But, it's time to "turn the page" and continue writing about other moments of our times and other diversions of the age. One main theme of this blog, over the decade, has been "turn to page" as a sort of coping method in life... just keep stepping, keep going forward. My story "The Journey" uses that as one of its main themes, as well.
Let's turn the page on Turkey, and explore other interesting things, shall we?
There's things people have been making in these lonesome times that have made me laugh (or feel other emotions) and I think I would like to commend these people in this month's article. There's no real rhyme or reason to today's format. I just want to talk about some things over the the last two months that I found to be interesting or uplifting entertainment during these difficult times.
In the case that the content is a fiction show... I won't write spoilers for the show... for I suggest you watch the show in question.
The Entries are the Following:
-Neil Sedaka's Daily Concertos from his Living Room to All of Us.
-Tim and Eric's New Smash Hit Sit-Com: Beef House
-Dinosaur Dracula's Epic Anthropological Opening of a Can of Spider Man Pasta (c. 1995)
-Wrestling!
Neil Sedaka's Daily Concertos from his Living Room to All of Us
(Neil's Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/NeilSedakaMusic/videos)
I can't say Neil Sedaka was a big name for a person from my era... he's quite before my time. I heard about him from the Gilbert Colossal Podcast, which as a historical resource is always great. He was interviewed by Gilbert and Frank on that podcast and played some of his music on the show.
It has become part of my daily routine to listen to Neil Sedaka's "mini-concerts" each week day since around late April. He is a truly great singer and piano player. He is a National Treasure's National Treasure!
It's such a great variety of music and it is so honest and nice. There's love songs, upbeat numbers, Alice in Wonderland, and Super Bird. I'm just gonna say this... Super Bird from 1972 is a SUPERB song.
He does Super Bird in this One....
I don't really know what it is about this man sitting in his living room, in a different color t-shirt each day, but it's so simple and good...
"When I told the people that I could really fly,They said that little boys ain't supposed to lie.
Poor little super bird sitting on the ground,
No zoom, zoom, zoom, when anyone's around.
Fly, fly, fly super bird, super bird.
While you're young super bird, super bird.
There's time enough to wreck your dreams.
Have your fun, super bird."
-Superbird
There's times during these troubling times that I wish I could just zoom n' fly around like a young Super Bird... but there's no Santa Clause or Green Cheese on this moon, man. There just isn't. This song is very fitting for our times. I know how that young Super Bird feels in this song... that Super Bird is all of us!
Neil Sedaka deserves a Content Award for his daily concerts. They are so simple, honest, and good. They have become part of my daily routine during these troublin' times.
-Tim and Eric's New Smash Hit Sit-Com: Beef House
Beef House was released earlier than planned because a ground-swell of fan-demand literally demanded that the Beef be released!
This, as mentioned in the intro, will be a spoiler free mention of the Beef House, for it is still very new... and I suggest people watch it. Be forewarned though, it is a parody of sit-coms... and more so than any other sit-com parody in history. The themes and "b-plots" it explores can venture into areas of absurdity and all-out grossness... so if you don't want diarrhea-related sub-plots in your family-friendly sit-coms then the Beefness of this Beef probably won't suit your palette.
To keep this spoiler free, I was thinking of doing a Beef Season One MVP, and measure all the merit won inside the Beef House by each of the Beef Boys as individuals... and award one of them with an MVP award (a la Sports)... or in this case a MVBB (most valuable Beef Boy)... but then I realized that was the wrong thing to do.
It's as Tennessee Winston Luke Fortenberry III, so gently put it, that the Beef Boys are "all for one... and one for all!"... so for me to measure the merit of each individual Beef Boy and award only ONE of them with the MVBB would go against everything the Beef Boys stand for. The Beef Boys are in that Beef House (with Detective Megan Dungerson) together and their credo is to support one another and watch out for each other.
Awarding a merit award to only one of the Beef Boys was the wrong route to take whilst I was thinking about this section... this MVBB... most valuable Beef Boy.... must go to ALL of the Beef Boys AND Detective Megan Dungerson!
I hope this has multiple seasons as Season One was only six episodes. I think this six-pack of Beef was just to test the beefy waters to see if this experiment will catch on and if there will be a public outcry for the Beef.... so if you want more six-packs of the Beef, I suggest you all watch the Beef House!
I can see why they would only make a short order of Beef to test the Beef Waters before going for a full order of Beef... this show is a weird concept. If you're a fan of sitcom parodies... some previous examples are Seinfeld, Curb, Always Sunny, Married w/ Children, etc..... this sitcom parody has more out-of-control elements that you don't see on those parodies... Beef House has some light swearing (especially from Ron Austar) and a heapin' helpin' of Rangus.
So, another Content Award in these troublin' times must be adorned to everyone involved in this show for making a great show!
-Dinosaur Dracula's Epic Anthropological Opening of a Can of Spider Man Pasta (c. 1995)
I'm not sure how many anthropological minded readers we have here today, who enjoy viewing artifacts and relics of past times to fully understand the march of humankind on a chronological level.... but this next entry is from the world of Anthropology.
Writer Dinosaur Dracula, took to twitter on April 16th of the year 2020 to ask the public at large if it was interested in seeing what the pasta inside of a can of Chef Boyardee Spiderman Pasta from 1995 looked like. He requested 1995 retweets for him to open it (the can was from 1995 so the retweet request amount is logical).
See: https://twitter.com/DinosaurDracula/status/1250817249092472832
The retweet requests were achieved in mere hours after the tweet went out. It is possible that due to the troublin' times we are in and the myriad of people at home contributed to the this achievement gaining momentum so fast... but deep down I don't believe that... I know, deep down, many people have an anthropological nerve in themselves and don't even know it. The deep need of humanity to see the effects of time on Spider Man pasta led this to going viral.
I regard this as one of the most striking presentations of anthropological value of recent times. It is a sight to behold, in the passage of time sense, the effect time had on something as simple and relatable to as Amazing Spider Man Chef Boyardee Pasta from 1995.
The press had a field day with this! If you search for "Man Opens 25 Year Old Can of Spider Man Pasta" on a search engine... you'll see that many MAJOR news outlets reported on this event from all around the world!
So, if you were living under a rock or something (and honestly if you were living under a rock in these troublin' times that's totally okay and commendable of you, actually)... here is the twitter thread where he opens this can of 1995 Spider Man Pasta:
The Opening of the Can: https://twitter.com/DinosaurDracula/status/1250901290944692229
So, let's issue the third Content Award to the Opening of the Can... which captivated the entire world for an entire week.... and I am not exaggerating... it DID captivate the entire world.
Wrestling!
I know it has become a joke that "Wrestling" was deemed an "Essential Service" in "Florida" ... and, to an extent, I have to agree that it is a little strange that Wrestling was deemed as such. Personally, I can't say it is an "essential service" during these troublin' times and agree with most of the people poking fun at this.
I noticed Andy Richter had a funny bit on this on the "Conan at Home" show... and other people have made fun of this... with good reason.
That being said, I think it has been done professionally, with limited access to the stage, as only performers and crew are allowed on set and no fans are in the building. It is being filmed for TV rather than a live audience.... which is a benefit in Wrestling as it still manages to work as a TV Show instead of a live event if the case need be. I can't say the same for other events. The Korean baseball they are showing on TV is okay but is being played in empty stadiums... and if you watch Korean baseball with fans its a much different event than without.
Personally, I don't think Sports will work in empty stadiums, it is too Ghost-Towny, I feel (maybe it's just me, though). Yet, I do think Wrestling has managed to find a way to work without a live studio audience. The locales they are putting the matches in, I think, is successfully making the event seem less strange that there's no live audience. The "Boneyard", The Fiend's Parallel Universe, The Young Buck's Pool-side Estate Match... and recently Kenny Omega and Matt Hardy taking on Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara in a Jacksonville Jaguars empty stadium all-around-the-premises match.
This may even work for Sports... I mean let's say, you play Football or Baseball without fans... but you play the game at a very very scenic locale... like uuhhhh... the Grand Canyon or something. Maybe seeing Baseball on the Grand Canyon would be a cool gimmick in the "Empty Stadium Era" as opposed to a ghost town stadium. Replace the fans with scenic scenery. I'm not sure... I'm just putting it out there. I could see it working, briefly for a while. I can picture baseball at the Grand Canyon and other scenic vistas, can you? Hittin' homeruns into the beautiful gorge instead of the stands. You know?
It is working for Wrestling, to an extent. I notice a lot of the greener wrestlers are still doing crowd work for a non-existent crowd which really looks odd to an audience viewing at home. All in all, the "empty arena" era of Wrestling is different but it's something.
I want to specifically commend K. Omega, M. Hardy, C. Jericho, S. Guevara, the Inner Circle, referee B. Remsburg, and everyone like the camera crew for the main event on AEW's Dynamite the other day.... it was definitely the most interesting thing that has happened in the Wide World of Sport in MONTHS!
Kenny Omega back flipped off of a hydraulic construction lift, Matt Hardy was placed unwillingly into a freezer only to emerge from his icy tomb as the Essence of the One only Known as Damascus to seek revenge on his enemies, people hit each other with baseball bats and traffic cones.... and then Sammy Guevera was hit by a golf cart (or military-grade golf cart from the looks of it)... all on LIVE TV!
Now that's something else, right there. I really really really wish to commend all involved in the main event of AEW Dynamite for that... which I must say... in this Sportsless entertainment world right now ... it was the most exciting thing I've seen in months!
Video Excerpt of the Event in Question!
Conclusion
Okay so, that's four things I thought were really great lately. There's been others but I think those four are the most fourest that other people would enjoy as well.
Personally, a big one for me, has been TSN airing old Montreal Expos games on TV instead of new baseball games... but Expos nostalgia is very deeply personal to me ... I'm not sure anyone else would be super interested in it. They showed Tim Raines and the Expos beating the New York Mets in 1987 the other day... and I was literally captivated by every SECOND of it.
Another thing lately has been the Rise of Leslie Jordan ... who has become a social media icon of late. It's nice to see him taking his prominent place in the pop world as he deserves it.
I hope you enjoyed my article, ladies and gentleman, please stay safe in these troublin' times... and please check out some of the things mentioned in this article. There's something for everyone here. All these artists, I think, are being very experimental in a time in the world where entertainment is important yet difficult. I think all the four entries in this article share that trait of being "experimental" in a difficult time and I think all their efforts should be noticed ... and that's why I wanted to give all four entries some sort of Award for making great things in the world.
