Marc Maron’s interview with Carlos Mencia, circa 2010 on Maron’s WTF Podcast

Posted on November 7, 2014 by Dave's Strange World

One of the most legendary interviews of Marc Maron’s legendary WTF podcast was a two-part interview with comedian Carlos Mencia in 2010. Mencia is a stand-up who had a successful Comedy Central show called “Mind of Mencia” during the mid-2000s and was a very popular stand-up comedian in his own right. My own feelings about Mencia? I enjoyed “Mind of Mencia.” I never went out of way to watch it or could call myself a great fan, but I thought the show was enjoyable enough. However, Mencia is probably known more nowadays (rightly or wrongly) for charges of being a “joke-thief,” which came to a head in 2007 when comedian Joe Rogan confronted Mencia at the Comedy Store with these charges, which was caught on video and spread like wildfire across the internet at the time.

In 2010, Mencia appeared on Maron’s podcast to discuss these charges and the first part of this interview seems very persuasive towards Mencia’s point-of-view. As someone who majored in Rhetoric as an undergrad, I have to say that Mencia argues his points extremely well emotionally. If you know nothing else about the controversy, Mencia is very persuasive. However, after the interview is over, Maron expresses that he felt that Mencia wasn’t being entirely honest, so Maron talked to some of Mencia’s peers who refuted many of Mencia’s claims in subsequent interviews. Maron himself even talks of a time that Mencia was a last-minute lead-in to a gig that Maron was supposed to host … and stayed on stage for 2 hours (a major no-no in the comedy world) … to the point where Maron abandoned the gig. During Part 2 of the interview, even Mencia acknowledges that the gesture was a f–k you to Maron at the time.

So … Maron asked Mencia to address these charges in a follow-up interview … which Mencia … surprisingly … agreed to. Part 2 of the interview is where things get VERY real and intense between Maron and Mencia. To Mencia’s credit, he really does seem to try to come to terms with the bad stuff he’s done, but … he doesn’t quite get there.

This is truly one of the most uncomfortable interviews I’ve ever experienced … mainly because the person being interviewed is someone who’s made a lot of mistakes and is trying to come to terms with all the bad stuff he’s done over the years. He’s trying to deal with it in an honest way, but he can’t help but be defensive because he hasn’t quite processed the damage he may have done. If what’s been said against Mencia is true, he truly does deserve the crap that’s reigned down upon him. Hearing Mencia acknowledge the damage he’s done … while denying the dignity of the complaints … is a masterstroke of denial. Mencia is VERY convincing and does make some good points. But at the same time, you also want to shake your head at the mental and verbal gymnastics taking place here.

What ultimately comes across is someone being forced to deal with the totality of their life’s decisions and how their decisions (frequently bad) over several years are now coming to a head. If anyone listens to the second part of this interview and still thinks Mencia is an unredeemable piece of s–t is someone who has never made a mistake or been called out for the totality of their bad decisions. Mencia may not be a great … or even good … human being. But if you listen to this and don’t feel lucky for not being called out publicly on your own BS, you’re a better human being that I could ever hope to be … or you’re a lying sack of s–t.

Again, this is one of the most uncomfortable interviews I’ve ever listened to, but if you have any interest in comedy … or psychology … this almost 2.5 hour compilation of interviews is a must-hear. This may not quite be the final two hours of the infamous “Frost / Nixon” interviews, but for the comedy world, this comes really close.

Pt . 1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6ifre4Fm8c

Pt. 2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWuK7yicey0

“The Weight” (from Martin Scorsese’s “The Last Waltz”) – The Band with the Staple Singers

Posted on November 2, 2014 by Dave's Strange World

I have mixed feelings about Martin Scorsese’s classic “rockumentary” “The Last Waltz” which chronicles … at least at that point … the last concert of The Band at Winterland in 1976. But this moment from “Waltz” … for me … is the film’s finest moment and the best version of “The Weight” ever recorded in my opinion. I’ve always felt I was supposed to like this song more than I did, given its prominence on classic rock radio and in several seminal films from “Easy Rider” to “The Big Chill.” However, this version featured in “Waltz” is transcendent and beautiful. I love the interplay between the Band and the Staple Singers on this version.

Chris Rock’s monlogue from SNL, Nov. 1, 2014

Posted on November 2, 2014 by Dave's Strange World

Chris Rock’s monologue from last night’s Saturday Night Live has been drawing a lot of fire from some people but I think it’s the best SNL host monologue in years. And while I’m not a friend of … nor related to … anyone hurt or killed in either the 9/11 or Boston Marathon tragedies, I don’t think Rock said anything to demean the victims or their families. He’s found a very funny way to talk about common fears and used that as a springboard to criticize how American culture commercializes tragedies and other meaningful human events. Just as some people immediately jumped on to the “I’m offended” or “too soon” bandwagons, others are probably going to go overboard and call Rock’s monologue “brave,” which … I suspect .. even Rock would likely scoff at. Because … these are jokes. And they’re funny. And they’re coming from a good place. So, enough of my yakkin’ … just watch and laugh. Or … be offended … and watch something you do like. In any case, it’s all good.

“Undone – The Sweater Song” – Weezer

Posted on November 2, 2014 by Dave's Strange World

There are many interpretations of what the lyrics of this song mean … some of them thoughtful, others not so much. I’m not sure what’s going on in this song, from the barely heard Robert Altman-esque dialogue in the background, to the lyrics which sound like someone having a mental breakdown, but I’m mainly focusing on the wall of noise that surges louder and louder as the song progresses to have the entire thing crash down into a million pieces at the end. This was the first Weezer song I remember hearing and when I found out Ric Ocasek from the Cars produced this, I thought “Of course.” Mainly because I thought Weezer (circa 1994) sounded like a more radio-friendly version of the Pixies in much the same way the Cars were a more radio-friendly (at least in America) version of Roxy Music. This is not meant a slam to either Weezer or the Pixies (or the Cars or Roxy Music), because that first Weezer album (the self-title “blue” album) takes everything that’s great about the Pixies and adds more hooks. It’s a classic pop album and it’s the one I most frequently return to, even though I love a lot of Weezer’s later albums. “Undone” is my favorite song off the “blue” album.

“The Rocky Horror Picture Show” (1975) dir. Jim Sharman, scr. Richard O’Brien and Jim Sharman

Posted on October 30, 2014 by Dave's Strange World

It’s Halloween time and I guess it’s now appropriate to talk about “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” the most famous “Midnight Movie” of all-time. The term “Midnight Movie” will likely be alien to anyone born after 1975 or so, but in the days before cable TV, VCRs, DVD players, Blu-Ray, streaming, etc. … most people could only see movies in actual movie theaters. And many theaters would host special midnight screenings of certain films that weren’t playing during the daylight or early evening hours because the special nature of such films would bring out a certain crowd of (mainly young) night owls looking for fun on a Friday and Saturday night. These films were often ones that would not appeal to either older adults or young kids … they were aimed at teenagers and hip young adults.

“Rocky Horror” may not have been the first “Midnight Movie” blockbuster, but it was the most famous. It was a film adaptation of a very popular British rock musical from the early 1970s called “The Rocky Horror Show.” A Broadway adaptation in the mid-1970s flopped, but a version staged in Los Angeles at Lou Adler’s Roxy Theater was a big success. Based on the popularity of the LA version, Adler convinced 20th Century Fox to pony up for a film adaptation. With the exception of LA, the film flopped just as badly as the original Broadway version. But … something curious started happening in New York City. The film was booked into some midnight screenings in NYC after its main theatrical run and a small, but devoted group of fans started coming to screenings every week. They became so familiar with the film that they started having fun with it … talking back to the screen, dancing in the aisles during the frequent musical numbers, and ultimately, dressing up like the characters. Word started to spread about this phenomenon and more people started to attend screenings not just in NYC … but in every major city in North America. Soon, 20th Century Fox had a major hit on their hands. Over the past 40 years, the film has grossed … adjusted for inflation … the equivalent of $447 million, according to Box Office Mojo, making it the 73rd most popular film of all-time, behind “Lawrence of Arabia” and … ironically … before “Rocky.”

I finally saw “Rocky Horror” in the fall of 1985 at the Naro Expanded Cinema in Norfolk, Virginia, a terrific venue for seeing the film because unlike other theaters in the area, they let people throw rice, shoot water pistols, dance in the aisles, etc. The only rule is that no one could throw anything at the screen, but otherwise … anything went. The experience was a blast and I wound up going back at least 4 more times, including a very memorable Halloween screening in 1987 where … I kid you not … a black man wearing a full Ku Klux Klan outfit strutted to the front of the theater … which had everyone convulsing in hysterics.

As fun as those screenings were … it was a screening a few months later that ended the fun for me. In retrospect, it was a stupid thing to get sour about, but it was an event that put a damper on my enjoyment for many years. As I was shouting things at the screen with the rest of the audience, some “Rocky Horror” “fan” in the other aisle started loudly criticizing me for what I was shouting out. I guess I was saying things that were no longer “cool” at a “Rocky Horror” screening because … well … my life didn’t revolve around the film as much as it did for this person. And it was at this moment that I thought “I may not be cool … but I’m much cooler that this nerd” and that, my friends, was that. I never attended another screening and it was years before I watched it again on video because I held the film and its “cult” audience in contempt for being as elitist as the people they escaped from every Friday and Saturday night to have some fun. I later realized that I was letting one fascist geek ruin a genuinely fun event and I warmed to the film again when I picked up a Special Edition DVD at Target for a ridiculously low $5.

My feelings about the film today? It’s not a great film, by any means. There’s many rock musicals that are much better, specifically the gender-bending rock art films “Velvet Goldmine” and “Hedwig and the Angry Inch.” Yet as much as “Goldmine” and “Hedwig” are better films than “Rocky Horror,” they aren’t nearly as much fun. “Rocky Horror” is still playing midnight screenings in the US and while I don’t know what’s allowed and what’s not at such screenings these days (I can only imagine the screenings are much more conservative), I would love to take my kids to a screening because I’m sure it’ll be way more fun than any theater experience they’ve ever had.

If you’re a fan … or curious about the phenomenon … you are encouraged to check out the terrific, nearly 4-hour podcast about the film from The Projection Booth at the link below:

http://projection-booth.blogspot.com/2014/10/special-report-rocky-horror-picture-show.html

And here’s some links to some of the more memorable songs from the film:

“The Time Warp”

“Sweet Transvestite”

“Hot Patootie – Bless My Soul”

“Rock of all Ages” – Badfinger

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Dave's Strange World

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwpZLWRfu8I

Badfinger unleashes a loud, nasty raver with shouted vocals and pumping piano. From the “Magic Christian Music” album (and from the Peter Sellers-starring film), this virtually unknown song (at least these days) should be in heavy rotation on classic rock radio.

“John Cale” 1998 BBC Documentary

Posted on October 24, 2014 by Dave's Strange World

Here’s yet another terrific BBC documentary … this time about one of my favorite musical/cultural icons, John Cale. People tend to think that Lou Reed was the dark lord of the Velvet Underground, but these same people often forget that once Cale left the group, the Velvets recorded the considerably more mellow self-titled 3rd album and “Loaded.” On his own, Cale continued to record beautiful, but frequently disturbing music, as well as producing some of the most influential bands of all-time (Nico, The Stooges, Patti Smith, The Modern Lovers). A fantastic overview of one of the most under-appreciated geniuses of modern music.

“Shock Value” dir. Dino Everett (2014)

Posted on October 24, 2014 by Dave's Strange World

Jason Zinoman’s 2011 book “Shock Value” was a fascinating look at the creation of several transgressive and classic horror films of the 1970s that not only redefined the genre, but Hollywood as a whole (“Night of the Living Dead,” “Last House on the Left,” “The Exorcist,” “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “Halloween,” “Alien” to name a few). One of the best parts of Zinoman’s book was in exploring the roots of these films and filmmakers, specifically film students at the University of Southern California (USC) during the early 1970s. Many of these student films were horror-themed and many of these films either influenced these great films or whose filmmakers went on to play an integral part in Hollywood later.

USC Cinema Archivist Dino Everett has assembled many of these classic (but not seen for years) short films for his new feature-length anthology called “Shock Value.” Among the films featured are: two versions of Dan O’Bannon’s “Blood Bath” short and “Good Morning Dad,” John Carpenter’s “Captain Voyeur,” Charles Adair’s “The Demon,” and Terrence Winkless’s “Judson’s Release.” While I’m excited to see all of these, I am most eager to see “Judson’s Release,” which was written by Alec Lorimore. I saw “Judson’s” many years ago on HBO and it scared me to death. The plot later formed the basis for the popular film “When a Stranger Calls” and while “Stranger” had its effective moments, “Judson’s” was much more terrifying.

The film just premiered at USC last week and should be hitting theaters and film festivals in the coming months. Dave says check it out!

For more information about “Shock Value,” there’s a great overview at the link below:

Shock Value: The Movie

“Don’t Change” – Bruce Springsteen

Posted on October 23, 2014 by Dave's Strange World

Bruce Springsteen brilliantly covers my favorite INXS song. If someone put a gun to my head, I’d still favor the INXS version, but this is a terrific cover … full of passion, power, and energy. This was recorded live in Sydney from February 2014. This performance also features Steve Van Zandt and Tom Morello on guitar.

“Bitch in the Pit” – Body Count

Posted on October 23, 2014 by Dave's Strange World

You’d think that after having a music career that’s spanned more than 30 years and an acting career that’s spanned over 20 years, Ice-T has mellowed with age. Not only has he not mellowed, but he still is releasing brain-melting thrash metal albums with his band Body Count. Here’s one that came out a few months ago … and it’s one for the ladies. Some people may be offended by the word “bitch,” but this song is anything but an insult. It’s a shout-out to the women who hang tough in the crowd and like to slam and mosh as much as the guys. From their 2014 album “Manslaughter.”