bipartisan with the Dems running ads attacking Willard on women issues (aka "Shiny Objects" ) and attacking his job creation performance as Governor of Massachusetts.

TV Casualty - June

Hatfields and McCoys (History Channel) - I am not usually into the big tv event, but History's first move towards epic tv movie making was too close to my interests to be ignored.

I know that reviews of this three night, six-hour epic were mixed.  It is hip to hate on Kevin Costner, and that group had a feel day.  Personally, I like Costner, and his CV is actually a little bit more to it than only the two or three movies that come immediately to mind).

I have seen some internet supporters attack critics who call this a serious, grim affair, but it is- This movie takes itself very seriously and that is a bit of a negative point. 

Yes, those of you would yell, the Feud is a serious thing, but the film can be tedious at times. 

Still, I end up side with that internet crowd.  I did for the most part enjoy this story.  Costner and Paxton may be a bit too over-the-top, but I found them (especially Costner) appropriately charismatic.

Although as other point out, this isn't a sexy project (and thus didn't get the kind of four and five-star cameos other projects would) there are a lot of strong performances.  Powers Boothe commands every scene in, and there are plenty of star turns, though those tend to come from actors who are either women (Jena Malone, Lindsay Pulsipher, Mare Winningham) or British (Ronan Vibert, Andrew Howard).

I think a different format (three two-hour segments) would have served this better, but in a world of DVDs and DVR, that is not the worst crime.  I think a 3 or 4 hour movie might have been better or perhaps cut up into four or five one-hour segments.

It's not as good as the typical HBO series, but it is pretty good, and maybe, it's more good than it has a right to be.  It is at least good enough to put History on a solid footing should they decide to make more of these (and based on the ratings, that is inevitable).

I would recommend this, but I would recommend it with some pretty hard limitations.  First, it is pretty violent for a tv movie.  If that turns your stomach, then turn away.  Second, being a history buff would help.  If you're not a fan of Westerns or historical drama, you may tire of it quickly.  Lastly (and to drill this point in again), this isn't a HBO series.  It's got a lot of meat to it, and it will drag you in if you spend the time.  However, it won't grip you with the immediacy of some of those best HBO series.

I don't know enough about the Feud, but based on this, the Hatfields get the better end of the stick, probably because of Costner's role.


United Stats of America (History Channel) - In another effort to make History appeal to the masses, they have been giving series out to comedians.  Hate Larry the Cable Guy if you want, but on paper, Only in America should be good (Unfortunately, it isn't.)

Thus, I was ecstatic to see the Sklar Brothers get their own show.  You may be familiar with their appearances on Chelsae Lately or their fill-in spots on Jim Rome's radio show.  They have a unique dry humor that I realize isn't for everyone, but I think they are hilarious.

Most notably, the Sklars had a show on ESPN called Cheap Seats which I only came around to after it was cancelled (Fortunately, ESPN Classic reairs the show constantly).  Non-sports fans would likely avoid it, but they need not worry.  It was a MST3K/Beavis and Butthead style show in which the Sklars dug up old, odd ESPN footage (say The Battle of the Network Stars or All-Star Wrestling)

You can find a lot of that show on YouTube as well.  Do it.

The show itself is a good concept- a look at some stats about everyday life-  What do people spend most of their time doing?  What kills the most people?   What wages do we make?

I caught a few bits of the first show and was afraid this was going to be just the Sklars introducing segments and throwing away to prerecorded segments.  However, this show is filled with the Sklars and their sense of humor.  it may be a bit more conventional than Cheap Seats, but it is still very much their show.

I like this show alot and realize it is a bit too weird to survive on television.  However, maybe you will be lucky and catch an episode or two; and hopefully you will get as big of a kick of it as I do.

Check out the show's website for some extra clips and see if you dig the Sklar Bros sense of humor as much as i do.