John Tierney

Long Winded - Short Attention Span

August Radar Report

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This month’s report on the bugs that stuck to my cultural windshield.

Perfect Giddimani – Live My Life Again

“Live My Life Again” is allegedly Perfect Giddimani’s (Greg Rose) swan song.    I hope not, but if it is, this is one of the best reggae releases in recent memory and that’s saying a lot when Chronixx is around.

This thing just slams with positive vibrations even in the track “Dollnald Trummp” which slams the clown in the White House at the moment.  This one sounds great pumping out of my car.  If you’re not listening to this, you have to think about your poor decision making.

I especially love how this song, World Boss Selassie uses dobro which adds a  bit of a swampy blues flavor to the reggae.  Exceptional.

 

Julie Klausner

With a new season of Difficult People , the best cringe worthy awkward sitcom this side of Curb Your Enthusiasm now up on Hulu,  I realize that yes, it’s true, Julie Klausner is America’s Sweetheart.    Writer, actor, podcaster, and Bravo Housewives obsessive, Klausner is hysterically funny and on point in assessing the foibles of the zeitgeist.  Billy Eichner is hilarious but my heart belongs to Julie. (When Phoebe Waller-Bridge isn’t around that is.  What can I say? I like funny women who write.)

If you haven’t, you need to watch Difficult People on Hulu.  This thing is so uncomfortably laugh out loud funny I can’t stand it.  Klausner and Eichner play friends who seem to dislike, no, hate, everyone else in the world.

In this world where popular culture intersects with all other culture we need Julie to help us make sense of it.  Don’t think of her like Chelsea Handler, think of her more along the lines of a redheaded Fran Leibowitz but without the cynicism.  Julie not only holds up a mirror to the culture, she revels in it, she loves it.

“But more than anything, as a little girl, I wanted to be exactly like Miss Piggy. She was my heroine. I was a plucky little girl, but I never related to the rough-and-tumble icons of children’s lit, like Pippi Longstocking or Harriet the Spy. Even Ramona Quimby, who seemed cool, wasn’t somebody I could super-relate to. She was scrawny and scrappy and I was soft and sarcastic. I connected instead to Miss – never ‘Ms.’ – Piggy; the comedienne extraordinaire who’d alternate eye bats with karate chops, swoon over girly stuff like chocolate, perfume, feather boas or random words pronounced in French, then, on a dime, lower her voice to ‘Don’t fuck with me, fellas’ decibel when slighted. She was hugely feminine, boldly ambitious, and hilariously violent when she didn’t get way, whether it was in work, love, or life. And even though she was a pig puppet voiced by a man with a hand up her ass, she was the fiercest feminist I’d ever seen.”

― Julie KlausnerI Don’t Care About Your Band: Lessons Learned from Indie Rockers, Trust Funders, Pornographers, Felons, Faux-Sensitive Hipsters, and Other Guys I’ve Dated

Bonus Points:

  • Andrea Martin plays Julie’s  mother on Difficult People.
  • Julie played Neko Case in a New Pornonraphers video

 

Syracuse University Mens Soccer

If you live in Syracuse, this is the best deal in town.  The games are free.  Parking is free.  The games are always fun.  There’s lots of kids.  The team is VERY good too.  Since head coach Ian Macintyre came over from Hartwick, this team has elevated it’s play sending players to MLS after their time here.  Former Orange keeper Alex Bono, for example, is currently in net for MLS juggernaut Toronto.  I go to as many of these games as I can, and if the game is on a Friday, you HAVE to stop at the Varsity before hand, where they have a family night special on Pizza and soda.  Cheapest date in town and really a lot of fun.  I’ll be checking out the women’s team too.

 

West Wing Weekly

I miss The West Wing.  The NBC TV series about a functioning White House with a President who was really smart and not a racist buffoon.  Seriously kids, that’s what we thought a President should be before we decided to install the Apricot Asshole into the nation’s highest office.  I know that sounds like fantasy land to you millennials out there, but that’s what we held as an ideal in those days, days that seem like an eternity ago.

The West Wing was created and in many cases written by Syracuse University alum Aaron Sorkin and was one of the best shows in TV history.  Sorkin’s scripts were so packed full of rapid fire dialog that if you blink you might miss something. You can check it out on Netflix.  If you’re watching it for the first time, or re-watching it again, you should definitely check out the West Wing Weekly podcast.  Every week ,former cast member Joshua Malina (Will Bailey) and  musician Hrishi Hirway along with special guests from the cast and the world of politics break down each episode.  If you are a West Wing junkie like me, this podcast is not to be missed.

You can get it where you get your podcasts, I get mine from iTunes.

 

The Flashcubes 40th Anniversary

This is huge.

One of my favorite bands ever is one you probably never heard of, never achieved fame, but maybe did something better, they became legends.   There was an honest to goodness music scene here in Syracuse in the 70’s and 80’s.  I cover that a bit elsewhere on this site, but the first band playing may be the last men standing.

In the words of Paul Doherty of the similarly adored The Trend, “The Flashcubes paved the road that we all drive on.”

The band that wouldn’t die celebrates 40 years of rock n roll tomorrow, Friday,  September 1st.

 

When I was in this scene back as it was going on, I was sure Rolling Stone was going to bust in to cover the special thing our town had going on.  I am sure that Friday night, I will be thinking the same thing.  This will be one for the books.  But don’t take my word for it, take a look at what Carl Caferelli says in this perfectly crafted press release.  In addition to the Flashcubes, I will also be lucky enough to see the Trend and Maura & The Bright Lights.

I am chomping at the BIT to get my paws on the new completion CD from the band  Flashcubes Forever.  2 CDs, one studio,  one live.  I could NOT be more excited,

You can expect a full essay early next week.

Wait till next week, it will be all right.

 

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3 Comments

  1. Thank you very much John we do need more bloggers like u within the genre!
    Love the feedback straight forward and on point,thank you for listening i do appreciate it.
    Jah Bless,One Love!
    P.Giddi

    • jjtierney

      September 5, 2017 at 7:11 pm

      Thanks for stopping by and yes, the album is really great I can see it in my year end top ten for sure. Love your work and BACK ON TOP. Nice!

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