This week on The Sound of Young America, a visit with one old pal and one new pal from Found Magazine.
First we talk with Found co-editor Jason Bitner. Jason is the editor-cum-curator of the book "LaPorte, Indiana." The book is mesmerizing -- a compendium of portraits found in the back room of a diner in the eponymous town. Some are hilarious, some touching, all amazing. We talk with Jason about how he found and chose the photos in this remarkable book.
Davy Rothbart is the editor ("Point Guard") of the magazine. He talks about travelling the country on the Found tour bus, and shares a bunch of great finds. One is from a few small kids, who've started an adventure club. Another is a partnership agreement between some investors in a cafe -- which includes a clause dealing with metal hands.
Podcast: The College Years: Battle of the Boyfriends
This week, Jesse and Jordan battle it out -- who is the best boyfriend? Our guests are their girlfriends. Gene, single, joins in the grilling. Jordan's girlfriend was still in high school at the time. Jesse's girlfriend had flown in from New York. Five years later, this whole show is very embarassing for all involved.
Kriss Kross' Web Page: Still Up After All These Years
Note to Sony Music: there may come a time when you might want to consider taking Kriss Kross' web page down. I guess maybe they want it up in case they ever get any tour dates.
You mentioned “D’Evils” earlier. Did actual events inspire the song? The funny shit about “D’Evils,” this might sound a little weird, but I remember I dreamt the beginning of the song. I called Biggie right after like, “Yo, I made up these fuckin’ bars in my dream.” It was a really weird experience.
Break this down now, because the verses are set up like a kidnap scene. You’re giving your boy’s girl 50 dollar bills in exchange for info. Yet she’s crying, wishing you and her man were still close… Right, because of the greed she’s taking the money. “About his whereabouts I wasn’t convinced/So I kept giving her money until her shit started to make cents.” Now that’s a line—if you take money and break it down into a literal sense, when you chew money, your body breaks it down and takes what it needs. So when you take a dollar and eat it, it breaks down to cents, right? So I kept feeding her dollars until her shit started to make sense. See, it’s a double entendre. She feels guilty, so she crying because she knows her man is going down because of her. But with her greed, she can’t help but to take the money. That’s why I love that. I love, love that fuckin’ song.
Because Jordan just casually mentioned to me that he's on it. Apparently, he's the red carpet reporter. He goofed around with Jack Black at the Nacho Libre premiere, and told Richard Montoya how much he loves Culture Clash. Apparently it's some kind of skateboarding channel? Watch out for him.
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If all goes according to plan, we'll have the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia guys on The Sound in the next week or two. In the meantime, if you're among the many who missed this funny series last year on F/X, there are three episodes free in iTunes.
"If you decide that you love me anytime today, please call me"
(Above note FOUND by Anna Karamonna, Phoenix AZ)
Our super-pals from Found Magazine are in the Bay Area this week, with their "cavalcade of thrills" tour. At this sweet events, Davy (founder/editor) and friends read from finds, collect and distribute them, and encourage people to have awesome fun. Davy and co-editor Jason Bitner will be on the show soon... I already talked to Jason (AWESOME) and I'm talking to Davy in my living room tommorow (DOUBLE AWESOME). Here's the Yay Area schedule: June 21, 2006 San Francisco, CA » Edinburgh Castle, 8 pm, 950 Geary, 415-885-4074 June 22, 2006 San Francisco, CA » Intersection for the Arts, 9 pm, 446 Valencia, 415-626-2787 June 23, 2006 Berkeley, CA » Pegasus Books, 8 pm, 2349 Shattuck Ave, 510-649-1320 June 24, 2006 Arcata, CA » Sacred Grounds, 8 pm, 686 F Street, 707-822-0690
John McCain is sponsoring an amendment to a huge telecom bill that would make it easier for community groups to start low-power FM radio stations. Big broadcasters (including, sad to say, NPR) have been fighting this tooth and nail, since so much of their money comes from their ownership (or exclusive license) of space on the dial. They don't want competition, basically.
If it weren't for podcasting, consider whether you'd be able to listen to The Sound of Young America, for example. Then consider all the Americans who don't have access to podcasts, whether it's because they don't have the equipment or don't have the technical skill. Everyone knows how to use a radio, and nearly everyone has one, so it's an amazing tool to reach small communities, especially in urban areas, who are otherwise underserved by the media. That could mean people in Daly City, California who speak Tagalog, or punk rockers in New York.
Interesting Chuck Klosterman piece in the New York Times about how Danger Mouse takes otherwise perfectly good acts like Cee-Lo and MF Doom and shapes them to his own, shittier vision. Klosterman seems to think this is good.
Anyone in or pals with someone in a barbershop quartet or acapella group? I want to record a few versions of "Maximum Fun" top-40 jingle style for the show. I might even be able to pay. Like this post? Click here to subscribe to the blog.
Jon Udell's blog describes a note he got asking him to take down his RSS feed pointing to This American Life MP3s on WBEZ's servers. The folks at This American Life charge he is violating their copyright on the programs by doing so. He complied with the order, temporarily, he says.
Two points: A) This American Life, in my opinion, is very close to being the greatest thing ever. As far as I'm concerned, they can do no wrong, even if their plan is to make one show over the next six years or whatever. I am looking forward to the TV show, I have donated to WBEZ, and I have heard literally every show.
B) Every digitized episode of The Sound of Young America is available as a free download from maximumfun.org. You may share these files non-commercially as much as you'd like, including transferring them to other media (like say, CDs to listen to in the car). Enjoy.
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Interesting piece in Slate about Garrison Keillor. Includes great quote (above) from Homer Simpson. And another from Bill Cosby, with respect to Time Magazine calling Keillor the funniest man in America: "That's true, if you're a pilgrim." Which I think underestimates pilgrim humor. (Primarily buckle-related, by the way).
I should clarify my one-man anti-Keillor crusade by saying that I like some things about him. His voice is pretty, if a bit over-mannered, and it's nice to hear on "The Writer's Almanac." He can occaisionally be quite funny, especially in print. Uhmm... he makes a lot of money for public radio. That's all I can think of right now.
What I don't like is the idea that somehow by being slow-paced or old-timey, you automatically gain wisdom. I'd like to point out that Mark Twain, to whom Keillor is constantly being compared (why?) was neither old-timey nor slow-paced.
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"On March 24, 2004, Richard Simmons was arrested and charged with assault after allegedly slapping a motorcycle salesman at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona. The salesman, Chris Farney, spotted Simmons in the crowd and said, "Look, Richard Simmons! Drop your bags, let's rock to the '50s." Simmons replied, "It's not nice to make fun of people with issues." He then lightly slapped Farney's face. Farney, who was uninjured, called the police. All charges against Simmons were dropped. "
Truly amazing in so very many ways. Generally, though, what needs to be said is that Chris Farney of Phoenix, Arizona is a Great American. And so is Richard Simmons.
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Here's a fascinating piece in The Wall Street Journal about Craigslist. What's remarkable about the company is the extent to which it is focused on users. It makes plenty of money, leveraging the low distribution costs of the internet, but it also leaves a huge amount of money on the table. They won't do anything that doesn't "serve their users," which includes banner ads, for example.
What a remarkable principle. And you have to hand it to Craigslist -- they've really stuck to it.
Dave Chappelle dropped in on the Punchline in San Francisco this past week, and our intrepid reporter/listener/donor Darryl Duffy was there. He offers this recap of what went down after TSOYA pal Doug Benson stepped off stage:
Before we start, I wanted to note the extreme amount of security at this show. We were reminded nearly 6 times in about 30 minutes that we couldn't have cell phones on, anything that had a light on it, or do anything that could have recorded any part of the show or we would be removed immediately from the show. Audience members were subject to a patdown and heckling was absolutely not tolerated.
Chappelle opened by mentioning that he just got back from Japan, a nice segue from Doug's closer. It seems like he really enjoyed his time there, and nobody recognized him, and it was amazing to just walk around and not understand a single word anyone was saying. Dave was always expecting some sort of kung-fu movie result whenever the locals would bow to him, and was suspicious enough to take account of the situation whenever it happened. However, he did mention that the language barrier seemed to go away when they got to the karaoke bars, and he found their love for R&B was equal to ours.
In what seemed like the only really prepared bit of the evening, Chappelle began to talk about the TV show "Cheaters." From the extent of the size of their investigation crew, to the 5 day stakeouts. He mentioned two of his favorite episodes, one that resulted in the (and this may be exaggeration) where after being confronted and having two women mad at him, the "suspect" began running, and the Cheaters van couldn't keep up with him so the helicopter went after him. Dave even said he didn't believe that the series was real until the host got stabbed. The bit ended with a bit about the suspect "grabbing her ass, then they have sex, and he came on a picture of the kids." That part seemed the most "Chappelle's Show" of the whole evening.
Dave continued by talking about the media, and the obvious questions about why he went to Africa. He began to talk about "news speak," where groups are called minorities, which is essentially "calling them niggers to their face without admitting it." If you're familiar with Louis CK's material, think about how Louis does the bit where a white person could go to another country and say, "Look at all these minorities around here!" This began Dave's talk about "the game" and essentially opression of others. In the middle of this topic, he recounted the parallels of "The Planet of the Apes," where if the original were veiled at all, the remake made no attempt to hide it. Chappelle thought with Marky Mark and Tim Burton involved, that wouldn't happen. However, five minutes into the movie, the apes are eating watermelon, and you also find out that the apes are afraid of water. Dave remembers looking around the theatre saying, "What the fuck is going on?" and the only more blatant offense that could have occurred was if they began to light up Newports.
There was a lot of talk about being low on money, and that's the only reason you see him on tour. Around this point, the show had gone into more of a Bill Hicks philosophy/discussion instead of traditional comedy show. He mentioned how we were all part of the game, and did things we didn't like for money, working our 9 to 5 for someone else. He thinks that the ultimate "fuck you to everyone" would be when someone decides to masturbate in central square. At that point, that person just does not care anymore.
Dave started to ask about what was in the news lately. From what I saw onstage, it seems like Dave's really up on the news, and his ability to have something introspective and funny to say on ultimately any current event was the most impressive part. However, he also seems to be going deeper and deeper into his conspiracy theorist personality. Chappelle mentioned he always ends up in news stories that he shouldn't even be involved with, like articles on the Barry Bonds steroids controversy that would somehow link Chappelle as an example. He said he was in Washington, D.C. on the steps of the capitol when the press conference regarding Congressman Jefferson's files being raided happened, and was mentioned again in the news. He talked about how his celebrity has changed things, and while doing a show in Florida, noticed OJ in the audience. He didn't point him out, but signaled for him to come in the backroom after the show. OJ sort of has the creepy mystique that Chappelle's portrayal of Prince does, as Dave said OJ was in the backroom as soon as the show ended, and Dave had an entrance to the room from the stage and still didn't get there before OJ. He said OJ was the nicest guy he's ever met, was really nice to his friends and everything, but as soon as he left, they all mentioned how he was a little off and that they thought he did it for sure.
He talked about Zarqawi, and how he didn't think he was dead. The photo was too well done, and he could just imagine Zarqawi having an agent and getting paid for that. He talked about Karl Rove being acquitted, and that he considers Karl Rove to be "a gangster from birth," and that Karl Rove has been conniving since high school elections, leading to a premise that Rove offered orgies and sex to voters back in high school, leading to him showing up on the radar of George Bush, Sr. and staying connected as part of the program continuing through George W. Bush.
Chappelle's longest segment came near the end, where he started to talk about "the game" again, and how we should all be aware of it. He mentions three books that he's read lately or that when combined, can sum up what's really going on. The books were a) "Who moved my cheese?" b) 1984 and c) "Pimp." "Who moved my cheese" is a popular business leader book, that essentially shows that if you put two mice and two people in a scenaior where cheese is always there, then take it away, the mice will go out to look for more cheese, while the humans will argue and do everything to resist change, but never really solve the problem. He talked about the aspect of "1984," and the concept of "big brother," and when people don't believe someone who has more information than the rest. This was more about skepticism and how we discount some people for their leaning or outlooks.
In what became a parable for Chappelle's recent successes and subsequent retreat, he talked about Iceberg Slim's "Pimp," an account of the life of a pimp in the 1940's. Dave talked about how Iceberg became a pimp, and that he was a novice to began with but was soon running the show because he lived up to that name, he was cool as ice and got the name when he was standing in the middle of a shootout, his hat got shot, he removed it, brushed it back off, and put it back on while the gunfight continued. Chappelle recounted the concept of the "bottom bitch," and how this was a pimp's top female, the one who makes them all their money. Iceberg had one, and after being in the game so long, knew how to spot potential ones. When he found his latest, he beat her, then took care of her, gave her medicine, drew her a bath, etc. He was able to convince her that he was the one who took care of her, and built loyalty. Iceberg also knew the career lifespan of these women, and when his bottom bitch was nearing the end, he had her do one final job. She was to go up to a hotel room to meet up with a business man, have sex with him, give him some pills, and take his briefcase full of money. She does as shes told, but believes the man to be dead, and returns to Iceberg crying. Iceberg blames her for giving him too many pills, calls in a doctor friend as he tries to calm the woman down, and when the doctor declares the man dead, Iceberg calls two associates in to remove the body and get rid of it. As a result of this, the woman is now in debt to Iceberg for taking care of things and keeping them out of trouble as blacks who have just killed a white man in 1940's U.S. After the situation is squared away, the woman continues to work for Iceberg long after when she was likely to turn on him. The whole scene was devised by Iceberg, the victim being his friend, the doctor a butcher friend, the two men were cabbies he met outside the hotel, and the money was his own. Dave left us with that insight, to help understand where he's coming from, and called it a night. Like this post? Click here to subscribe to the blog.
"Rust, a fungus disease, sapped the
wheat crop. Production of durum wheat dropped from the 10-year average
of 31,547,000 bushels a year to 4,976,000 bushels."
First we talk with Found co-editor Jason Bitner. Jason is the editor-cum-curator of the book "LaPorte, Indiana." The book is mesmerizing -- a compendium of portraits found in the back room of a diner in the eponymous town. Some are hilarious, some touching, all amazing. We talk with Jason about how he found and chose the photos in this remarkable book.
Davy Rothbart is the editor ("Point Guard") of the magazine. He talks about travelling the country on the Found tour bus, and shares a bunch of great finds. One is from a few small kids, who've started an adventure club. Another is a partnership agreement between some investors in a cafe -- which includes a clause dealing with metal hands.
