The Great American Pastime

No, I am not referring to baseball, or as some would say football now. Although like baseball, I am referring to something well connected to the summer. I am actually referring to the the great american roadtrip. And with gas prices rapidly escalating, it is surely coming time for many people to grab their car keys and hit the open road. While I myself prefer "Fall Foliage" roadtrips, the summer is a great time to drive. Today, I am really just going to show you some funny things I have seen while driving my car around. But I will choose a song, and it is "Life is a Highway" by Tom Cochrane. But the pictures mean more today. Here they are:

This picture is in the dictionary under "Car Safety"

I'm cool, I like to tell everyone where I have been

Holy Hair Batman!!!

What's in a name Part Deux

Today's song might just be the most common wrongly named song in history. Not that I can blame them as the chorus features this line over and over again. It would have to be the name of the song right??? Wrong, the real name of the song comes from an Indian Mystic and a minimalist composer. Apparently, the band took the vital statistics of the mystic and put them into a computer that synthesized the information into music. I don't know how it works but it sounds fucking awesome. I want my own personal song from my vitals. Would it sound different as I age. Is it more uptempo if I lose weight??? Inquiring minds want to know. But nevertheless, "Teenage Wasteland" is not the name of the Mystic, his name was Meher Baba, and the name of this rock classic by The Who, is "Baba O'Reilly."

See, I just went to try and find a video of this song and there are like 50 listed under "Teenage Wasteland" hahahaha, I love it when I'm right, here's the song, enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD5NrkqYntI

What's in a name???

So I was thinking this weekend of what songs I could use for a posting this week and while driving with tunes blasting off my phone, it came to me. I needed to get the Led out! But it wasn't just enough to have some Zeppelin on the blog. I needed a hook. And with my favorite Zep song eminating from my speakers it hit me. What the Hell is a "Dyer Maker"???? Why is the song called that?? And there it was, there's my hook for the week. Songs that have no business being named what they are. Or songs that people frequently mis-name on sites like Limewire or Napster. Not that I condone or have done that sort of thing in my life. This is going to be fun. But for now, check out the favorite Led Zeppelin song of mine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g1WHqQKEfc

I still don't get it, "Dyer Maker"???

Obscuring sequels

Now that the summer movie scene is upon us, we are inevitably innundated with a phenomena called "Summer Sequel Season." This year is no different with the new Star Trek (Star Trek 11?), Terminator Salvation (T4), Angels and Demons (technically happens before Da Vinci Code), etc. Normally, there is one sequel in a series that is good, though not as good as the original. But yet, somehow they keep cranking them out. Are there no original ideas left in Hollywood? Well, today I am choosing and obscure song, from an obscure sequel. And it just happens to be the sequel to the last movie I used a song from, Iron Eagle. The song is "Chasing the Angel" from Iron Eagle 2, the inferior but entertaining sequel where Doug Masters, our first movie hero, is killed inside the 10 minute mark. I think I am safe to say, he ends up not dead in Iron Eagle 4, but that's beside the point. This movie is more like Rocky 4 though as the Americans and Russians have to team up to take out a rogue middle eastern country that has, yep you guessed it, acquired nuclear weapons. And who can lead this charge, well, not Doug, since he is supposed to be dead. But the retired Colonel from the first movie, Chappy Sinclair is up to the challenge. There is a ridiculous subplot of a rogue American General who handpicks a bunch of losers for the mission because he really wants to just bomb the country back to the stone age. Now it all falls into place, a retired AIR FORCE colonel picked to lead ground and air assault against an entire country. But none of it matters, because the movie is awesomely bad. And so is this winner of a song from a gentleman known as Mike Reno. Here's "Chasing the Angel"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g0I6wZxLLo&feature=related

Enjoy!

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming

Today, I'd like to talk about one of my favorite obscure songs that happens to be from a movie. The movie has often been referred to as "The Poor Man's Top Gun." That film is called "Iron Eagle" and unlike Mr. Scientology's film, spawned multiple sequels. The second film was ok, and I did have it on VHS. But the first is still the best. It is the picture of believability as a high school kid, who was denied entry into the Air Force Academy, is able to take on an entire Middle Eastern Country's fleet of jets to rescue his dad. Does he lead an entire squadran of jets and correlated ground troops? No, he and a retired Lou Gosset Jr. fly two F16's, only to have Gosset shot down in the first part of the attack. But the beauty of the film is that none of this matters. It is an awesomely bad movie. And the song I like the best, the only reason I bought the soundtrack on casset tape, was called "The Road of the Gypsy" by a long forgotten band called Adrenalin. And you can really find anything on Youtube now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGF_R8wtgvA

Might not be an official video but worth watching. A great song.

Now a break in our regularly scheduled programming

Over the weekend, I saw a story on ESPN that really moved me which is why I am not obscure movie songing today. It was an update on a former hockey player out of Detroit named Vladimir Konstantinov. It was 1997, the Red Wings had just won their first Stanley Cup in 42 years. They held the parade in downtown Detroit and the day after the team would never be the same again. I believe it was after a team golf outing that some of the russian players were riding in a limosine that hit a tree. The limo driver had a suspended license. Whenit was over, one other player had minor injuries, the team masseuer was paralyzed, and Konstantinov had extensive brain damage. This is a man who was a beast on the ice. The runner-up for the Norris Trophy that year (Best Defenseman). He was a leader and a key reason the Wings were champions. Flash forward to the following summer, the Wings won again, and there was Konstantinov, sitting in a wheelchair on the ice with the Stanley Cup on his lap. He was smiling like a child because unfortunately that was where his mental capacity was at the time. A proud man, beaten down by a freak accident. ...Flash forward to the present. ESPN followed Konstantinov through a couple days showing what his life is like now. He has regained much of his comprehension but his speech has lagged behind. They even showed him playing Uno with his wife. He can walk with the help of a walker but still needs 24 hour care. They even showed him on a golf course where he said that his short game is good. But the part that really got to me, was the scene of him watching the Wings practice, and watching a game from the press box, and just remembering. Remembering the life he had and that was so horribly taken from him. But yet he doesn't shy away from his past, he embraces it, and embraces his life as it is now. Taking the time to walk through the concourse of Joe Louis Arena during a Wings game. Meeting and greeting fans who say, "We love you Vladdy," "You were my idol growing up," etc... He lives his life as it is now, choosing to move forward, but yet respecting his past and the life he should have had. Truly an inspirational story. So in honor of the player Mr. Konstantinov was, and the human being he is today, I am choosing "The Warrior," by Patty Smyth as my song of the day.

"You run, run, runaway
It's your heart that you betray
Feeding on your hungry eyes
I bet you're not so civilized
Well isn't love primitive?
A wild gift that you wanna give
Break out of captivity
And follow me stereo jungle child
Love is the kill
Your heart's still wild

Shooting at the walls of heartache
Bang, bang!
I am the warrior
Well I am the warrior
And heart to heart you'll win
If you survive the warrior, the warrior

You talk, talk, talk to me
Your eyes touch me physically
Stay with me we'll take the night
As passion takes another bite, oh
Who's the hunter, who's the game?
I feel the beat call your name
I hold you close in victory
I don't wanna tame your animal style
You won't be caged in the call of the wild

Shooting at the walls of heartache
Bang, bang!
I am the warrior
Well I am the warrior
And heart to heart you'll win
If you survive the warrior, the warrior
I am the warrior

Shooting at the walls of heartache
Bang, bang!
I am the warrior
And heart to heart you'll win
If you survive the warrior, the warrior"

Hulk Hogan eat your heart out!

Today's song comes from more of an obscure movie than song. The movie is called "Rad." Here's a big shock, it came out in 1986. One of those movies that looked to capitalize on the success of the 1984 gymnastics team by casting a gymnast in a regular movie. Thankfully this movie didn't involve rings or a pommel horse in an unrealistic setting like some other flicks. Those included "American Anthem" and "Gymkata". This movie actually packed a little star power with Adrian from the Rocky Movies, Talia Shire, as the mother of our hero, and a young Lori Laughlin years away from her stint on "Full House". It's a BMX movie with enough cool stunts to keep you interested and falls in with many an 80's movie theme with the "Small town boy makes good and gets the girl". The song however, is a downright 80's classic by the band called Real Life and the name of it is "Send Me an Angel". I was even able to find the scene itself where our illustrious hero and Miss Laughlin perform a BMX ballet to the song. The only words I can use to decribe this is, Pure Genius.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZ5GWgcZfvI

Who even needs lyrics when you have a scene like this......