There seems to be a new meme in the blogosphere. The search for Ellie Light. No, I'm not going to link you to examples because I don't want to encourage them.
But just so you know, "Ellie Light" is a name or pseudonym, under which a lot of pro-Obama letters-to-the-editor have run in newspapers around the country. Some folks with nothing better to do are in an uproar, and interogating the name "Ellie Light" for clues as to whom this person really is.
Ellie could stand for Helen? But, wait ... it could also stand for Eleanor! "Light" suggests that the real surname might be "Power" or "Powers" since you need the power to keep your lights on.
And if you play the record backwards, it says, "I buried Paul." Okay, I'm old. I actually remember those theories.
Jeez.
Showing posts with label pop culture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pop culture. Show all posts
29 January 2010
13 March 2009
Neil Sedaka
Singer Neil Sedaka was born on March 13, 1939. So happy 70th to him.
Sedaka blew himself up on an episode of the "Farm Film Celebrity Blow-Up" on the old variety show SCTV, during its NBC period.
For those who don't know anything about SCTV, shame on you. Go get some DVDs.
The theme of the show was that SCTV, or Second City Television, was a small struggling television station operating out of the town of Melonville. Either in some state of the midwestern US or in Canada, it was never very clear. Some of the comedy came from the backstage goings-on, much came from the "programs" as broadcast.
One recurring program was "Farm Film Celebrity Blow-Up," which would begin as a farm report, with some talk about commodity prices, then progress to movie reviews. The two hosts -- Big Jim McBob and Billy Sol Hurok -- only enjoyed movies in which something, well ... blows up.
The show would end with a segment in which a guest celebrity blows up. it was cartoon violence in live action. We'd see a series regular dressed/made-up as a celebrity, hear a loud boom, see smoke, and then sometimes see the celebrity in obvious "doll" form flying offstage. The hosts would chortle their catch phrase, "he blowed up real good."
Neil Sedaka was subjected to that treatment, with the explosion apparently keyed to go off only after he started performing a song and got his voice up to the right note.
Funny stuff. Don't take my word for it -- get the DVD. I already said that, didn't I?
Anyway, I hope the real Neil Sedaka isn't too choked up from the wonderful birthday tribute I've just given him. Dry your tears buddy, and enjoy your 70th.
Sedaka blew himself up on an episode of the "Farm Film Celebrity Blow-Up" on the old variety show SCTV, during its NBC period.
For those who don't know anything about SCTV, shame on you. Go get some DVDs.
The theme of the show was that SCTV, or Second City Television, was a small struggling television station operating out of the town of Melonville. Either in some state of the midwestern US or in Canada, it was never very clear. Some of the comedy came from the backstage goings-on, much came from the "programs" as broadcast.
One recurring program was "Farm Film Celebrity Blow-Up," which would begin as a farm report, with some talk about commodity prices, then progress to movie reviews. The two hosts -- Big Jim McBob and Billy Sol Hurok -- only enjoyed movies in which something, well ... blows up.
The show would end with a segment in which a guest celebrity blows up. it was cartoon violence in live action. We'd see a series regular dressed/made-up as a celebrity, hear a loud boom, see smoke, and then sometimes see the celebrity in obvious "doll" form flying offstage. The hosts would chortle their catch phrase, "he blowed up real good."
Neil Sedaka was subjected to that treatment, with the explosion apparently keyed to go off only after he started performing a song and got his voice up to the right note.
Funny stuff. Don't take my word for it -- get the DVD. I already said that, didn't I?
Anyway, I hope the real Neil Sedaka isn't too choked up from the wonderful birthday tribute I've just given him. Dry your tears buddy, and enjoy your 70th.
18 March 2007
Trying Too Hard for Significance
David Byrne's Journal includes a recent account of a trip to the set where "Big Love" is filmed.
That sentence may require some explanation, so here goes. David Byrne was a founding member of Talking Heads, which I'm told was a seminal New Wave band. Big Love is an HBO program about a polygamous household -- one husband, three wives.
Obviously, the very existence of such a show has led to some efforts at psyching out the point of view. Whose ox is being gored? in religious, political, cultural terms? and why?
But Byrne doesn't really seem interested in any of that. Read the journal entry and you'll see that he's much more interested in the set on which it is all filmed. http://journal.davidbyrne.com/2007/03/3507_big_love_s.html
The main character runs a successful building-supply business on the "Home Depot" model, and maintains three separate homes, with one wife and his children by her in each. The three homes share a common backyard.
" I love these places — you’re in the set and it’s completely believable as a suburban home or an office and then you look up and there is no ceiling and huge AC hoses loom outside and the view through the window is a massive photo backdrop of the mountains that ring suburban Salt Lake City. "
This sets him off in pursuit of depth. What is real? what is fake? Isn't the sight of mountains the same visual experience if its a well-done backdrop as it would be if the show were filmed in Salt Lake City? Or, at least, I think that's what he's trying to get at. You decide.
My point? Maybe writers shouldn't strain too hard for profundity and should let the superficial be the superficial. A TV set is a TV set. It may be a fun place to visit, but doing so won't turn you into Rene Descartes.
That sentence may require some explanation, so here goes. David Byrne was a founding member of Talking Heads, which I'm told was a seminal New Wave band. Big Love is an HBO program about a polygamous household -- one husband, three wives.
Obviously, the very existence of such a show has led to some efforts at psyching out the point of view. Whose ox is being gored? in religious, political, cultural terms? and why?
But Byrne doesn't really seem interested in any of that. Read the journal entry and you'll see that he's much more interested in the set on which it is all filmed. http://journal.davidbyrne.com/2007/03/3507_big_love_s.html
The main character runs a successful building-supply business on the "Home Depot" model, and maintains three separate homes, with one wife and his children by her in each. The three homes share a common backyard.
" I love these places — you’re in the set and it’s completely believable as a suburban home or an office and then you look up and there is no ceiling and huge AC hoses loom outside and the view through the window is a massive photo backdrop of the mountains that ring suburban Salt Lake City. "
This sets him off in pursuit of depth. What is real? what is fake? Isn't the sight of mountains the same visual experience if its a well-done backdrop as it would be if the show were filmed in Salt Lake City? Or, at least, I think that's what he's trying to get at. You decide.
My point? Maybe writers shouldn't strain too hard for profundity and should let the superficial be the superficial. A TV set is a TV set. It may be a fun place to visit, but doing so won't turn you into Rene Descartes.
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