One Week of Paul Blart

 

I have never seen "Paul Blart Mall Cop" and no nearly nothing about it. Have I made a mistake? Further, is it so good as to warrant 7 viewings? We shall see.

The First Plinko and Etc.

In a previous post, "Various TV Series Online," I spread the good news that the entire "Joy of Painting" series with Bob Ross was on Amazon. I thought that this was so singular and special it never occurred to me to check my assumptions. It turns out that the entire series is also on youtube and has been for a few years without me knowing.

They also have new shows (different painter), a podcast (not sure what it is and how that makes sense)  and are currently doing a Memorial Day Marathon, which you can be just in time for.

In that same previous post I speculated about the future of "The Price is Right" coming to streaming. I should have also checked those assumptions - I think I was looking at Amazon at the time - because there is an official "The Price is Right - The Barker Era" youtube channel. The only hitch is that it's a highlights channel and not full episodes.

So with that in mind, here is the first ever game of Plinko:

I may be wrong but it seems like an excessive amount of explanation for such a simple premise. And it really feels like Bob's trying to sell it, like it's a failing game that needs help.

This Is My Milwaukee

 

A marketing video inviting you to visit Milwaukee.

Actually it's pronounced "Mil-ee-wawk-ay" which is Algonquin for "the good land."

The Joys of the Middling 90s Song

Psychological studies have indicated (or suggested) that you can change a memory merely by accessing it. It is possible that my current memory of being 6 years old, for instance, is not just my exeperience of that time but my experience plus my remembering it when I was 10, plus my remembering it when I was 20, 30, etc.

One of the best ways to become nostalgic for a place or time is to listen to the music that corresponds to it, but the above suggests that ironically you don't remember the 80s (for instance) best by the big 80s hits because you've been hearing those hits ever since. What you would ideally want is a great song that was everywhere at that time but that hasn't made it into constant hit rotation (by you, the radio, or anywhere else). It's a tall order. I can't think of any.

But failing that, the next best thing is a moderate hit or a song that was never a hit, that was very much of its time but you haven't heard even a single time since then.

The above music video is very enjoyable and I suppose it's because it somewhat fits the criteria. It's also just an earworm. On its face, it's a simple song, perhaps even a braindead simple song. But what I like about it is that it's very slyly constantly changing all the time - new elements are introduced, new instruments, additional melodies. Not that being braindead simple is necessarily a bad thing anyway, that's one of the distinguishing features of the 90s.

I expect the young people in Current Year, will react completely differently to the lyrics. Back when the song was released, a phone was just for phone calls.

Oh, and one more thing, if you're like me and you're wondering what happened to the "I miss the rising action... but it rocks" part, you're thinking of this. Very tricky.

Conan O'Brien Must Go Trailer

 

A sneak peak at Conan's new show set to air on HBO Max. The series is set to run for a full four episodes. Wow.

Is the title "Conan O'Brien Must Go" a play on the documentary "Conan O'Brien Can't Stop?" Who cares!

Just in Time for the Weekend - Meredith Monk's Turtle Dreams

 It's the weekend - time to open a cold brew, put on shorts and crank up some Meridith Monk jams. Good thing, then, that "Turtle Dreams" is now available on youtube.

"Is that Freedom Rock? TURN IT UP!"