Taking a short break from work on the essay to share with you this awesome shot-for-shot, live-action remake of the song “After Today” from A GOOFY MOVIE:

A GOOFY MOVIE is one of my favorite Disney movies, and has a very catchy soundtrack that gets not infrequently listened to on my iPod, a fact I admit this with no shame. (Mostly ’cause there’s music on there that is far more embarrassing.)

That these kids were able to make a video of this quality utilizing only $100, a borrowed video camera, and 90-plus friends and family, and to do so in only six months in their spare time, is frankly impressive.

That’s, like, some real MacGyver shit there.

Too bad the song by Bruno Mars is god-awful. Though I doff my hat to Leonard Nimoy for agreeing to be in such an inspired video.

And it has a pitch-perfect ending, too.

Heh. I’m predisposed to being entertained by a music video such as this, mostly because:

1) It’s a catchy dancepop song about Star Trek;

2) It’s sung by a cute girl, who, from the number of pips on her collar, is a captain in Starfleet; and

3) It’s about Star Trek. What more do you need?

But the fact that it features Ray William Johnson at around 2:45 just sweetens the already geeky pot.

I heard this song on an episode of CHUCK a couple of weeks ago, thought it was really fucking catchy, and so consulted the googles afterward for more information on it.

I was somewhat surprised to see that a) it’s a cover of “Second Hand News,” a Fleetwood Mac song I’d never heard of before, and b) that it was recorded by Mates of State, a band I listened to briefly in the early Aughties before deciding they weren’t my cup of tea.

“Second Hand News” has become my current favorite song for the moment. The rest of the album, “Crushes,” is pretty good, too, especially for a covers album.

Mates of State- Second Hand News (Fleetwod Mac Cover)

If interested, you can download the mp3 from Amazon for a dollar, or get the entire album directly from the Mates of State website for $5.

Been meaning to get to this, but I’ve been busy and neglecting this poor blog, so how about some weekend recappery to feed the beast?

On Friday, I went down to Covington, Nate in tow, for a much-anticipated Screeching Weasel show. Screeching Weasel is an excellent band, and one of my favorite, but I’ve never had the opportunity to see them play live, mostly because a) they’d been broken up for the last ten years, and b) even when they were together, they rarely played shows. So finally getting to see them perform was really awesome.

Also awesome was hanging out with Todd, a friend whom I hadn’t seen in years, and who was also at the show. I ended up spending the evening catching up with Todd — and his lovely wife Kelly — while listening to the dulcet tones of punk rock.

Then on Saturday night I attended the party portion of Sarah’s bachelorette party. And, yes, I do know that bachelorette parties are generally for women. But Sarah has been one of my best friends for over a decade, so an exception was made for me.

There were eight or so people there, I believe. We played some fairly complex drinking-themed card game, the name of which currently escapes me. Drunk me had to learn a vast and myriad number of rules, but it seems sober me no longer remembers those, either.

I was also forced to play Twister, a game that my very flexible self excels at. (That’s sarcasm right there, if you missed it.) The game proved to be actually entertaining, though the multiple glasses of wine and beer I’d ingested may have helped. Sadly, I later learned that Lauren had committed a major party-fail by breaking her toe while playing. A dangerous game, that Twister.

Saturday night bled into Sunday, and I think I finally passed out around five in the morning. Which made this a fine weekend all-around.

[Image stolen from Lauren's Facebook.]

It seems part of Daft Punk’s score for the upcoming film TRON LEGACY was leaked a week or so ago.

I’ve never been the biggest fan of Daft Punk, techno/house music not really being my thing, but the bits of score I’ve heard in the TRON LEGACY trailers sounds damned good, and this leaked music is pretty awesome. I might just have to pick up the soundtrack whenever it is (officially) released.

Daft Punk – Tron Soundtrack (Sampler) by Some Kind of Awesome

[Via Cinema Blend.]

Sitting at Boston Stoker right now, experimenting with the extremely awesome Last.fm and putting the finishing touches on a short story.

Last.fm is pretty damn cool. It’s an online music service which tracks what you’re listening to, based on that, recommends other music to you. So you search for a band you like, listen to a couple of their songs and create an online playlist, and then other similar bands are recommended to you. For instance, I was listening to some tracks by the Queers and clicked on a similar band, Teenage Bottlerocket. Like Ron Burgundy, they’re the balls (and I just discovered they’re made up of some former members of the the Lillingtons).

This shit is addicting. I wish I’d discovered it sooner. I’ve been really tired of all the music I’ve been listening to lately, and want new stuff to listen to. But it’s hard to just walk into a music emporium and find a new band to like. Last.fm actually seems like it might do the job.

Interesting. By signing up, you also create a public profile where others can see what bands you’re listening to your favorite tracks. If you wanna see what other swill I like, you can find out here.

JAB

Looks like this summer Ben Weasel will be releasing a new album, entitled “These Ones Are Bitter”:

A bunch of people have written to ask what the new album (These Ones Are Bitter) is like. That’s a hard question to answer because I’m about the last guy who could answer that objectively. Using my past records as a measuring stick, it’s more in the melodic/poppy My Brain Hurts camp than, say, Wiggle or Emo. Lyrically, most of the songs involve the ugly break up of a relationship (hence the title) though there a couple of sidetracks. It’s very polished and produced but not really in a Bark Like A Dog way. I think “Bitter” is more aggressive than that one. I Love Bark like A Dog but this one has a different feel and sound.

[...]

There are fourteen songs on the album. Mike Kennerty and Chris Gaylor from the All-American Rejects played guitar and drums respectively (Mike also recorded most of the album and produced it). Dan Andriano from the Alkaline Trio played bass. The tracking and mixing should be done by the end of the month and released in early June.

This is exciting to me because Screeching Weasel remains one of the handful of bands whose CDs I still take out a couple of times a year and listen to. Aside from old-school Incubus*, Reggie, and a couple of others, that’s pretty much it. Ben Weasel released a solo effort that came out at the beginning of the millennium, and it was pretty damn good too, so “These Ones Are Bitter” is a (hopefully) tasty treat that I’m really looking forward to.

JAB

* It should be noted that by “old-school Incubus” I mean mostly “S.C.I.E.N.C.E.” and, occasionally, “Make Yourself.” Everything that came out after the latter licks my taint.

Holy shit.

Jackson Publick and the guys at Astrobase Go! have created a Venture Bros.-themed rendition of the song, “Do They Know It’s Christmas Time At All,” for Quick Stop Entertainment. It’s fucking brilliant.

Go listen to it here. Goddamn, do I love the Monarch.

Equally excellent are Venture Bros. versions of “Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy” and “Hard Candy Christmas” from years past.

JAB

If you haven’t listened to Weird Al’s new song, you really should. It’s quite catchy, and more than a little acerbic. The accompanying video is pretty sweet, too.

JAB