To find out exactly who Freddy is, check out the first post of the series here.

To see all of the posts, click the link in the bar to the right.

24.) "Do you know that this is Grandpa? He told Freddy that it was too cold for him to help deliver the papers."

25.) "Freddy said 'I can draw a picture.' Look what he drew. Do you like to draw?"

26.) "Andy came over to play with Freddy. He let Freddy wear his fireman hat. Freddy will let him sit in his chair next."

27.) "Grandpa and Freddy think it is funny for Freddy to put Grandma's bra on his head."

As coisas andavam mal na vida de Cláudio. As contas do mercado, o aluguel, o telefone, vieram maiores do que seu salário. Antes fosse só isso. Havia sido abandonado por sua namorada na véspera do dia dos namorados. Puta presente, ele pensou depois. Estava arrasado, pobre Cláudio, a televisão havia quebrado. A geladeira estava vazia, assim como o seu coração.

Não podia sair com os amigos, não tinha dinheiro para isso. Não podia nem sequer pedir algum pros amigos. Sabia que nenhum estava muito bem financeiramente. Até Indiana, seu fiel cachorro, passava por apertos, muitas vezes dividindo o jantar de microondas com o dono.

É a vida, pensou, às vezes estamos por cima, às vezes estamos por baixo.

O apartamento estava ficando um lixo com o passar dos dias. Cleide teve de ser dispensada, as diárias não podiam mais ser pagas. Os pratos amontoaram-se na pia. Cláudio seguiu a teoria de que, se não lavar a louça, economiza água. Gênio.

Duas semanas na merda o fizeram pegar a corda do varal e fazer um laço. Fazia um dia abafado em Porto Alegre. Nenhuma nuvem sequer borrava o céu azul. Pendurou no ventilador de teto, subiu numa cadeira e pôs a corda ao redor de seu pescoço. Olhou para a janela aberta, pensou nas suas palavras finais e então, a plenos pulmões gritou;

-Deus, vai tomar no cu!

Então, cortando o clima perfeito para um suicídio o telefone tocou.

-Senhor Cláudio Silva? Aqui é da CEE, consta no nosso sistema que a sua conta de luz fora enviada com o valor errado. O senhor poderá esperar, pois estará recebendo em sua casa uma nova conta, o valor não é 150, como o informado, e sim 50 reais. Boa tarde.

Após desligar o telefone, ele então voltou-se novamente para o ato. Subiu novamente na cadeira, pôs novamente a corda verde-limão ao redor de seu pescoço e, fechando os olhos, ouviu o telefone tocar novamente. Deixou a secretária eletrônica atender.

-Cláudio, amorzinho, coração? Desculpa pela briga, eu estava errada. Retorna a ligação pra podermos conversar. Eu te amo, te amo, te amo, te amo, te amo muito. Beijos. Cláudio tentou correr para pegar o telefone, mas esquecera da corda no pescoço. A cadeira fugiu de seus pés, e então, ficou pendurado pelo pescoço.

Tentando livrar-se das cordas malignas de qualquer jeito, sentiu estar caindo quando seu peso fez o ventilador de teto ceder. Ouviu-se um estouro de longe, e Cláudio só notou dois de seus dentes a menos de meio metro de sua cara estatelada no chão.

Com um enorme sorriso no rosto, olhou para a janela sem cortinas, então, como se fosse um milagre, naquele dia de céu azul, sem nuvens e sem nenhum vento na rua, o barulho da chuva rompeu o ar abafado. Choveu num dia de sol em Porto Alegre.

Mal sabia que era a dona Maria do 302 lavando a varanda.

Trig Paxson Van Palin, you have a lot to live up to!

Sarah Palin (Aka Tina Fey's evil gunslinging twin) has said “We’ve always liked the middle name Van because, you know, growing up in the ’80s, Van Palin would be a really cool name.”

So Eddie, one of the older, quieter students in my classroom, comes in out of breath one day in 1994 and asks, "Have you ever heard of Luther Vandross?" I told him I had, and he requested that I play his cassette copy of Vandross's 1981 release Never Too Much while he and the other kids studied. I gave him the go-ahead, and the sound of that music instantly took me back to family life during the early 80s; me, Mom and sis.

Luther Vandross was the male soul voice of my generation. The 60s can claim Otis Redding, and the 70s? In my opinion, it was Stevie Wonder. In the 80s, Luther's voice began popping up on my mom's "new soul" station with "Never Too Much." Ultimately, his debut album of the same name made its way into my mom's collection, and it was played to death!

Being heavily ensconced with Black Sabbath and Simon and Garfunkel, Luther was "the music in the background" to which my mom and sis listened. One day, I heard my mom playing a song from Luther's album; it was a cover of a Burt Bacharach and Hal David song called "A House Is Not A Home." The singing and arranging was so smooth and soulful, I just melted. I cried after the first time I heard it, and it's still one of the most beautiful recordings I've ever heard. It also jump-started my latent love of real "soulful" music.

I told Eddie that I remembered seeing Luther's name in association with David Bowie a few years earlier prior to Never Too Much. Luther's voice is part of the soulful vocal background on Bowie's Young Americans album from 1975. Luther also has a writing credit on that album as the co-writer of "Fascination." He also did background vocals for Diana Ross, Roberta Flack, Carly Simon, Chaka Khan, Donna Summer, Bette Midler, Chic, and Barbra Streisand. The man definitely got around musically.

In the classroom, everybody is studying in silence except for Eddie, who is telling me about his new girlfriend Veronica and his sister, "the pest." When the tape hit "A House Is Not A Home," Eddie quickly cut his end of our dialogue and said, "Give me a few minutes. This is my song." We both sat back in silence and listened to Luther's voice fill the classroom, and we sat in silence. About midway through the song, Eddie's eyes started filling up with tears.

I asked him what was wrong. Eddie, who had just turned 15, said, "What else is there to say? That's the power of Luther."

Happy birthday Luther. Thanks for the satin vocals and great songs.

(Lex Neon is the musical mastermind behind the music of indie sunshine pop / rock band Poppermost.  For more info, go to http://www.poppermost.com/)

Some links of Debbie as guest on "The Muppets" show:
Debbie on The Muppets singing 1
Debbie on Muppets singing 2
Debbie on Muppets Singing 3
Debbie On Muppets Closing

Visit Debbie's website (below)

For sale at 80's Tees

"Let's Hear It ..."

Man, I wonder if I have any '80s photos lying around ...

Ok, so it's September already and I realise that I haven't decently updated this blog for months (indeed since I quit my job and didn't find myself needing to surreptiously kill an hour of time here and there). Anywho, in the weeks/months since I last updated this I've moved to the Netherlands; swam in lakes; made music; stayed out all night pissed on Irish coffee; and got for a variety of hit and miss job interviews.

I'm now rather hoping that with the many long dark nights that are ahead I'll have a bit more where-withal to write this, but we'll see. In the meantime here are downtown 12-piece, percussion led, 80s NY types Pulsallama, with The Devil Lies In My Husbands Body.

I don't think that there is really any CD reissue of Pulsallama stuff (and their output was rather limited) but there are some MP3's here.

B-52's, Devo, A Flock of Seagulls... Ah, the 80s.  This is the best site I've found.

Here are just the A's of the 80's videos available at the site (plenty more where this came from):

- A Flock Of Seagulls - I Ran
- A Guy Called Gerald - Voodoo Ray
- A-ha - Take On Me
- ABBA - Super Trouper
- ABC - The Look Of Love
- Accept - Balls To The Wall
- Adam Ant - Kings Of The Wild Frontier
- Adrian Gurvitz - Classic
- Aerosmith-Janies Got A Gun
- Afrika Bambaataa - Planet Rock
- After The Fire - Der Kommissar
- Age Of Chance - Big Bad Noise
- Air Supply - Making Love Out of Nothing..
- Alannah Myles - Black Velvet
- Alan Parsons Project - Dont Answer Me
- Alberto Camerini- Rock & Roll Robot
- Alcatrazz - God Blessed
- Aldo Nova - Fantasy
- Alexander O Neal - Criticize
- Alice Cooper - Poison
- Alien Sex Fiend - Ignore the Machine
- Alisha - Baby Talk
- Alison Moyet - Is This Love
- Alphaville - Forever Young
- Altered Images - I Could Be Happy
- Al B Sure - Nite & Day
- Al Jarreau - Moonlighting.
- Ambrosia - Biggest Part Of Me
- America - You can do magic
- Andreas Dorau - Stone Faces Dont Lie
- Andy Gibb - Desire
- Andy Taylor- Take It Easy
- And One - Life Isnt Easy In Germany
- Aneka - Japanese Boy
- Angry Samoans - Time Has Come Today
- Animotion - Obsession
- Anita Baker - Sweet Love
- Anne Clark - Our Darkness
- Annie Golden - Hang Up The Phone
- Annihilator - Alison Hell
- Anthrax - Madhouse
- Anti Nowhere League - So What
- Anvil - Mad Dog
- Apollonia 6 - Sex Shooter
- April Wine - Rock Myself To Sleep
- Arcadia - Election Day
- Armi Ja Danny - Want To Love You Tender
- Armoury Show - Castles In Spain
- Art Of Noise - Paranoimia
- Ashford & Simpson - Solid
- Asia - Heat Of The Moment
- Associates - Country Club
- Aswad - Dont Turn Around
- Atlantic Starr - Always
- Autograph - Turn Up The Radio
- Aviador Dro - Nuclear Si
- Axe - Heat In The Street
- Aztec Camera- Somewhere In My Heart

There's something for (almost) everyone.  Enjoy!

Ahhhhhhhhh, que satisfação relembrar o melhor videogame de toda a história..

A época do Nintendo 8-bits foi a era de ouro dos videogames só quem viveu sabe o quanto era bacana jogar clássicos como Super Mario 3, Contra, Battletoads entre outros.

Hoje podemos jogar o NES on-line e sem a necessidade de instalação de nada no PC! Basta clicar no link abaixo.

Jogue NES on-line.

Você seleciona os jogos pelo gênero, o site é em inglês mas mesmo quem não têm nenhuma noção vai se virar bem pois o layout é intuitivo e fácil.

Joga lá que eu já tô jogando!!! NES Rulez!!!!

When I found this on YouTube I was kind of hoping that this would be a true '80s train-wreck, but it's not bad enough to be good. Actually, despite many, many stupid lines, it seems like it might have been a little better than most of the fantasy shows of the late '80s (or My Stepmother is an Alien, for that matter), but that's not saying much because the '80s were full of fantasy shows that bombed. (I've never figured out why the networks did so many shows about ghosts, witches, superpowers and the like; all these shows tanked except the Canadian My Secret Identity.) Hannigan is one of the things the show has going for it, and the other is Bohrer, who is attractive and likable even when she has to do dopey '80s gags like bursting into song for no reason (the two songs that were most over-used in '80s TV were probably "I Feel Good" and "R-E-S-P-E-C-T," and this episode has both of them).

Anyway, the interesting part, aside from '80s nostalgia, is seeing an unknown Allison Hannigan doing much of what she would do in more popular shows. It's easy to say, with hindsight, that someone seems destined for a brilliant career (flop TV shows are full of lovable performers who never had a regular role on a hit show, not because they weren't "destined" for it but just because they weren't lucky enough). But you can certainly see why Hannigan made it and those other kids, not to mention the dad, did not: not only is she likable, but her face communicates and "reads" beautifully. In act 2, when Hannigan is (of course) invisible and (of course, this is the '80s) trying to get into a cool clique of snobby girls, you can see her doing all the Willow faces while she's listening to what the girls are saying about her: the open-mouthed combination of outrage and hurt, the sad face that's designed to make us all want to protect her. Joss Whedon has noted that they always tried to put Willow in danger because the audience was so protective of her and so upset when she felt bad. The reason is that Hannigan, like most good TV performers, knows how to communicate, without words -- and that's a good thing, since a show like this doesn't give her many good words to say.

Theme song (see, back then, most shows had the theme song first and then commercials) and Act 1:

Click "read more" to see Act 2, with Hannigan demonstrating that she's already a polished practitioner of the sad face:

-

Act 2, part 1:

Act 2, part 2:

Oddly enough, this show was canceled not because of the writing weaknesses but because of a little show called The Simpsons, that premiered in mid-season on the same night and blew this show -- and this kind of show -- into the last decade.

More details here.

Seriously. What are the odds that mere days after my first nostolgic Wonder Years post, somthing like THIS happens. Oh happy day. DON'T LET ME DOWN NBC! And yes, I realize there's a good chance this show will have NOTHING to do with Brush's original show, but one can hope... one can hope.

And just in case you forgot how it all ended, here ya go.

The 80's are basically ridiculous.  That being said, who doesn't love them?  For those of you who have musical preferences that kept you astray, Heart was a rocker duo of shrieky destruction and wicked guitar riffs.  Clearly, they are still a guilty pleasure of mine. 

Recently, they have come out publicly accusing the McCain machine of using their song Barracuda during the RNC.  Obviously, some people are outraged.  Screaming to protect the song from abuse by evil property-thieving Rupublicans!  Unfortunately, as usual, this rhetoric is being spouted from an ignorant view of fact and law.  I'm going to lay out a few realities of intellectual property.

1: Generally, the artist who performed, or even wrote the song, doesn't own the rights to the song.  The rights are typically owned by the record label who produced the single or the album.

2: It's entirely possible that the McCain campaign has a contract that allows them use of any music under a certain label, or even a series of labels.  This is something done by advertising firms and marketing departments that allow them to utilize a giant library of intellectual property with impunity.  I'm guessing this is expensive.

Basically, no one on the internet has any right to complain on behalf of Heart.  The likely reality is that they don't own the song, but don't want to be associated with the McCain campaign.  They's publicly criticize the McCain campaign to distance themselves, but you likely won't see the lawsuit people are screaming for.  They will likely receive whatever piddly royalties they are entitled to when their song is aired.

Perhaps the funniest part is that they claim the song is written about "the man" aka the music industry.  We all know of the music industries steadfast and valiant crusade to uphold the always fair copyright laws.  Ironically, it appears that they have likely been "screwed" by the convoluted system that also made them a living AND vaulted them to "living legend" status. 

I'm not a fan of the music industry, and I'm certainly not happy about how copyright law works.  It is ironic and comical that those criticisms have come back to bite them long after their names faded from the backs of high-school notebooks.

All this text... for just a pair of sunglasses? Who could even be bothered to read all of this? I guess America had a longer attention back then, but even as a child flipping through magazines and comic books, whenever I came across an ad that read like a phonebook, it was an easy skip. If you've got PARAGRAPHS in your ad, there's something wrong and you're probably a very boring company.

REM performing their vague yet inspiring These Days from their 1986 album Life's Rich Pageant, one of my favorites. "We are hope, despite the times...".

Sorry it's a little glitchy. Couldn't find a better copy.

Video courtesy of angrylambie

Check out Ebay store Noirohio at http://stores.ebay.com/NOIROHIO-VINTAGE

So this song is from the 80's, the real 80's, not the 80's we all are trying to copy and paint all in neon. The reason for this post is that I really like the beginning of the song, the synth is awesome. And the song is quite ok overall, not bad at all.

And I've always been fascinated by Grace Jones' looks and persona, more than ever after I saw Conan the Barbarian, and I just laughed my ass at her. She was like a scared animal trying to protect its hard earned food which it had gather from the sewers or something. Epic.

Anyway, she has a real extraordinary look for a model and actor.

mp3: Grace Jones - Slave to the Rhythm

By Jan

This is the final scene in the movie Trading Places.  A couple of us knew some people that knew some people, and we got in as extras on the floor.  It was a fun way to spend a weekend.

   I haven’t even written it, but this is going to be my favorite review yet. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Sleepaway Camp (1983) from its TV showings or various video releases, the story goes like this- in an after-credits sequence, a boating accident kills a father and a little boy, leaving the daughter as the lone survivor. Shipped off to live with her Aunt, the painfully-shy little girl Angela is sent to Camp Arawak with her cousin Ricky. And that’s when the killings start happening- by decapitation, archery impalement, pillow and hair accessories (among others). The kids are scared; the counselors don’t know what to do, and who is that wielding that ax?...

   This movie was a pretty big deal when it was released and made some nice money through the years as well as gained a cult-y reputation. It spawned two sequels which were made back-to-back by a different cast and crew than the first (Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers & Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland); an aborted third sequel (Sleepaway IV: The Survivor) that only has a 20 minute workprint left after being abandoned; and a long-time-coming completed third sequel (Return to Sleepaway Camp) which will be released straight to DVD in October 2008 (IMDB also has an announced ANOTHER sequel- Sleepaway Camp Reunion for 2010- but there seems to be some disagreement if that is an actual movie being targeted for Production). The Director left the film biz to become a lawyer (only to go back to Directing for the 3^rd sequel). The fan base is so big that there is, in my opinion, two of the most impressive web sites ever created for a movie that cost around $300,000 to make (http://www.sleepawaycampmovies.com/ & http://www.sleepawaycampfilms.com/ ). All this based on, let’s be honest here, a pretty weakly-made flick with (mostly) poor acting, a dredge-like pace, and an unoriginal premise even at the time of its release…

   What DOES it have then? Well, it has a damned-creepy atmosphere- something comes off the screen that is almost palpable. The SFX (by Ed French; who’s done a ton of these kinds of movies) are simple but effective. A few of the actors have a screen presence, if not exactly acting chops- specifically Angela (Felissa Rose- a role that gets, uh, more difficult as it goes along) and Aunt Martha (played by Desiree Gould- who has the most bizarre chirpy cadence to her voice; the actress HAS to be a real-life nut-case). And, most famously, the freak-out ending that comes from left field. I don’t want to throw out any spoilers for those who don’t know (or WANT to know!), so I’ll do something a little cute here right now- just highlight the line right after the asterisks below:

   **The chick is a DUDE!!

   This is a budget DVD review blog, and that’s what I have- this time by the folks at Canada’s Legacy Entertainment, Inc. (SURPRISE! Web Site is “Under Construction”). The whole series of movies have been released legitimately a few different times; on VHS from Video Treasures and a great boxed set from Anchor Bay (with the special packaging and “lost” 4^th disc only available at Best Buy- OOP and I proudly own) with a bunch on nifty special features. And what does the Legacy release bring to the table? A HORRIBLE full-frame VHS dupe that is so dark that it almost ruins the shock ending (it doesn’t appear to be the Video Treasures’ tape release as that was edited; this seems to appear fairly complete compared to the AB DVD version- it could very well be a copy of a taped-off-of-the-air copy). The most boring menu on a DVD I have yet to review. Box art that is home-made and cheap (and also kinda gives away something that it shouldn’t). They even drop the ball on the TRAILER- instead of a promised movie clip instead you get a scroll of the other titles available from Legacy (*yawn*). There is no way that this is licensed product, though it’s available at places like FYE and (where I picked this up) D.D.’s Fashions- a low-rent version of Ross clothes, but not only that, but Legacy released ALL THREE movies in brazen bootleg form; all with bad art and even worse transfers. If you DO insist on getting this weak version of the movie to save a few bucks, then at least look for Legacy’s “Night of Horrors Volume 1” which includes this and Lucio Fulci’s House by the Cemetery also in badly-duped tape copy on a flipper DVD. It’s rated “R” for killings, nudity, etc…

   The upshot is- if you don’t already own it and want to fill out your collection (and can find it cheap- I paid $1.99 for this copy) then go ahead and get it. Then watch it and see if you like it- if you do then pick up the REAL release of this; and if you DIDN’T like it…uh, well… there’s always eBay…

   Sleepaway Camp- 2-1/2* out of 5

   Legacy’s quality- 1* out of 5

Concert he picked:

Concert I picked:

Concert he picked:

Concert I picked:

Concert he picked:

Concert I picked:

Concert he picked:

Concert I picked:

And the prosecution rests.

From GracePoint, the church that brought you such 80's classics as Living On A Prayer and Whip It, may I present two new instant church classics.   This Sunday was the grand finale of the "I Love the 80's Series", and it appears that Edge of Grace went out with a bang.  (Unfortunately, I was out of town and missed it.)

First up is Addicted to Love.  (And yes that's a dude - Larry - in the middle.  Very frightening indeed...)

And second is Sweet Child of Mine.  Kudos to Bruce Despommier making his first EOG appearance as Slash.

If anyone posts the video for Home Sweet Home or We're Not Gonna Take It, I'll be sure to share those also.

FYI - You can catch these guys (minus costumes, I imagine) at Zoobilee Saturday night.