Mr. Cellophane

In a location adjacent to a place in a city of some significance, what comes out of my head is plastered on the walls of this blog.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Thnaksgiving dinner was delicious. However, I feel pretty out of it. Maybe, the leak in my car's gas line is getting to me, but I'm so worn out mentally. I really should get that fixed.

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Saturday, November 17, 2012

I'd just like to pour a 40 on the sidewalk for Hostess. Even though their best foodstuffs were abandoned long before this point (Banana Twinkies, Crumb Coffee Cakes), it's still a kick in the jewels.

And once more, as a reminder of happier times:



P.S. The (sort-of) tragedy of this is that I never got to try chocolate-filled Twinkies. More often than not, they were buy one, get one free and there was always the chance that I'd find them disgusting and I'm stuck with nineteen more of them.

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Sunday, November 11, 2012

Top ten unreleased comedy scores.

I love watching comedies. As such, you come to notice the music in them...well, if you're so inclined toward film music as I am. Unfortunately, comedy scores don't tend to be big sellers for soundtrack labels, and, as such, they don't get considered for release as often as releases for other genres. But let's say I ran the asylum...well, one of them. Which comedy scores would I get released? Here is my list:
10. Mannequin (Sylvester Levay) - By simple dint of the fact that I loved the score (and the film, I'm man enough to admit that) when I was a kid. Synth-based (as was Levay's wont), with a pretty love theme and bouncy scoring.
9. Murder by Death (Dave Grusin) - Grusin wrote a lively score for the all-star send-up of literary detectives. Sadly, the elements for the score seem to be MIA. Maybe, someday...
8. Nothing But Trouble (Michael Kamen) - Kamen's comedy scores are often ignored (Splitting Heirs, Hudson Hawk) and his music is a good match for the wildly uneven but fairly amusing farce.
7. Real Men (Miles Goodman) - Once again, the elements are said to be lost for this score, but I refuse to give up hope. Perhaps my favorite Goodman; the scritchy violin and warbling voices are quite familiar to anyone who's seen the film.
6. Fatal Instinct (Richard Gibbs) - Gibbs was on an incredible run of enjoyable comedy scores in the early 90s (Clifford, Amos and Andrew, Once Upon a Crime, Ladybugs), but this one is tops for me. An amusing parody of noir tropes for the criminally underrated spoof.
5. National Lampoon's Animal House (Elmer Bernstein) - I imagine that this is on most people's 'comedy score want lists' and for good reason: straight music that doesn't underline the joke.
4. Down Periscope (Randy Edelman) - It may be forever and a day before specialty labels get around to releasing any Edelman scores, but I pray that this one is first in their minds. An exciting score with a terrific main theme.
3. Big Trouble (James Newton Howard) - One of Howard's most underappreciated scores (for the superlative ensemble comedy) is a flavorful effort rich in melodies, from the brassy action motif to the tropical love theme.
2. Take the Money and Run (Marvin Hamlisch) - Hamlisch's score for Woody Allen's first film is a wonderfully bouncy affair that deserves a release. What's more, it'd make a nice tribute to him.
1. High Anxiety (John Morris) - One of the first scores I ever appreciated, an engaging take-off of thriller scoring. Morris's scores for Mel Brooks films have been uniformly entertaining and this is no exception.
To quote a line from a classic comedy whose soundtrack was released a couple years back, "Well? We're waiting!"

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Saturday, November 03, 2012

Glorious food.

I like checking Buzzfeed's food feed. Shows like "Man vs. Food", "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" and "Food Paradise" have made their way into my regular routine. I keep a library of menus from local restaurants lying around and I frequently surf restaurant websites drooling over their wares. I think it's safe to say that I love food.

I love to eat, but I don't have much acumen for the actual cooking. The aforementioned shows make cooking seem like fun. I haven't really had (much less given myself) the opportunity to prove myself in the kitchen.

Maybe, I should learn. Like I'm sure I've heard someplace, "Want a woman? Learn to cook".

Better still, I should just do it. Give it a shot and see what happens. I do remember applying to a high school many years ago, in hopes of joining their cooking program. Maybe, that's a sign.

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