Have you ever said to yourself “Man I wish there was a band consisting of Will Robinson from Lost in Space, the One Armed Man from the Fugitive, the hot mom from Freaks and Geeks, and Rousseau from LOST!” ? You have?! Well than today is your lucky day, because I come bearing good news. There is such a band and they are called The Be Five. Something they all have in common is that they were also cast members of one of the best sci-fi shows of all time, Babylon 5.
Amazing.
Earlier this week a friend of mine, who is also a Babylon 5 fan, sent me a link directing me to the information about this album and my mind was blown. Apparently back in 1998 Bill Mumy, Mira Furlan, Claudia Christian, Andreas Katsulas, and Peter Jurasik at the height of Babylon 5’s popularity came together to make an album, calling their group The Be Five. I’ve known that Bill Mumy was a musician but I had no idea he ever got together with his other B5 comrades to make music. Apparently Mumy wrote or co-wrote all of the songs on the album which are mainly blues/rock and the other cast members take the lead vocals on two tracks each. As if that wasn’t awesome enough Patricia Tallman, everyones favorite Vorlon enhanced telepath, has several cameos on the album as well, as a backup vocalist.
Unfortunately the album was basically only available at various cons where one of the stars were making an appearance. Later it was more widely distributed but not in great numbers and apparently it is still rather hard to find a physical copy of the CD. Thankfully however this one and only album of The Be Five “Trying to Forget” is available for digital download on Amazon! I would suggest checking it out and at least listening to some of the samples from the tracks. Hearing Peter Jurasik who played Londo Mollari sing blues is simply golden and I was quite surprised by the dark sultry qualities of Mira Furlan’s singing voice.
I had no idea this thing existed, but now that I do I can’t get it out of my head. This made my week, and you’d better believe it is now at the top of my list of things to buy!
So I was sitting here today while my wife was watching something awful on TLC and I decided to goof around and explore some of the options on my blog. As I poked around I came across the polling feature that is available here. I had set up the polls awhile ago, but I’ve totally forgotten about it until now. So bored, and interested to see how this works, I decided to give it a try and make a test poll. So take a look below, and add your vote!
In my continuing mission to bring Babylon 5 back to the sci-fi cultural forefront I decided to throw together a B5 poll. Just a simple opinion poll in order to determine what alien races were among the favorites for fans of the show. Of course there are probably only about three of you out there who actually watched the series enough to even know what the hell I’m talking about, but oh well. This is only a test anyway I just want to see how it goes. So regardless of how familiar you are with the show, if you’ve read this post this far than just do me a favor and pick one and vote.
So I got onto the ol’ Facebook this morning and checked my notifications and to my chagrin the first thing I read was a post from my pal Tim telling me that comic book artist Gene Colan had passed away. This was particularly sad news for me because Gene Colan happens to be one of my comic creator heroes. Mr. Colan was involved in several of my favorite Marvel titles such as Dr. Strange and Howard the Duck. He was a co-creator of Blade, and his art was a driving force behind some of Marvel’s top horror comics especially the iconic Tomb of Dracula series.
I had the great pleasure of meeting Gene Colan in person at the 2007 New York Comic Con. He was part of a silver age panel that they had there where he, Stan Lee, and others talked about working in the industry during the 60’s and early 70’s. Later that day I happened to catch up with Mr. Colan at the artist’s alley there where he was quite gracious and generous enough to sign several of my Dr. Strange and Howard trades I had with me. He took a few minutes to show me several of his sketches he had with him and some of the original comic book art that he was a part of. As I waited in line I saw him interact with everyone in front of me and I was surprised that he was familiar with, and knew by name, a few of the other fans who had obviously interacted with him at other conventions. After that day I was even more enamored with the man, a true comic book fan himself and a creator who was clearly dedicated to the material and the readers who embraced it. I knew he was having some health issues as of late but it is still quite a downer to hear the news of his death.
Today I leave you with this pin-up image depicting the iconic confrontation between the title characters of Dr. Strange Versus Dracula. Though it’s not my typical Friday Funny Pages material, this is one of my favorite stories Gene Colan drew which involved many of my favorite characters. This particular image was a poster that was part of the 1980 Occult World of Dr. Strange Marvel calendar with art by Gene Colan and inks by Tom Palmer.
You will be missed Mr. Colan, thank you for your years of great work and for taking the time to share your experiences with comic book fans across the country! Your art and iconic tales of fantasy will ensure that your memory goes on and I will personally do my best to continue to spread enthusiasm and appreciation for your unique style.
This week has turned out to be busier than anticipated, plus my wife has an increased need of the computer for work so I have not been able to post many blogs recently. I did however have the opportunity to see a couple of movies this week though and that’s what I want to talk about today!
Earlier this week the wife and I went to see Super 8 (while there we got a voucher for a free ticket so later that night I went to X-Men: First Class, but that has nothing to do with this). I’ve been very excited to see this movie and with good reason. J.J. Abrams has not disappointed me thus far, though he has had some projects that I don’t believe live up to the level of hype that surround them (Cloverfield and Star Trek), but I was extremely interested to see his take on a Spielberg-esque adventure flick. As far as I’m concerned this self proclaimed love letter to Steven Spielberg from J.J. Abrams really did a great job of highlighting both directors best qualities. The look, the feel, the sound, and even the way the movie was shot were very reminiscent of several of Spielberg’s early movies. As an aside I think other filmmakers out there should take note that even though we have CGI and other super advanced special effects techniques it still makes for a better movie to keep monsters/aliens/whatever hidden from the audience as long as possible in order to really ramp up anticipation and suspense. Too many movies these days love to have their CGI creatures out on parade throughout the entire length of the movie and after awhile you just lose interest as the movies devolve into a series of chase scenes or an unnatural and unrealistic volley of CGI fight scenes.
Anyway, enough about that. Going into the theater I knew a few things about the production of Super 8, but I hadn’t researched everything. Basically I read some interviews with Abrams and Spielberg about the movie and read a few details here and there on Ain’t It Cool News and Comic Book Movie.com. Just enough to keep my interest up, but not really studying the production in depth. I like to have a few surprises waiting for me when I finally sit down to watch a movie. Well knowing what I did about the movie I half expected to hear some John Williams scoring set behind the action on screen. I hadn’t read about Williams being involved, but then again I hadn’t really researched it that in-depth. Either way as the movie started I was excited to hear what the soundtrack would be like. A few minutes into it I realized it wasn’t John Williams, I’ve listened to enough of his work to be able to identify him a few bars in, but I wasn’t disappointed by the music that was there. For the most part I was enthralled by the movie and didn’t really notice much of the score that was mingled among it, as it should be. Then towards the end there were a few moments where I distinctly heard some unmistakable homages to Williams. As the intensity was ratcheting up near the finale of the film there are a few sections of music that are classic Williams, several distinctive chords that have been used most memorably in Jaws (not the main “Dun, dun” theme that everyone knows but some of the more menacing reactive music that really builds up tensions) and was also used well in his Jurassic Park score, and a few others. Also, given the nature of the plot of Super 8 it wasn’t unexpected to hear a few sections of music that sounded very similar to the theme from another certain Extra Terrestrial movie.
Giacchino at the premier of Ratatouille
By the end of the movie I was very interested to know where the music came from, as much as I enjoyed Super 8, I was now very curious as to who had written the score. As the credits rolled it was one of the first names shown, and I could have kicked myself for not realizing who it was sooner, I really should have guessed. Michael Giacchino. For the past six years or so any time I come across a film score that intrigues me, but is unfamiliar to me, it turns out to be Michael Giacchino! His music contains such a mercurial quality and he possesses a style not his own. John Williams and Danny Elfman I can pick out within seconds of hearing them, but Giacchino is a chameleon when it comes to his arrangements, his music never has the same type of sound and his scores are always so well adapted to the production that it becomes nearly impossible to separate him, from the rest of the movie.
The downside to that is that Giacchino doesn’t really have many memorable moments musically. John Williams has countless memorable themes and melodies attributed to his work from Star Wars to Schindler’s List. Danny Elfman has given us an unshakeable Batman theme even after it has long been abandoned by modern film revamping. The great Howard Shore ramped up the heroic nature of the Lord of the Rings with his epic score and the iconic themes that are now just as familiar to Lord of the Rings fans as Bilbo Baggins is.
From my memory though Giacchino doesn’t really have such dramatic qualities about him, but that’s not to say that he is any less of a composer. His music can be memorable even without a lasting tune running through your head. In particular I recall his score for the Pixar flick the Incredibles which harkened back to jazzier film scores of the 1960’s, and I first really noticed his work during the Speed Racer movie. Though some might bad mouth that movie, I really liked it and Michael Giacchino’s score was fantastic. I was especially pleased that he didn’t overuse the classic Speed Racer theme, but instead teased it along through the majority of the movie until the very end. Overall Giacchino does what any good composer should do, he makes his music a part of the movie, he helps the director flesh out the emotions and action that are portrayed on the screen. Michael Giacchino, perhaps more than any other film composer today, seamlessly melds his music into the movies he works on in the same way the set designers have worked a building into a shot, or the costume designers have chosen the look for the actors. Giacchino’s scores seem to adapt to every movie he works on, and though occasionally that sound can get lost within the greater scope of things, he certainly does his part to make those movies more than they would have been without him. The best way I can describe his style would be to simply call it adaptive.
There are three things that tell me Micheal Giacchino is becoming a major property in Hollywood. 1) The dude’s already won an Oscar for his work on Up. 2) He seems to now be the exclusive go-to-guy for new Pixar properties, working on all the new titles since the Incredibles. 3) Like any good film composer he’s found himself a directorial partner. Lucas and Spielberg work exclusively with John Williams, Tim Burton relies heavily on Danny Elfman, and it appears that J.J. Abrams’ music man is now Michael Giacchino who has provided the score for all of his movies thus far.
Michael Giacchino accepting his Oscar for Up
Here’s a quick list of some of my favorite movies Giacchino has written music for:
The Incredibles
Sky High
Mission Impossible III
Several of the Pixar shorts
Ratatouille
The television shows LOST and Fringe
Speed Racer
Star Trek (the new rebooty one)
Up
Let Me In
Super 8
And also here’s one of my favorite sections from the Speed Racer soundtrack, have a listen.
Hello readers, it’s time once again for Friday Funny Pages. I haven’t posted a blog since last Friday, my apologies for the lack of activity but I’ve been focusing on my current job hunt which has been quite a feat in this dismal economy also the wife and I took a few days to go camping and escape from the disheartening reality of modern living if only for a little over 48 hours. Now I’m back, somewhat recharged, and ready to bare down and dive back into my regular writing agenda! So let’s get right to it shall we?
Today’s panel comes to us from the great, and now defunct, Star Wars Tales comic book. For those who might not know Star Wars Tales was a monthly collection put out by Dark Horse of two or three short stories set in the Star Wars universe. Generally these stories were not considered canon, rather they were imaginative little vignettes that would explore portions of the movies that went unseen or elaborate on details that were only mentioned in passing during the films. Many were interesting side-stories and serious explorations of the themes of Star Wars, while others were goofball parodies and comedic asides. This panel comes to use from the latter category. This panel is intended to be funny. The image comes from a story entitled “Force Fiction” written by Kevin Rubio with art by Lucas Marangon. The setting is a small cafe somewhere on Coruscant shortly after the events of Episode I, where Yoda and Mace Windu are discussing the fate of a certain young Force adept by the name of Skywalker. This particular spit take comes after Mace determines that he thinks Anakin Skywalker should be given Qui-Gon’s lightsaber and trained as a Jedi. Yoda isn’t too happy about it, and points out all the reasons why not to train the boy, reasons we as the reader know to be all valid points. That’s not the point of this story however, for as the two Jedi knights sit quietly eating their lunch a group of raiders suddenly smash through the front of the cafe intent on robbing the place and the story quickly becomes an homage to Pulp Fiction and the iconic scene with Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta in a very similar small dinning establishment (of course I don’t need to remind anyone who plays Mace Windu in Star Wars).
Anyway it’s a funny little Star Wars bit and this image of Yoda taken by surprise is just really amusing to me. Also if you look closely you will see that Yoda is sitting in the Jedi equivalent of a booster seat. Good stuff. If any of you Star Wars fans out there have not made yourselves familiar with the stories in Star Wars Tales I suggest you do so ASAP. There are a ton of genuinely excellent Star Wars stories throughout the pages, both serious and funny. Though they aren’t putting out any new books anymore you can get Star Wars tales in trade paperback, there are several volumes available. At about $20 a pop it’s a worthy investment! May the Farce be with you!
I originally had something else planned for today’s Friday Funny Pages, but I was flipping through my comics from Free Comic Book Day and came across an issue that contained some Smurfs pages and decided to use some of the panels found there instead. As a kid I really enjoyed the Smurfs. As far as old cartoons go the Smurfs was pretty adventurous, while at the same time sticking to a lot of the cartoon conventions of the day. The Smurfs made use of several typical cartoon elements such as making use of the ever determined recurring villain who is hell-bent on ruining the day for the main characters; as well as character names that were not only short but were also descriptive, giving you all the insight you needed into the character’s back story. These elements were found in countless cartoons of this time from the Care Bears to G.I. Joe. The Smurfs however put their spin on this mix by including bits and pieces from folklore, fairy tales, and fantasy expanding the Smurf world well beyond the several small mushrooms of Smurf Village. Witches, wizards, trolls, knights, and elemental beings such as Father Time and Mother Nature were regulars in the Smurf’s cartoon. The Smurfs was a fantasy epic for children which was a solid influence for me as a kid and which I am proud to say was part of my cartoon repertoire growing up.
With that in mind, let me say that I am not looking forward to that CGI Smurf’s movie that is coming out. At first it sounded interesting but from the previews I’ve seen it seems to be complete garbage. The Smurf’s took place long ago, in medieval times. The Smurf’s didn’t travel to New York City and have whirlwind adventures atop taxi cabs through the streets of the big city. But alas, I digress. I never really read much of the Smurfs comic strip source material by Peyo (Pierre Culliford) but from my experience with the cartoon I don’t recall the Smurfs using the word “Smurf” to replace any word in a sentence, as we see in the panels above. From what I recall the Smurfs would generally drop the word Smurf into a sentence as an adjective, as in “Have a smurfy day!” or “Don’t you look smurfy!” Perhaps occasionally they would use it as a verb, “Quit smurfing around!” Also on occasion there would be familiar words that would be rebuilt around the word Smurf, for example “Smurftastic!”
Regardless in any case when they spoke in the show there would usually only be one “smurf” per sentence, not every other word! How the hell are you supposed to know what they are talking about? And what’s worse is when you leave so many words as a mystery the natural inclination is to replace all the “smurfs” in the sentence with expletives during the translation process. But perhaps that’s just me, it makes it more entertaining at any rate. I mean honestly though “I’ll help you smurf another smurf that smurfs under the water” how am I supposed to restrain myself from interpreting that inappropriately? In the second panel Papa Smurf tells that other smurf “I don’t want you smurfing the village anymore!” after he crashes through one of the village buildings. You don’t want him fucking the village anymore, is that what you’re saying Papa? Just come out and say it!
Anyway let’s just put it this way, I don’t remember the Smurfs cartoon being a riddle of language codes that needed to be unjumbled every week and that maybe these new comics are going a little overboard with the excessive dropping of the Smurf bomb. Whatever the case may be have fun decoding these panels any way you wish and perhaps subtly try to work Smurf into your daily conversations and see if anyone notices. I leave you with one final panel referring to one of my favorite Golden Age super heroes who has somehow been Smurfified. (Not really)
They aren't really talking about a Smurf Namor, but that would be awesome . . . .
Mindless Philosophy 