Category: Geek

I’m a geek. I can’t help it. Here’s my geeky musings and ramblings.

Geek, TV

How will Mad Men end?

I’m an obsessive Mad Man fan. I’ve been there from the beginning and very quickly fell in love with the world and the characters Matthew Weiner (and company) has so brilliantly brought to life. In less than a month, we…

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Geek, Photos

Photos: The Andy Warhol Museum

I love Pittsburgh.

No, really. I totally did not expect to enjoy a recent business trip to the former steel town, but… Love it, I did. The downtown is really beautiful with great new architecture sitting side-by-side with some classic buildings from the 1930s and 40s.  The streets are clean, the weather cold, but the sights and sounds are absolutely winning.

Plus, downtown Pittsburgh has something that takes things to another level: The Andy Warhol Museum. Seven stories tall, the building showcases all the work of the late great artist. It’s absolutely a must-visit if you are ever in the area. And it has a very eccentric eclectic gift shop, too.

Though I was not supposed to take photos, I did manage to sneak a few in. And here they are:

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Geek

Listen: ELO’s “lost” album, ZOOM

In 2001, Jeff Lynne got the band back together… and no one noticed.

Lynne “took back” the name Electric Light Orchestra from Bev Bevan (who had formed ELO Part II) and created a new ELO band and album. The album, named ZOOM, was… well, not many people bought it. Lynne and his new band filmed a reunion concert, featuring many of the new songs from the album as well as some ELO classics. The concert was released to DVD, but the lackluster reception of the album put a planned tour on permanent hold.

The ZOOM CD is out of print, but through the magic of the Internet you can listen to it on Youtube. I’m a fan of Lynne’s work, and I have to say the album is quite good… though its more of a Jeff Lynne solo album than an ELO release.

(BTW, SOME people paid attention – a bonus track from the Japanese version of the album, Long Black Road, is prominently featured in American Hustle. Apparently director David Russell is a fan.)

Here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teGSulLyta0

Geek, The Prisoner, TV

Video: 1977 interview with Patrick McGoohan, “The Prisoner Puzzle”

This is a 35 minute conversation with Patrick McGoohan, talking about The Prisoner for Canadian television on the tenth anniversary of the program. He gets a bit fired up in response to a couple of questions, and his explanation of who Number One was (and the reaction of the audience) is quite amusing. If you are a fan of the show, it’s worth a watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiIUnCMpGbM

Geek, Movies

RIP DEVO guitarist and founder Bob Casale

Yesterday brought the news that Bob Casale, guitarist and founding member of DEVO, had passed away from a heart attack. Casale, who I had the pleasures to meet at #SXSW some years ago, was a great guy and a fine artist. He will be missed.

Here’s Casale and the rest of his band performing with (of all people) Neal Young in Young’s cult film Human Highway:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BJKXd7E-38&feature=youtu.be

Geek

Listen to the long out-of-print Buckingham Nicks album

I’m not a big fan of Fleetwood Mac.

However, I AM a fan of Lindsey Buckingham… and his best album is his first. That album is his long out-of-print debut album with Stevie Nicks, Buckingham Nicks… Which was made before Fleetwood Mac even existed. There are rumors that it will (finally) be rereleased sometime in the next few months, but until then someone has ripped the vinyl and posted the songs on Youtube.

Enjoy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKBft-I4UdU

Geek

Another Anniversary: Happy 40th to The Six Million Dollar Man!

In January 1974 the first episode of The Six Million Dollar Man aired, and kids around the world had a new superhero. Steve Austin was the world’s first bionic man, and we watched every week as he foiled foreign spies, fought Bigfoot, and faced fembots and Death Probes.

As much as I enjoyed the show, the best thing that came from the program (besides a young writer named Mark Frost) was the toy line from Kenner. I played with those toys so much they fell apart. I had them all – the repair station that was shaped like a rocket, the Oscar Goldman figure (with exploding briefcase!), the AM radio backpack… Such fun.

In celebration of the anniversary, here’s some classic commercials for the line…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj3–kt7TO0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ene2z2vEhQI

Geek

Happy 50th anniversary, G.I. Joe!

There’s a lot of anniversaries this year, and one of the biggest (to yours truly) is the 50th Anniversary of the G.I.Joe toy line. G.I.Joe was introduced 50 years ago this week at the New York Toy Fair. It was a radical new idea – “dolls” for boys, based on the four branches of the military (Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines). Of course, they couldn’t use the term “doll” (because “boys didn’t play with dolls”) and hence they came up with the phrase “action figure” and spawned an entire industry.

The toy was an incredible success, and has evolved over the years to shed the militaristic angle (the G.I.Joe team became “adventurers” instead of soldiers), only to become a special missions force once again when the line was reintroduced in 1982 (as 3 3/4″ figures).

I don’t want to admit in this public forum how many Joes I own (mostly the classic 12″ figures) but I’ll say this… it’s in the triple-digits. Yeah, I know, the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem…

Here’s some videos celebrating Joe in all his forms. YO, JOE!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQNIwEzocY4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g5vH9A8t9I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYAiuJoZ7JI