Poo Poo Paducah

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

You should never poo poo Paducah, but now there's proof Benny Goodman said so.

Talk of this video has been all over the radio and blogs today. I found the link and it's great stuff. Who would have known?

Iron Man

At least once a week I'm reminded of how cool my job is.

As the entertainment writer, I get all kinds of promotional stuff in the mail for movies, books and anything else people produce.

I've gotten whips (Indiana Jones movies), honey (Bee Movie) and a sex book written by a sexologist.

Every week is like Christmas.

Now, I might have a particularly lucrative promotional gift.

As you might know, Iron Man is the No. 1 movie in American right now by a long shot. (This weekend it brought in over $6.9 million with second place going to Made of Honor at $868,397)

Weeks before the movie hit I received an Iron Man figurine about a foot tall with three plastic projectiles that can shoot out of his hand.

So far he has sat on my desk and served as comic relief when I'm tired or busy. You can't help but chill a little after hitting his chest and hearing "I am Iron Man ... repulsor blast!"

After seeing the movie last night, and realizing how great it really is, I realized my desk ornament could become a windfall.

There is definitely going to be sequels to the original and as the movie's reputation grows so should the asking price for its main character's figurine in pristine condition, still in the package.

Aside from baseball cards ,I've never collected anything. So this concept feels a little new to me. But if I hold onto it and don't wear out his little plastic circular computer heart, this could be a real collector's item some day.

I'll let you know about the next cool mailbox item when it comes around.

'Til Death Do You Part

There are people who admit liking PBR and there are guys who love it.

Bill Bramanti in South Chicago Heights, Ill. loves it.

He is such a Pabst Blue Ribbon fan that he custom ordered a coffin designed to look like a can of the stuff.

Bramanti, 67, isn't sick or anything, technically, he just wants to have his coffin on standby.

He's actually using it at parties as a cooler and showing it off to the Associated Press where this story broke. The Paducah Sun featured it in Monday's paper on 11A but I just had to point it out here again.

I'm not sure if this is entertainment news or just entertaining news but I tip my hat to this guy with my creepiness detector beeping a little.

And, yes, Bramanti has already laid in it to make sure his 5-feet-9 inches and 280 pounds fits. Apparently it's a perfect fit.

I'm back

So a week-long trip to France and a parade of 35,000 senior citizens at the quilt show brought my blog posts to a screeching halt.
The trip was amazing, life changing and exhausting. There’s a six-hour time difference between Paducah and Paris, and Delta executives are on my hit list after changing my arrival time back home from 9 a.m. to midnight Monday (with 12 hours spent in various airports).
The jet lag fit in nicely with the old ladies at the quilt show, though. It was like we operated at the same speed. And actually they were all very nice and surprisingly full of spunk over quilts. But telling their stories all week kept me busy.
I write all of this to let you know my life is slowing moving back to normal and the blog posts will be coming back.

Real quick though, some parting shots on my vacation just for remembrance sake.

- The French drink coffee from bowls for breakfast. They like to dip virtually everything for breakfast into coffee, including the amazing pain du chocolat (croissant with baked-in chocolate). So the bowl, though awkward, is necessary. I had practice here from the American tradition of drinking leftover milk from the cereal bowl.

- Graffiti is everywhere. Nice parts of town, run-down sections, historic districts with buildings older than the combined ages of all quilt show participants - everywhere. A local or two said in rough English that they are artistic expression. I can buy that but the fact that they’re French made this idea snooty.



- The French have a sense of history I had never been around before. Their antique shops sold stuff from the 15th century. The buildings were beautiful and ancient. They’ve crowded onto the same land for so long that everywhere has a story and a character to it. I guess it’s really difficult to be a French history student at a university in France.

- Europeans don’t do lines. They don’t wait their turn, they don’t respect personal space and they create some incredibly smelly lines. Waiting in line for anything means you’ll get passed, have something or someone uncomfortably touching your butt and your nostrils will be clear.

- Imitating priceless and the most culturally significant pieces of art is so much fun. Statues and paintings weren’t safe from my talent.

- French people are generally nice. Or at least no more rude than in major American cities.

- The Euro sucks. One Euro was worth $1.72 during my vacation.

- If you get to go to France, travel outside of Paris as much as possible. I was lucky enough to see Monaco, Marseilles and Aix-en-Provence, all in southern France. Monaco was my favorite by far.

- Finally, if you get to travel anywhere abroad do so with family, a great friend or significant other if possible. The loner deal would be cool, but sharing everything new with someone you care about amplifies the experience.

Old Crow Medicine Show

So this is darn near the best song I've heard in a while. Agree? I'll buy anybody a ... beverage that can name the cameo near the video's start...and maybe another beverage to anyone who knows who wrote the chorus.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2vJUadjdmo

Erykah Badu

Every once a while when a new CD drops I'm reminded of an artist whom I've forgotten about.

That happened last week with Erykah Badu. I posted a blog about it on the old blog but I wanted to repost it here to show Badu some love.

Fro Man:

Miss Badu, your birthday and new album release dropped this week so I congratulate you.

I also want to extend my formal offer to be your “fro-watcher guy” in your crew.

Your impressive fake fro came up in a conversation with Crystal Shackelford, ruler of all things Web at The Paducah Sun.

Cshack, who is a HUGE fan, alerted me that the gargantuan fro you sometimes sport a) isn’t real, which I often wondered about b) is probably made of human hair, which is impressive and c) might get stuff stuck in it.

You’ve always sported your own style that I think is 70s pagan punk and I’ve respected you for it.

But as with every fly persona, it doesn’t just happen. I know it takes work.

Like with the fro. I know that massive clod of hair garners the care and attention of a full-time crew member.

Transporting it from city to city, concert venue to hotel, etc. Combing it out to look like a hurricane cloud before you take the stage. Safeguarding it from open flame, flying debris like pieces of paper, birds and small children hiding from their parents.

I bet that thing needs special clearance at airports and the worker searching bags likes an explanation or two.

I could even fashion a “hair bag” that designates the vessel specifically for transporting and safeguarding the fro. Just an idea but that’s what I bring to the table.

So if you or any of your current crew catch wind of my offer, let me know what you think. In the meantime I’ll be listening to your new CD “New Amerykah” with Cshack

frequencyag

Brey McCoy called me today to let me know about a free show this weekend.

frequencyag will play from 7-10 p.m. at Etcetera Coffeehouse at 320 N 6th St. this Saturday.

Paducah music fans might recognize McCoy from playing at the Renaissance Restaurant with funk jazz group Arcadia Gatsby and as percussionist with string band Bawn in the Mash.

frequencyag is McCoy's psychedelic electronic jazz project that incorporates everything from video game music to the jazz of Medeski Martin & Wood. Check him out at myspace.com/frequencyag.

McCoy has a knack for cooking up flashy, memorable shows so check him out.

Also, FYI: my deadline for Current where I list music shows and other entertainment events is the preceding Thursday before each edition that comes out on Wednesday. So occasionally I don't hear of something before deadline.

I would love to hear of events no matter when they're happening so don't be afraid to hit me up.