In case you missed it, here's Mickey Rourke accepting his 2009 Spirit award for The Wrestler. I have not seen this film yet, but I will now. His remarks about Marisa Tomie and Eric Roberts are totally priceless and whips ass over anything from this year's academy awards. Enjoy!
Showing posts with label My Hero. Show all posts
Showing posts with label My Hero. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
MY HERO: TOM LEYKIS
Yesterday radio station 97.1 (free talk) FM in Los Angeles California changed it's "hot talk" format to a sad, top 40 music with little or no commercials. Format changes in radio stations happen all the time, but unfortunately this change also threw one of my personal heroes, Tom Leykis, off the air.
I had heard Tom many, many years ago when he was syndicated here in the Flint area, and liked what I heard then. When I was fortunate enough to make something of a living working in my basement in front of my computer (for the most part), one of the first podcasts I added to my "favorites" was the archive page from 97.1 and the Tom Leykis Show.
Tom is (or at the moment at least, "was") a very unique performer in that he spoke his own mind and tried his damndest to share those thoughts and guide others with his wisdom, which made for VERY unique and entertaining radio. Mostly non-political, mostly relationship related, though he was airing some financial topics lately and other newsworthy subjects as they came up in the media, Tom was always worth listening to, even if you didn't agree with his point of view. Me, I agreed with him 99.5% of the time, but I totally understood where he was forming his opinions ALL of the time, and that makes him an extremely rare form of entertainer.
Below I have included a documentary about Tom and his program that was posted on Google Video last year. It does a much better job of explaining Tom, his audience, his objectives, and his impact upon society than I could ever hope to cover. It is a bit of a watch (45 minutes long), but well worth your time to do so:
The most recent version of the 97.1 Tom archive is still up and available for anyone who can find it to listen to. Like I mentioned above there is VERY little of it that most anyone of the same mindset as me would NOT find interesting. I recommend a quick bookmark and some listening for at least as long as the 97.1 folks leave the page up- believe me you will thank me for turning you on to Tom if you don't know of him by now, even if you HATE everything he stands for. His genius IQ against most any of his callers is amazing to say the least:
http://www.971freefm.com/pages/4096.php
Like I mentioned, I'm not sure how long that page shall remain up, so if you like what you hear, I suggest some quick downloading.
I'm sure that this is not the last we've heard from my hero, Tom Leykis. He'll be back in whatever form he chooses to spread his point of view; a book is said to be in the offering, and it would not surprise me if he lands another syndication gig VERY quickly, especially given the durability of other radio hosts like Don Imus. In the meantime Tom is being paid to finish out his contract with CBS for I believe the next three or four years, by doing nothing but enjoying his 20 acres in California wine country.
So in closing, here's a toast to Tom, Thanks pal for the literally thousands of hours of entertainment that you gave this artist-monkey listening to your west coast rantings and philosophy. If you never return to the air again rest assured that you touched many lives, influenced many a young mind, and actually helped some of us grow up a little, no matter what age we were. Salute!
Wake Up!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
BILL HICKS ON LETTERMAN 01/30/09
It's rare for most media folks to admit they've made a mistake, especially an old one, unless they are literally shamed into doing it. Back in 1993, just 5 months before his death a hero of mine, Bill Hicks, did a routine (his 11th and by far his most dangerous)on Late Night with David Letterman that was so edgy that Dave and his producers notoriously yanked the spot from being aired at the last minute. Last night Letterman admitted his mistake, apologized a number of times, even though the decision was 15 years old, and even had Hick's mom on and ran the spot, which though Dave warned it would be dated, is just as edgy as when first performed back in 1993.
Here via YouTube and CBS' Late Night With David Letterman is the set up for that appearance:
After a commercial break Dave brought out Bill Hicks' mom and well...see for yourself:
The "heartache" Dave mentions early on is the fact that yanking that spot from airing changed (again) Bill Hicks' career making him even more edgier and bitter, most times incorporating the performed routine as part of his act and pointing out the hypocracy inherent in the broadcast media. In 1993 Hicks was breaking wide and performing to packed houses in most every place he performed OUTSIDE of the US, doing a kind of ranting performance against corporate society and thinking. A large number of his nightclub performances from this point on were recorded or filmed and Bill became one of the most notorious comics of his time with a huge reputation in the underground circuits. Here, again from last night's Late Night via YouTube, is Bill's routine that he did in 1993 on Letterman:
This routine was refined and ran past the censors before Bill even walked on stage, still watching it, and knowing the fickle state of the media it's not too hard to imagine why Dave pulled the spot.
Bill Hicks is one of my heroes and an example of a true genius pioneer. Looking at his routine now it might be hard to see why. Just know that the number of political satirists like Dennis Miller and Bill Mahr (the intelligent and secure ones anyway) will all attribute their career on Bill Hick's trailblazing, while other "comedians" like Dennis Leary might not admit it so quickly but made careers by ripping off entire segments of Bill Hick's act and claimed it as their own (Bill was talking about how great it was to smoke years before Leary's "No Cure For Cancer" performance that made him famous- in fact much (if not all) of Leary's static, manic, hyper performance is straight from Hick's nightclub act). Here, on Letterman he is obviously stiff and almost sedated compared to his uncensored expletive ridden riffs, especially the ones after this debacle.
It is a great statement to Letterman's character to have has last night's program and to humbly admit his fault and mistake on the matter. I hope it gives him the kudos he deserves for doing it, as well as some sort of closure to a decision that has obviously haunted him sine he did it. Surprisingly there was no mention of Bill's recordings and the memorials and biopix that are in the planning stages to commemorate his life, and it's also a testament to Dave and his producers for allowing this footage out, playing it in it's crisp and original form, and to have the balls to have his mother out to apologize to her on air for the emotional stress and anxiety that pulling Bill's appearance caused him in his last days of his life. In his routine, where Bill admits that he started smoking again, he was already diagnosed as past the point of treatment on his cancer, and in true Bill Hicks style he decided that he was going to enjoy as much of his life in his last days that he could, and that included his nicotine addiction.
I was introduced to Bill Hicks a few years ago by a friend of mine who said that Spank reminded him of Bill, I can certainly see why. For more information on Bill and his career I recommend the biography AMERICAN SCREAM by Cynthia True. It is available on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/American-Scream-Bill-Hicks-Story/dp/0330438069/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233411566&sr=1-1 and is well worth the price. Though Amazon is only offering the book as used at present I'm sure that a new printing will be done shortly.
For more video on Bill Hicks, including a number of rants about being pulled from Late Night check out YouTube under Bill Hicks and see some of his genius for yourself.
WAKE UP.
Here via YouTube and CBS' Late Night With David Letterman is the set up for that appearance:
After a commercial break Dave brought out Bill Hicks' mom and well...see for yourself:
The "heartache" Dave mentions early on is the fact that yanking that spot from airing changed (again) Bill Hicks' career making him even more edgier and bitter, most times incorporating the performed routine as part of his act and pointing out the hypocracy inherent in the broadcast media. In 1993 Hicks was breaking wide and performing to packed houses in most every place he performed OUTSIDE of the US, doing a kind of ranting performance against corporate society and thinking. A large number of his nightclub performances from this point on were recorded or filmed and Bill became one of the most notorious comics of his time with a huge reputation in the underground circuits. Here, again from last night's Late Night via YouTube, is Bill's routine that he did in 1993 on Letterman:
This routine was refined and ran past the censors before Bill even walked on stage, still watching it, and knowing the fickle state of the media it's not too hard to imagine why Dave pulled the spot.
Bill Hicks is one of my heroes and an example of a true genius pioneer. Looking at his routine now it might be hard to see why. Just know that the number of political satirists like Dennis Miller and Bill Mahr (the intelligent and secure ones anyway) will all attribute their career on Bill Hick's trailblazing, while other "comedians" like Dennis Leary might not admit it so quickly but made careers by ripping off entire segments of Bill Hick's act and claimed it as their own (Bill was talking about how great it was to smoke years before Leary's "No Cure For Cancer" performance that made him famous- in fact much (if not all) of Leary's static, manic, hyper performance is straight from Hick's nightclub act). Here, on Letterman he is obviously stiff and almost sedated compared to his uncensored expletive ridden riffs, especially the ones after this debacle.
It is a great statement to Letterman's character to have has last night's program and to humbly admit his fault and mistake on the matter. I hope it gives him the kudos he deserves for doing it, as well as some sort of closure to a decision that has obviously haunted him sine he did it. Surprisingly there was no mention of Bill's recordings and the memorials and biopix that are in the planning stages to commemorate his life, and it's also a testament to Dave and his producers for allowing this footage out, playing it in it's crisp and original form, and to have the balls to have his mother out to apologize to her on air for the emotional stress and anxiety that pulling Bill's appearance caused him in his last days of his life. In his routine, where Bill admits that he started smoking again, he was already diagnosed as past the point of treatment on his cancer, and in true Bill Hicks style he decided that he was going to enjoy as much of his life in his last days that he could, and that included his nicotine addiction.
I was introduced to Bill Hicks a few years ago by a friend of mine who said that Spank reminded him of Bill, I can certainly see why. For more information on Bill and his career I recommend the biography AMERICAN SCREAM by Cynthia True. It is available on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/American-Scream-Bill-Hicks-Story/dp/0330438069/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233411566&sr=1-1 and is well worth the price. Though Amazon is only offering the book as used at present I'm sure that a new printing will be done shortly.For more video on Bill Hicks, including a number of rants about being pulled from Late Night check out YouTube under Bill Hicks and see some of his genius for yourself.
WAKE UP.
Monday, December 8, 2008
My Hero: Forrest J Ackerman
Couldn't let another day go by without acknowledging the passing of Forrest J. Ackerman, the world's most influential "fan" of fantastic cinema. Forrest was well known and well liked for many decades as the "Godfather" of Sci-Fi ("Sci-Fi" being a term he himself coined after hearing of the sound system "Hi-Fi"). Forrest collected a lot of the memorabilia that WAS Sci-Fi movies, and his influence will be felt probably for as long as there are science fiction and horror films. Instead of trying to tell you his credits, here is a quick film via You Tube of just some of his credits:
I happily got to shake the hand of Forrey at a San Diego Comic Con many years ago. I saw him meandering about as any fan would do, asked if it was him, and shook his hand in delight. I was never a huge fan of Famous Monsters Of Filmland (his opus contribution of over 190 issues all dedicated to the works that he loved), but without Famous Monsters there would never had been a cash base that spawned the rest of the Warren Magazines: Eerie, Creepy, Vamirella (a creation of Ackerman's btw), 1999, and The Spirit, that were responsible of many, many hours of enjoyment to me as a little monkey.
So hats off and a big bow of respect to fandom's #1 collector and master of influence! I know of no better way to eulogize the man than by yet another clip via You Tube of him speaking about his life, and his inevitable passing. Once again Forrest J Ackerman:
R.I.P. Forrey, you finely loved fiend, and to the rest of you...
WAKE UP!
I happily got to shake the hand of Forrey at a San Diego Comic Con many years ago. I saw him meandering about as any fan would do, asked if it was him, and shook his hand in delight. I was never a huge fan of Famous Monsters Of Filmland (his opus contribution of over 190 issues all dedicated to the works that he loved), but without Famous Monsters there would never had been a cash base that spawned the rest of the Warren Magazines: Eerie, Creepy, Vamirella (a creation of Ackerman's btw), 1999, and The Spirit, that were responsible of many, many hours of enjoyment to me as a little monkey.
So hats off and a big bow of respect to fandom's #1 collector and master of influence! I know of no better way to eulogize the man than by yet another clip via You Tube of him speaking about his life, and his inevitable passing. Once again Forrest J Ackerman:
R.I.P. Forrey, you finely loved fiend, and to the rest of you...
WAKE UP!
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