Nudity II

Well, my theory has proven to be true. I can put a lot of work into an article on the Kids in the Hall, but it’s the piece with the word “nudity” in it that gets all the attention. So, in an effort to boost readership on weekends, here’s another picture of a naked lady.

You can see it here.

I’ll try to get back to bringing you stories of stupid people on Monday.

Music Review: Peter Murphy, Cascade

This is one of the songs from Cascade, Murphy’s 1995 album. If you haven’t heard this solo outing from the Bauhaus frontman, you really should look for it. Murphy combines his angsty proto-gloom with things he picked up in a Marrakesh market to create some of the smartest pop of the 90s. Not a hit, but to me, that’s a good thing.

What you’re seeing here is not an “official” music video, but to be honest, I tend to like fan-made videos better.

Murphy deserves kudos for trying new things. His solo work is an eclectic pile of music, and I don’t like a lot of it. This album, though, is stellar. It has enough in it for the black turtleneck set to like, and at the same time manages to sound sunny and Mediterranean. That’s quite a feat.

Just to accentuate the surreality of what Murphy does, here’s an American TV clip of him performing The Scarlet Thing In You, another song from Cascade. Take a close look: The host introducing him is a very young Jon Stewart.

I like to think that after Murphy played, Stewart just stared into the camera with a WTF look on his face.

Beer As A Family Beverage

The alcohol industry is often accused of preying on the young. Like cigarette makers, brewers and distillers are accused of targeting their advertising at young people in an attempt to bring in new buyers. If you think about it, as the Baby Boomers age, there will be fewer new victims for the smokes-and-beers suppliers.

However, this is nothing new. I have a lot of old newspapers — and by old, I mean 1850-1950 — and while I read them for the articles, it’s the advertisements that always make me chuckle.

Like this one:

This ad is, of course, bullshit. You all know families where “good wholesome beer is regularly used.” We read about them in the news.

There’s a lot of history here, hearkening back to beer’s origin as “liquid bread,” a meal, not an imbibement. Or something. I’m sure there’s a scholarly exploration of this topic available online if you Google it. I just want you to picture for a moment this advertisement appearing today. “It is positively the most wholesome and purest beverage obtainable.” Well, I did grow up in Northern Ontario, so yeah, I can relate.

I’m Crushing Your Head! Again!

The Kids in the Hall are coming back to television with a new eight-part murder mystery set in small-town Ontario. This is excellent news.

Loving the Kids is actually part of Canada’s constitution. In return for freedom, equality, nationalized health care and free Gordon Lightfoot concerts, we are required to play hockey at least once in our lives, defend Celine Dion to foreigners and, of course, love the Kids.

It’s easy to like the Kids. Their self-titled sketch show was a TV mainstay throughout the late 80s and early 90s. Also, they made a movie, but all I can remember about that was checking my watch. Some things are better left on the small screen.

Which brings us to Shockton, their new series. Set in a small Canadian city, it will follow a weird and diverse case of characters, all played by the five Kids, as a crime unfolds. Think of it as Twin Peaks meets the Beachcombers and you’ll have an idea of what’s going on. I like the fact that it’s being made in North Bay, Ontario, where I lived for two years in the early 1990s. Nice city. I liked it a lot. As I recall, there were two identical A&P grocery stores within a block of each other, and I lived right between them. It was surreal. Kind of like the Kids’s comedy sometimes.

I had breakfast at the Mars Diner in Toronto once, and Mark McKinney was at the next table. But I think I’ve told you this before.