An exciting and awe-inspiring glimpse into my life: movie reviews (which are replete with spoilers), Penn State football, Washington Nationals, and life here in the nation's capital. Can you handle it?
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Nothing is sacred anymore (XII)
Last night I was watching a DVD of The Muppet Show, and this particular skit caught my eye.
At first I thought it was kind of cute seeing Link Hogthrob, a Muppet pig, holding a real pig. But for some reason, him singing "Sonny Boy" to it felt a little creepy. Though he missed a golden opportunity to make a "bringing home the bacon" joke! Perhaps the "you might be a football" joke was deemed sufficient enough by the Muppet writers?
I heard Elton John's Rocket Man on the radio this morning on the way in to work, and I couldn't help but think of this--the one time that a William Shatner cover worked!
Yesterday I stumbled onto a YouTube clip of a customized trailer for the British comedy show Fawlty Towers . . . only recut to depict a slasher/horror movie. John Cleese's hilariously crazed antics fit the mood perfectly, as does the background music from Psycho! (Note that the audio is slightly out of sync with the video.)
Homer Simpson: "Would you look at those morons? I paid my taxes over a year ago!!!"
From the novel Fletch's Fortune: "Taxes, Mr. Fletcher." "What about 'em?" "You haven't paid any."
A possible Jim Mora interpretation: "Refunds??? Don't talk about refunds!"
A possible Treasure of Sierra Madre interpretation: "Tax forms??? We ain't got no tax forms. We don't need no tax forms. I don't have to show you any stinking tax forms!!!"
Probably the greatest tax-related quote came from the queen of mean herself, Leona Helmsley: "Only the little people pay taxes!"
I'm tempted to walk up to the post office at lunch today to see how long the line is—and then laugh at them, since I filed my taxes last month and received my refund deposits a few weeks ago.
Being a Mel Brooks fan, I noticed something recently while listening to the radio: the fight song for the Washington Redskins is similar to the theme song for Blazing Saddles! It's very subtle, but unmistakable! Compare, if you will.
Redskins fight song
Blazing Saddles theme song
Which leads me to believe . . . were Mel Brooks and Jack Kent Cooke secretly in cahoots?
I couldn't help but laugh when I saw this new article today, but apparently someone robbed a 7-Eleven in Colorado using a very unique weapon: a Klingon Batleth!
I have to wonder, would the Klingon Empire approve of such a weapon being used for something so devoid of glory?
After retiring from acting, Joaquin Phoenix seems to be making a rather unexpected career change: he wants to try his hand at rapping. Call me cynical, but I can't see him doing a transition from Johnny Cash (whom he was fabulous as in Walk the Line) to the likes of Eminem. And if his career as a rapper falls through, I'd hate to have to see him crawl back to acting with his tail between his legs (is that the crawl of shame, maybe?).
Personally, I think he should have remained in acting, because he had proven himself quite worthy, and was capable of great accomplishments.
I remember a hot Saturday afternoon in May 2004 when Will and I jumped into the car and searched for what we called "the Yuri house"—the house where Kevin Costner is being debriefed in the opening scene of the 1987 movie No Way Out. We had thought the Yuri house was located on one of the side streets just off Arlington Ridge Road, but alas, we were unable to locate it on that May Saturday four years ago.
I recently picked up the DVD of No Way Out from Netflix, and after looking at the film for the first time in several years, I realized that the house is on Arlington Ridge Road itself . . . just behind the apartment building where I live! So after carefully watching and re-watching the opening tracking shot of the film, I was able to determine precisely where the elusive Yuri house was: on the corner of 20th Street and Arlington Ridge Road! But my glee was for naught, as a trip past that intersection showed me that the house is no longer there.
In fact, we learn its fate courtesy of IMDb's trivia page for No Way Out:
When Ferrell leaves the safe house at the end of the movie, he leaves a real house in Arlington, VA, about a mile away from the Pentagon and drives away down Arlington Ridge Road. The house is no longer there (replaced by a larger one), but the "Do Not Enter" sign at the entrance to a street (20th St. S.) next to the house is still there.
Oh, well. Still, it would have been nice to have actually seen the house.
On a side note, I love the opening shot of the film. It's a tracking shot that begins at the U.S. Capitol, pulls back across the National Mall, across the Memorial Bridge, down over the Pentagon . . . and right over Riverhouse! It's quite fascinating to see my neighborhood as it was 20 years ago, to see how much things look the same and what has since changed—like how there was nothing but trees over what is now Pentagon Row and Pentagon City Mall!
I was lucky enough to find that tracking shot on YouTube (well, that and the first 10 minutes of the film).
At Saturday's game, my father drew inspiration from another fan who chose to have paw prints painted on his scalp. And who says you can't age with dignity?
With tomorrow's election looming, I thought I'd get into the spirit of things with some voting-related humor. Like last night's intro to The Simpsons.
And does anyone else remember this movie, Brewster's Millions, with Richard Pryor and John Candy? Sometimes I really do wish there was a "None of the above" selection on the ballot!
I almost couldn't believe it when I heard it, but Roy Pearson, the DC administrative law judge who sued a family-owned dry cleaning business a few years back over a lost pair of pants (to the tune of $54 million, I might add!), is trying once again to appeal his overturned case. And his rationale for appealing the case is just laughable.
"This is not about a pair of suit pants," Pearson, representing himself, told a three-judge panel of the D.C. Court of Appeals. The term "satisfaction guaranteed" is "very subjective" and with "no parameters at all," he complained, accusing the cleaners of fraud.
Fraud? That's seriously a stretch to say that a dissatisfied customer is the victim of fraud. Like everyone else in this world, I've already had times where I've been unsatisfied with some service or some store, but having worked in customer service already, I know just how demanding and unreasonable some customers can be. And Mr. Pearson isn't doing the customer any justice (no pun intended) with this venture. My rationale is, if you're unhappy with a service or a store, just don't go back there. There's no need to let your ego get so entangled with your dissatisfaction.
Having said that, I repeat my earlier advice to Mr. Pearson: give it up, dude. You've already made yourself an irreparable laughingstock with this most frivolous of lawsuits, and you've succeeded in taking the Chungs down with you, since they've opted to close down their business. Really, what more do you want?
To paraphrase Steve Buscemi . . . do you see this? It's the world smallest violin playing just for a pair of pants.
So much for age being just a state of mind! During today's Penn State game, it was revealed that head coach Joe Paterno is in fact older than sliced bread, by two years! So unfortunately, that means we can no longer say that JoePa is the best thing since sliced bread, because technically it wouldn't be true.
I stumbled onto this YouTube clip yesterday, which shows various Peanuts scenes recut to the dialogue of Clerks. Let me tell ya, Linus spouting out Randall's dialogue, with Charlie Brown filling in for Dante, that's just priceless!
Seth Green reveals in the commentary on Family Guy Presents: Stewie Griffin - The Untold Story (2005) (V) that the voice of Chris is based on Ted Levine's performance as Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs (1991).
Hmm . . . I never got the impression that Chris Griffin sounded much like Buffalo Bill. Nor can I picture Chris Griffin uttering, "It rubs the lotion on its skin, or else it gets the hose again!" Really, that's more a drunken Peter Griffin utterance.
This is what you get when you combine the following elements: downtime at work, Adobe Photoshop, a love for Star Trek and The Big Lebowski, and twisted creativity.
It occurred to me recently that some of the greatest moments in sports history came in the form of coaching meltdowns. At the time, such a moment of high anxiety and supreme frustration might seem unsettling, but in retrospect, they provide some of the funniest moments you can ever see.
Take Jim Mora's two famous flakeouts.
This is my personal favorite, simply because it makes no sense at all.
I think Hal McRae at least gets points for being the most destructive. (Be warned, from here on out, it gets significantly less work-friendly.)
Though I think Lee Elia's famous rant against the Cubs' fans has to take the cake.
Now I just have to wonder, out of all these (and so many others out there), which is the funniest?
An exciting and awe-inspiring glimpse into my life: movie reviews (which are replete with spoilers), Penn State football, Washington Nationals, and life here in the nation's capital. Can you handle it?
