Stand Up

I have always enjoyed stand-up comedy, but now I have a new-found respect for it and the people who do it. Some friends of mine convinced me to go to an open-mic night at this place in Somerville. I have never done any sort of stand-up comedy so it was all new to me. I prepared as best I could and wrote down some bits. There were about 25 other people doing open-mic night aside from myself. Each person gets about 4-7 minutes to do their routine. Some were better than others, which isn't hard to imagine. I was one of the last people to go on so I began to get nervous and question whether or not my material was funny as I was comparing it to other peoples'. The emcee knew it was my first time so he was trying to give me a few pointers while other comics were doing their thing. I finally got up there and it actually went pretty good. Not to say that I knocked it out of the park, but I got some genuine laughs from people who weren't my friends. I was actually able to talk for about 6 minutes, which surprised me because I thought I only had about 2. I missed a couple of points I wanted to mention, and I didn't go into as much description on some things as I had intended but overall I was proud of myself. My approach wasn't to have punchline jokes. I wanted the laughs to come from the descriptions of the picture I was trying to paint. I think it worked well but admit that a few more punchlines would have been effective. Afterwards the emcee bought me and my mates a round of beers which I thought was pretty cool. After the last person went up everyone just sort of sits around and talks to one another. About 5 guys came up to me and said good job and to stick with it. They all told me about some other good open-mic places in the area and that I should definitely come. I was impressed with the support and comradery that people showed me. They realize that it is a hard thing to do and recognize that it is a brotherhood in which ya gotta help each other. I thought it was very nice of these dudes to go out of their way to be nice, very cool stuff. Like I said I really have a new found respect for the art of stand-up comedy. It is SO much harder than it looks. People like Carlin, Seinfeld, or David Cross really have a gift. I realize they didn't start out hitting grand slams, they probably started out the same way. It is very hard to deliver lines in a funny and appealing way. Something you and your friends think is funny doesn't necessarily translate into mass appeal. Last night was a very valuble lesson into the intricate world of comedy. Overall I was happy I did it as it was a very encouraging experience and hope to do more.

Movies/Advertisements

Recently I went to see Adventureland. It was a good flick, you should check it out. I did however something happened before the flick that I felt the need to wax about. About 10 years ago they began to show advertisements before the previews began. I remember my father and I talking about how ludicrous and annoying that this new trend was. Now, we have become desensitized to it, it is just the way it is I guess. I'll choose my battles elsewhere. I figured it was just another way of "the man" getting another buck. It's crazy because I already paid for the movie and even so I am still advertised to. Ehh whatever. My recent jaunt to the theater really pushed it into overdrive. I get to the theater early to be sure that I was able to see the trailers. The trailers went well which leads into the normal "no cell phone, no smoking, enjoy the movie" montage. This is where the story turns askew. Normally after all the trailers and the montage then the movie starts, it's just the way it is done, until now. After all that an well-known actor who's name escapes me at the moment. The whole ad was an anti-smoking campaign. The actor engaged in "funny" acts of smoking that attempt to lessen the appeal of cigarettes. The end of the ad is the traditional "Don't Smoke" boring slogan. I was with my friend Suzanne who smokes, and I felt a little bad for her. I should say that I don't smoke and think it's really gross but I have sympathy for the smoker. People can't even go to the movies without being hit with the anti-smoking campaign. I mean she paid for the movie like anyone else, that should entitle her to a couple hours without harassment. I just feel bad for smokers, as far as the anti-smoking tirades in this country. People who smoke realize the harmful effects it has and are fully aware of their ability to quit. In the end it is up to them, their own choice. You can't make someone quit smoking, it is something they must do for themselves. Watching an ad with someone telling me to stop smoking isn't going to do a goddamn thing, expect piss me off. I don't think it is fair how smokers are treated in this country. Sure it is a nasty habit, but it is a free country. It seems to be completely acceptable to single people out with a anti-cigarette ad. Why is this so? Why aren't there ads for not eating junk/fast food, aren't those also detrimental to one's health? It is socially ok to bring up someone's smoking habit but quite taboo to mention their weight. It just seems like a double standard. Point it people should be able to go to the movies free on anti-smoking lectures. Especially right before the movie starts!

Boston Globe

I have been hearing on the news about the long-running newspaper the Boston Globe getting the feel of the economic pinch. Apparently they lost 50 million dollars last year and their parent company the New York Times, isn't very happy. The Globes average circulation has plumeted by 7.5% which has caused a bit of a panic my the Times. A few day ago the Times demanded that the Globe cut their budget by 20 million dollars in 30 days otherwise they could face being shut down for good. I'm not going to discuss the fact that the bigwigs are getting huge bonuses while now the everyday man has to pick up the slack and suffer for it. We all the know the ugliness of that old chestnut. I'm more just concerned with the overall state of things. In case you know we're are in economic turmoil. It's True! I'm not making this up! (knuck knuck). It's crazy to me that a newspaper can go out of business. I mean everyone buys one in the morning, there cheap enough but I guess everything can be touched by this crisis. Recession aside, I'm curious about how much the internet as to do with the low circulation rate. If I was to by the newspaper, there is a significant chunk that I'm not going to read because I'm not interested in. If I go to the internet I can get exactly the news I want and get it for free. The internet is general is having a big effect of things like, music sales, movies sales, etc. The internet is such an easy, cheap, convenient way to do things that is is beginning to make other mediums obsolete. I just think that we have to take a step back and look at the state of things in general, pretty shitty stuff if you ask me. I just feel the possible closing of the Globe is a metaphor for things in general. I guess it just makes me nervous that if a newspaper can go out of business seemingly overnight, what's next? I enjoying the Globe when I get the opportunity to read it. I hope that it doesn't go belly up. Here's hoping for America to turn that proverbial corner and get back on the right track!

Some Impressive Runs

I've recently heard of a couple of long-running programs coming to an end. First off is the NBC series "ER" which began back in 1994. I remember watching this show in 4th grade, yeah that's right 4th grade. It was such an exciting show and at the time you could find no bigger fan than me, even at 10 years old. It launched many careers including the ever-dashing (haha) George Clooney. Once original cast members began to leave, I felt the show started to loss it's luster as the stories at also become somewhat routine. I just sort of lost interest in it all together. I can't remember but I would say that I probably stopped watching it around 1999/2000. After that I forgot about it. A couple of years ago I was watching some TV and heard a commercial for an upcoming episode of ER. I was stunned, I couldn't believe it was still on the air. I thought/assumed it had been cancelled years ago. I was wrong; it was still one of the highest rated shows on television. I was really taken aback when I found out new episodes were being produced. Fast-forward to last night (a bit of a pun) and the final episode of the series aired. After 15 seasons and 331 episodes the show would finally take its curtain call. Because I stopped watching the show years ago, this didn't really make a difference to me, but it has made me think. This show as been on since I was 9 years old, which means it has been on the majority of my life. I remember watching "Must See Thursday Night" on NBC which included Friends at 8, Seinfeld (my unquestioned favorite show of ALL time) at 9, and ER at 10. I just feel sort of like a chapter of my life is ending, despite the fact I stopped watching it long ago. If I think back to events in my life, boom ER was still on, its just a weird thing to think about I guess.

The other show that has announced its finale is the soap opera Guiding Light. This is a show that I have never seen because soap operas make me sick, but I thought it deserved a mention. The show began WAYYYYY back in 1937 on NBC radio until switching to CBS television in 1952. This in effect means that the show has existed for 72 years! It has been on television for 55 years! Those are some pretty amazing numbers, for anything, let alone a program. I really think that soap operas are cheesy and lame but they produced 15,638 television episode alone. Despite the quality of the program, that is a pretty remarkable amount. Think of all the people and man-hours that have gone into this program over the years, it is truly staggering.

I just felt these two programs deserved a bit of a shout-out from yours truly. They both enjoyed long successful runs and that is a pretty hard thing to accomplish these days.

Who Ya Gonna Call?

A friend of mine once said "Whenever I'm flipping around and I see Ghostbusters (I & II) is on, I always watch it". I felt/feel the exact same way. I'm a fan of both, they are both awesome flicks. I just assumed that Ghostbusters was a franchised that was beloved my everyone. I mean, what's not to like. I have recently started to hear from many people that they "hate" Ghostbusters II and think it is an insult compared to the first one. I've gotten into many arguments about this as I feel they are both great, if anything, I prefer the 2nd one to the 1st. They are both great flicks though. Both made in the 80s with legendary casts: Dan Akroyd, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis, and the god-like Bill Murray. The first one is great with Gozar and the Stay0Puft Marshmallow Man is quality stuff. One of the funniest scenes the a possessed-crazed Moranis running around New York City feverishly asking people "Are you the gatekeeper? I am the keymaster!" Truly quality stuff. As I said, if pushed, I must say I like the 2nd flick. We are talking about a host of things going on here. First and foremost the bad guy is "Vigo the Scourge of Carpathia, the Sorrow of Moldavia", what a bad-ass title. He is a warlord from the 14th century who was also referred to as "Vigo the Cruel, Vigo the Torturer, Vigo the Despised, and Vigo the Unholy". In the flick he exists as a painting that comes to life. The film also involves this pink "mood slime" that is coursing through the sewers beneath the city and react to good and bad human emotion. Eventually Vigo comes to life and the Ghostbusters must save the day. Vigo isn't happy and even brags that "On a mountain of skulls, in the castle of pain, I sat on a throne of blood! What was will be! What is will be no more! Now is the season of evil!" Pretty cool lines from the man himself. Crazy things start happening including the Titanic eventually docking in New York with a slew of ghost deboarding. The best part of the movie is when the Ghostbusters take control of the Statue of Liberty using the NES Advantage controller (a subtle feature I really dug as a kid). I've always said that Ghostbusters II is easily the best use of the statue that I've ever seen, bar none. Eventually the Ghostbusters save the day and all is well. I really don't see what people think is bad about this flick. It is quite similar to the 1st one and equally as funny and entertaining. I really can't even listen to arguments saying that it is bad. There are now rumblings that there is to be a Ghostbusters III. Ramis and Akroyd are supposedly penning the script right now. There is also talks that Seth Rogen is to be in it as the new fresh buster. I'm certainly intrigued, but it will only work if ALL of the original cast is involved. People are worried that it will sully the original franchise but I feel like the more the merrier. I mean the originals will always have a place in my heart as I've seen both of them at least 40 times but I wouldn't mind seeing more ghostbusting madness. There is also a new video game coming out that is supposed to be pretty good. Point being that the Ghostbusters is one of the coolest movie(s) that are out. I mean who ya gonna call, Ghostbusters! obviously.