Bookended by Cats

Friday, January 14, 2022

Friday 80s Flashback for January 14, 2022

[40-Year-Old Waitresses] -- 40 years ago this week, a seminal moment in early 1980s New Wave transpired: The Waitresses released their debut album, Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful? (1/11/1982)! The album peaked at #41 on the Billboard Hot 200, and it featured the previously released single, "I Know What Boys Like," which reached its peak of #62 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May of 1982. The Waitresses were driven by guitarist Chris Butler and singer Patty Donahue, both of whom pretty much fueled the band's sound and identity. Sadly, we lost Donahue to lung cancer at the all-too-young age of 40 in 1996. While the Waitresses are primarily known for this album's single, and their Christmas hit, Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful? has many wonderful pop gems, and the band should be remembered for them. Chief among the tracks, in my opinion, are "No Guilt," "It's My Car," and "Go On." Leaning hard into both attitude and legitimate chops, The Waitresses serve up a highly entertaining and listenable album here.

Flashback: Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful? (1982)

That's all till next week. Dedicated 80s-philes can find more flashbacks in the Prophet or Madman archives or via Bookended's 80s Flashback tag. As always, your comments are welcome on today's, or any other, flashback post. And if you like what I'm doing here, please share the link with your friends. If, however, you don't like the flashback, feel free to share it with your enemies.

I'll see you in seven!

Tuesday, January 11, 2022

Loki - Disney Plus

Dangrdafne review

Wow, this took a lot of brain power to watch but it was really good and worth it. To me it’s the furthest from the MCU world and more closely tied to the comics but I don’t think it hindered me watching it but it could if you have no history of the Loki character in your world.

Tom Hiddleston is a perfect Loki to me and he brings everything to this show. I was not pleased with Owen Wilson being cast when I first heard about the series but he turned out to be really good and I liked his portrayal of Mobius and his interaction with the other characters in the show.

There were a lot of good laughs in the show but overall it was more deep and thoughtful show than I expected. I definitely would love to talk about this more but really there would be too many spoilers and amazingly enough I made it all the way through without any spoilers but then of course since I don't know a lot of the Loki lore, I saw things I didn't know were spoilers :)

My favorite thing about Tom Hiddleston's portrayal of Loki is the humanity he brings to a character that I gather Loki does not have much of in the comics. There is something so endearing about Tom's portrayal that I have a hard time NOT liking Loki and I think in the comics world I would not like Loki. I am glad I do and I am glad he was given his own series to cover his story.

I am starting to think and maybe I always knew but the MCU characters seem to each be parts of the human psyche and you need each one to become a fully realized human. I will have to think on this more and see where it leads me. In the mean time check out Loki and enjoy the trip.

4 paws

Friday, January 7, 2022

Friday 80s Flashback for January 7, 2022

[Adventurous Buggles] -- In this new year, I want to continue highlighting albums turning 40, so now I focus my efforts on works that were released in 1982. This week's featured album, however, was actually released in November 1981. But four of its five singles were released in 1982, with the second single hitting the charts on 1/7/1982. So, I'm declaring that Adventures in Modern Recording – The Buggles' second, and final, studio album – counts as being 40 years old this month. According to Wikipedia, Adventures in Modern Recording is largely a solo record by singer/bassist Trevor Horn. Seems that Geoff Downes, The Buggles keyboardist on the first album, left the duo to start the English quartet, Asia ... and he did so right at the beginning of recording this sophomore effort. So, what we lack in terms of a solid Buggles effort, we gain in terms of a blueprint for later electronic, and even more progressive, recordings by Trevor Horn.

Of course, living up to the expectations set by the duo's 1980 debut, and its chart-topping debut single (remember "Video Killed the Radio Star"?), would have been a tremendously difficult task. And, to no one's surprise, I suppose, the Buggles (er, Horn) didn't hit that mark. I mean, do you remember this album? I do vaguely recall "I Am A Camera," but I'm not certain I caught it on the radio back in late 1981 or even early 1982. And the title track, which was the single released on 1/7/1982, is terribly fun, but it's hardly a hit record. Still, there are some pop gems on here, "Beatnik," "On TV," and "Inner City" among them. They probably deserved better than being buried here. But at least we are unearthing them this week, right?

Flashback #1: Adventures in Modern Recording – The Buggles

I'll see you in seven!

Monday, January 3, 2022

Firefly Holiday Special (Comic One Shot)

Firefly Holiday Special (One Shot) -- I picked this comic up before Christmas, but I didn't read it until today (1/3/2022). Not sure whether that was my means of extending the holiday season, or just a bit of forgetfulness on my part. More likely it's due to me having quite the backlog of reading. Whatever the case, this one shot was a rather nice treat on a Monday morning. Now, I'm not up on all that has happened in the extended narratives of the Serenity crew in comics, but I knew (or recalled) enough Firefly lore that I could appreciate this Dickensian twist on some of my favorite characters.

Plus, I love that opening splash page showing the ship decked out in holiday lights.

Brainwise rates this comic ... Four paws and a tail!

Details:

Publisher: Boom Studios
Release Date: 12/15/2021
Creative Team:

Script: Jeff Jensen (HBO's "Watchmen," "Better Angels: A Kate Warne Adventure").
Pencils: Vincenzo Federici ("Go-Go Power Rangers"), Jordi Pérez ("Firefly"), and Fabiana Mascolo ("Firefly: Brand New 'Verse").
Colors: Francesco Segala, Gloria Martinelli, and Lucia Di Giammarino.
Letters: Jim Campbell.

Sample Pages:

Friday, December 31, 2021

Friday 80s Flashback for December 31, 2021

[New Year, Old Songs] -- And so we have arrived at the final Friday of 2021. This weekend we'll launch into 2022 (and hope it's not "2020, too," right?). As I have spent many of my 2021 posts celebrating the 40th anniversary of songs and albums from 1981, why not go into 2022 by revisiting what topped the charts the week of January 2, 1982. As 1981 turned to 1982, New Year's Eve fell to Thursday, 12/31/1981, and the first two days of 1982 were a Friday and Saturday. Therefore, the Billboard Hot 100 for that week's most popular songs fell on Saturday, 1/2/1982. And the song topping the chart that week was merely in the middle of its 10-week run in the #1 spot! But what other songs were getting the most airplay as 1981 faded into memory? Well, in the spirit of counting down to a new year and all that, I've made a YouTube playlist with the top ten tracks of 1/2/1982 in reverse order:

10. “Trouble” – Lindsey Buckingham
9. “Don't Stop Believin'” – Journey
8. “Leather And Lace” – Stevie Nicks With Don Henley
7. “Why Do Fools Fall In Love” – Diana Ross
6. “Harden My Heart” – Quarterflash
5. “Young Turks” – Rod Stewart
4. “I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)” – Daryl Hall John Oates
3. “Let's Groove” – Earth, Wind & Fire
2 . “Waiting For A Girl Like You” – Foreigner
1 . “Physical” – Olivia Newton-John

Flashback: New Year 1982 Playlist for New Year 2022!

If you want to see more of the Billboard Hot 100 from 40 years ago this week, here is the full list.

Otherwise, that's all till next week. Dedicated 80s-philes can find more flashbacks in the Prophet or Madman archives or via Bookended's 80s Flashback tag. As always, your comments are welcome on today's, or any other, flashback post. And if you like what I'm doing here, please share the link with your friends. If, however, you don't like the flashback, feel free to share it with your enemies.

I'll see you in seven!

Tuesday, December 28, 2021

Hawkeye - Disney Plus

Dangrdafne review:

Loved it!

A little "stupid" at times bro but oh my did I laugh, cry and enjoy. This is a really good show overall! A great installment in the MCU and I love how it looks back, sideways and forward. It filled in a lot of information for me.

Hailee Steinfeld and Jeremy Renner play off each other so well. Their timing and chemistry are excellent and I love their history and how they come together for the story. The one trailer I saw showed some of the chemistry and comedy and the show was even more that I could have hoped for between them. Vera Farmiga deserves mention too, she is excellent as Eleanor Bishop, Kate's Mom, she is an unknown in the story and she plays it perfectly.

Could you enjoy this show without having seen the rest of the Marvel installments? Maybe? The interaction between Kate and Clint is hilarious and clever so that could be enjoyed but you would really miss out on all the little things that make the show special, I think. Knowing the backstories adds more meat to it all and knowing the characters already helps you understand a lot of what is happening and why.

There were quite a few things I didn't catch because I didn't read the comic series this is based on and after having Brainwise tell me some of the info, it did add to my enjoyment and "understanding" of the series but I was also just fine without the detail.

Some of my favorite extras were the LARPers (Live Action Role Playing) and the dog. LARPing can get a bad rap but the use of it in the series is perfect and adds so much to the story. The dog was adorable and a special piece of the story. I also appreciated the hearing issues that came into play in the story (no spoilers here).

The filming is great too. The scene in the car during the car chase is like nothing I have seen before. I was entranced and would love to see a "making of" episode for it.

This is a definite good watch for Christmas too as it is set in the days leading up to Christmas. The music is perfect and NYC is a beautiful place to be for Christmas.

4 paws

Friday, December 24, 2021

Friday 80s Flashback for December 24, 2021

[A Very Elfman Christmas] -- I previously wrote a Flashback about the 1989 release of the Scrooged original soundtrack. But today, Christmas Eve day, seems a great time to address Danny Elfman's original film score. The 1988 holiday movie, Scrooged was Elfman's first big-budget Hollywood score, and he really took to this chance to compose and perform music for a modern, comedic adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Elfman's music in the film is a full of holiday spirit, jovial and slightly otherworldly. Yet for the longest time, fans could enjoy the score only as part of the movie. A separate recording of this Original Motion Picture Score wasn't released until 2011 and 2019, each time being a limited run (although there were several variations released in 2019). Fortunately, those of us who missed out on the limited edition vinyl releases can turn to YouTube for our Christmas Elfman fix. And it's the perfect soundtrack for your holiday activities, whether those activities include wrapping presents, baking up a storm, or even just sitting quietly for a spell.

Flashback: Scrooged (2011 OST for 1988 film)

I'll see you in seven!