Eddie's Media Corner
Eddie's Media Corner #8
 
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Hello again everyone.
Things are green and gorgeous in the Missouri woods as I write this Summer's early warnings for audio/video/literary entries to the media zoo.

A special HI to everyone that came out to see us at Epcot. And to the wonderful Disney crew who have welcomed us back year after year to kick off summer with their Flower Power celebration. If you click on Turtle News, you can see some photos (and maybe hear some sound bytes...Doug, are you listening)? from the happiest shows on earth.

Obviously, congrats are in order for my partner since 1962 and his new bride.
Good luck Emily and congratulations Mark.
Hell, might as well say Happy Birthday to my daughters Alex and Emily while I'm at it. And grandson Max turns 2 in July. I'm a happy guy.

I hereby send out a bouquet of roses to Laura San Giacomo, the beautiful star of t.v.'s "Just Shoot Me" for choosing "Happy Together" by the Turtles as her number one choice of "Records that you Never get Tired of listening To" on VH-1's "The List."
The program aired on May 1. After the entire cast and the audience was polled, we came in 2nd to "Hey Jude" and scored above "Glory Days" for all-time favorite record.
Tell Laura I Love Her.
Really.
Thanks to Maya Gallo (her character's t.v. name)...
Laura, you and your son have a free backstage pass anytime you like.

On to the business at hand.
To wit, Hey there Eddie, what is it that YOU'VE been listening to and reading and watching so far this millennium?
A fair question. Let's go to the CD changer in the Lexus...it holds 6.
We've got...

Rage Against the Machine...Battle of Los Angeles
These guys are not as angry as you think. It took me a while to break down and find the time to actually LISTEN to many of these so-called metal/rappers, because I, like you, was afraid. Not to worry. Rage is one of the good ones and the stuff that angers them angers me too. And you. Crunchy tracks that eat your face off.

Beck...Odelay
I know...this is an old one, but sometimes you feel like a nut and Beck qualifies...in spades! What can I say about this long-heralded masterwork that you haven't already heard? This is a class act.

Limp Bisquit...Significant Other
Sorry everyone, but I just skip to track #2 here. Nookie is one of the great road songs and there ain't a living soul out there who hasn't at one time or another been left standing Like A Chump. Woody Allen says that we keep doing this romance thing for the eggs, but I think this blast of fury says it even better,

Nine Inch Nails...The Fragile
If Brian Wilson was in his thirties and making records now, he'd sound like this. Perhaps a bit too sensitive for some of Reznor's "Marilyn era" fans, this CD is, for me, a lot like Beck's aforementioned Grammy winner. Layers and textures of beauty scarred with the knife of brutality. Damn, I love this guy!

Live at the Palladium... Keith Richards and the X-pensive Winos
Hey.
I rock, therefore I Keith.
Some lovely ragged "live" performances here from "da man's" first two solo projects and a few Stones songs thrown in for good measure. He's the heart of show business...I've said it before and I'll say it again.

Korn...Issues
When you start to figure out which of the new bands out there are good and which ones simply fill the airwaves with pap, a few of the really great groups float, like Cream, to the top of the pail. You got your Blink 182, your Sugar Ray, your Smashmouth, your Bare-naked Ladies and your rappers. Emenem is a hard pill to swallow for a lot of us who DIDN"T grow up worshipping Dr. Dre on the street corners of our suburban "hood." Kid Rock does Detroit with as much panache, if not quite the chops, as his city-mates Kiss...take that for what it's worth. And then there are the bands that rap and sing also. In this category, you'll find Korn. Korn is a great band. This CD is a bit more restrained than their last and a lot more commercial. Parents, you could do worse then to sit yourselves down and check out the music that your children listen to. If they have this one, they're OK.

and, no, I haven't forgotten the new Eels album, called "Daisies of the Galaxy". Our friend, the troubled Mr. E, is in less pain this time out. And although this record is not exactly as magical to me as was Beautiful Freak, you'd have to be dead NOT to love this maniac's insane Rundgrenesque introspection and lush studio technique.
This CD is currently playing through my computer speakers. It will rotate to the car next week.

Hey, read any good books lately?
I have.
As always.
First, let me call your attention to an item that is as rock and roll as it is literary.
This one will blow your minds!

My Own Choice, A Selection of Lyrics....by Keith Reid
This is the Mr. Reid that took our brains to other places throughout the sixties and seventies with his wondrous rhymes and swashbuckling adventures as set to music by the quintessential British band, Procal Harum. Are any of you old enough to remember where you were when you first heard "A Whiter Shade of Pale"? Boy, I do. And A Salty Dog, and Conquistador, and Grand Hotel...the list goes on. And these were not just lyrics although Mr. Reid would have us believe that they are. It becomes clear upon reading these verses that we are, indeed, in the presence of a great poet here. Not just a rocker, but a bard whose words will undoubtedly outlive us all.
I've got to be particularly proud here when I say that the volume of sixty-six pieces has been published by our own Joe Stefko's Charnel House publishing company. Joe goes nuts when he's excited about a project and he's obviously nuts as we speak. He actually went out and had these books hand sewn and hand bound...no machines here...the fabric is beautiful and imported from Japan; it feels magical as you read it, and each page has been uniquely designed to stand as a work of art on it's own. There are leather inlays on the front cover and the spine too. Amazing! Keith signed them and, if that wasn't enough, the books come in a lovely custom slipcase. Such a deal at $200!
It really really is. Readable art, tactile and mentally stimulating as well as an investment that will grow in value as the years go by. Hey, if you're REALLY into it, Joe's got a $600 full Moroccan leather volume of this book that's stamped front and spine with actual 22kt. gold! Email him at CharnelHouse.com and tell him how many you want. ( and tell him to play a little more softly onstage while you're at it)!

For a GREAT read, try one of my all time favorite authors,

False Memory...Dean Koontz
I say this a lot, but THIS one could be just about his best since Intensity. Who am I to say if it felt just a wee bit long to me, when after all, Dean has taken me into a story so bizarre and so much fun that I didn't want it to end anyway. Maybe Dean didn't either, cause this sucker KICKS ASS! You've got yourself a lunatic every bit as treacherous as Hannibal Lechter roaming the streets of Orange County as a well-respected and untouchable professional man with some genuinely frightening and gruesome agenda. Throw in Koontz's trademark young couple, SUV, and brilliant dog and you're off to the races loving every word of this over-600-page opus. You get a lot for your money with Dean R.

Now, for all of you out there that have refused to buy DVD players, I can dig where you're coming from.
And if that sounds dated, HA HA, I know you are, but what am I? Spring for the $200, plug the damned thing in, and go to the MOVIES!! I gave in after fighting it for over 2 years...a late starter, like I was with computers.
Now, I seek out the widescreen wonders wherever I can.

Recommended this month:

Fight Club
...what I thought would be a mediocre Brad Pitt vehicle was actually a really great Ed Norton vehicle. He continues to amaze.

Being John Malcovich
...you've heard it all. Just hold on for a great roller coaster ride.

House on Haunted Hill
...this one's good: lots of unexpected twists and turns and a superior script.

The Haunting
...this one isn't. Just wanted to see if I still had your attention. I have a really hard time believing anything Liam Neeson's ever done. And don't even get me started on the one with Meryl Streep! and yes, that means that I've never seen "Schindler's List," but I don't have to.
The holocaust bums me out, dude.
Besides, I did see "Episode One" of Star Wars and he sucked in that too.

watch:

  • X-Files
  • Buffy The Vampire Slayer
  • Angel
  • Charmed
  • Voyager
  • Poltergeist: the Legacy
  • Psi Factor
  • Politically Incorrect
  • Dennis Miller
  • Chris Rock
  • Malcom in the Middle
  • Stargate SG-1
  • Behind the Music
  • The List
  • E!'s True Hollywood Story
  • Tom Greene
  • Just Shoot Me
and The Sopranos, Lincs and Rude Awakenings when they return from hiatus.

try:

Xena, Warrior Princess
Cleopatra 2525
Jack of All Trades
The Others
don't even try...

Earth: Final Conflict
what can I say about the Taelons?
Bald lesbians from outer space?
These we've already got on Christopher Street in Manhattan!

There, now chew on all of this information for a few months, take two of those blue pills and STOP CALLING ME!!

sorry...that was only directed to the voices in my head.

Love,

The Artist Formerly Known as Elian
hkaylan@theturtles.com

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