Psych. That would be a short post! Seriously though…
One of the funny things about freelancing is sometimes you write something or work on a project, get a (mad small) check, and then sort of forget about it. There are some things I’ve done that I’m not even sure have—or ever will—see the light of day. But by the same token, it can be exciting when something you almost forgot about pops up out of nowhere. Recently, I received a copy of Defining Moments in History: Over a Century of People, Discoveries, Disasters, and Political and Cultural Events that Rocked the World. Despite the mouthful of a title, it’s a pretty cool coffee table book chronicling the last century of key world events, from the World’s Fair in Paris to the launch of YouTube. The pictures are great and each entry is left to stand alone, making it a great book to pick up at random and learn something interesting (or remind yourself of something you forget). Do I recommend dropping $24.95 on it? Not neccesarily, but have a browse if you ever come across it.
I wrote my entries in the summer of ‘07, which is why I was somewhat taken aback when I opened the package. Very happy with how it turned out, but needless to say I’ve managed to make myself look like a bit of a clown as usual. I remember they asked for a bio at some point but didn’t really give any parameters. Well, it turns out that everyone else filed super professional blurbs, whereas mine reads as follows:
Chris Schonberger has written for a variety of publications, including Entertainment Weekly and Let’s Go travel guides. He would argue that the greatest moment in history was when England defeated West Germany in the 1966 World Cup Finals.
Oh well. I’m glad I’ve got that in writing somewhere!
|
 Promises to do a “video watch” post a week failed to materialize, but that’s the beauty of a blog that you don’t get paid for—all promises are empty! However, I’m feeling ready to renew my efforts (to some extent) in the new year after being inspired by this latest offering from Scarface, which can only be described as a masterclass.
First things first: you may think I’m just posting this joint because of the T&A, but I also have a point to make about T&A, so I think it’s justified. Just this morning, I saw a clip posted by Suburban Monarch John Brown in which Rik Cordero makes an interesting point about the current role of the music video: Because videos are largely consumed via the Internet and budgets are a fraction of what they used to be, artists don’t have the pressure to only make videos for the radio single. They can make more videos (think Joell Ortiz—in the past you’d never see an artist like him with that many videos), and they can create visuals for some of the more personal, story-driven tracks that might have been overlooked in the past. Scarface’s “High Note” video is a good testament to this shift. Hit the jump for the video and my thoughts.
|
Around this time of year, there’s not much better than hitting the slopes for a day, grabbing some apres-ski nachos and a brew, then heading home for a hilarious ski movie. Some may argue that there aren’t enough ski-themed flicks to warrant a top 5 list, but you’d be surprised. While recent years haven’t been to fruitful, the late 80s and early 90s were the heyday of the genre. Before global warming melted all the powder and the recession wiped out the profits of the boom years, people still had loot to go skiing and high-concept comedies were still in style. That said, if ever a film about “saving the mountain” were relevant, it would be now, so hopefully 2009 will be a comeback year for the genre that can basically be called “Movies About Awesome Dudes Saving the Mountain from Assholes.” Anyway, here’s my list—feel free to add your own picks in the comments.
5) Out Cold
This one’s sort of an anomaly insofar as it’s post-millennial and the main characters are snowboarders instead of skiers. (Maybe that’s why it came in last!) But in spite of trying to be a bit “trendy” with the ‘boarding element and the inclusion of a gay, it is extremely loyal to its pedigree, cashing in on many of the stock tropes of the genre: a no-frills ski resort threatened by a latte-slinging, yuppy-loving developer; an extremely old school founder of the mountain (here memorialized in a Stein Erickson-esque statue of “Papa Muntz”); a band of good-hearted misfits who drink lots of beer and mostly act insanely; and hot ski bunnies who manipulate the bad guys. For these reasons people might claim it’s a parody, but then all ski movies since Hot Dog would be as well. It does, however, reference #3 on this list by having a black dude in the mix, and it’s apparently a campy retelling of Casablanca (who knew?). But that’s all somewhat irrelevant, because the real reason Out Cold makes the grade is due to the outstanding comedic performance of Zach Galifianakis, who delights throughout as he defiles a hot tub and drops lines like, “These suit is really cramping my Hardy Boys. It’s no mystery.”
Hit the jump for the rest of the list…
|
Was just enjoying a nip of the lovely 18 year old Glenlivet my grandma got me for Christmas and cycling through some photos of the year that was 2008. Feeling oddly nostalgic and should probably go to bed, but thought I’d share this one, which reminds me that I need to do everything in my power to get back to Utah to shred this spring. The shot is from one of my greatest skiing days ever at Brighton. If you zoom in, I am smiling like an absolute idiot. But how could I not?
|
National “Top 10 List” Month is almost over, and there’s been no shortage of ways to listen back nostalgically (or perhaps not?) on the year that was 2008. Everyone from All Hip Hop to New York Magazine and NPR has ranked its favorite mixtapes, and DJs like Semtex and Mick Boogie have dropped their requisite year-end mixes. I won’t make you listen to mine, mostly because I can’t be bothered to upload a playlist. But what I do want to share with you is the second annual “United States of Pop” track from mash-up artiste DJ Earworm. Basically, he takes the Top 25 hits of the year from Billboard and mixes them up into a single track. He also puts together a visual clips using the music videos. Check it out below. Is there any greater testament to the homogeneity of modern pop? The top 25 is dominated completely by “urban acts” and semi-hot women with ok voices (only Mariah Carey has a great voice). And seeing a there is nothing personal about any of these tracks, it’s not suprising that they are so interchangeable. Even the videos don’t feel jarring when they’re interspersed.
Keep documenting history Earworm, for better or for worse. And by the way: has anyone seen a Skillz “Rap Up” yet this year??
|
What is Christmas? It’s a little robin red-breast, petrified by the wind. It’s an orphan in a blanket being helped into a shed. It’s a snowman whose nose-carrot has been stolen and subsequently eaten by a gypsy thief.
Merry Christmas, players! Enjoy the day chilling with family, watching the Celtics crush the Lakers, eating Chinese food at the movies, or doing whatever it is you do. I’ll see you on the flip.
Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5
|
I’ve got a weak spot for R&B, and my love for R. Kelly lets you know that I don’t mind a little silliness mixed in with my “grown and sexy.” If his debut single “Too Many Patrons” is anything to go by, I have high hopes for up-and-comer LeMarvin. Forget that his name makes him sound like a Frankenstein’s monster of Lemar, Marvin Gay, and Marvin the Martian (sort of describes his music pretty well, for that matter), and forget that the chorus sounds somewhat like “Love in This Club.” The homemade video is hilarious and the song is nice theme music for the holiday season. Too many eggnogs…
|
Around this time of year, various blogs and publications like to present interesting personalities and tastemakers with questions about their thoughts on various aspects of the year that has passed. Since I am neither of those things, the only person who asks me questions is my brother. Check out my answers to his “Year in Review” queries after the jump. Happy holidays and thanks for reading!
|
 Like most things in life, writing online has its ups and downs. On the one hand, it’s undeniably narcissistic and the pay is crap. On the other hand, it’s kind of cool to have you have a ton of stuff you’ve written scattered all over the Web. From time to time, I grant myself the indulgence of doing a little self-Googling and checking out some of the sites I’ve been involved with in years past. Today was such a day, and I came across this gem, which I thought I’d share.
Let me set the scene first: I was interviewing Redman at Def Jam’s corporate offices in Midtown. I was late for my “day job” as a coach for a middle-school lacrosse team, so I had a backpack and lax stick in tow. The assistant who brought me in was probably thinking, “Who is this enormous clown!?” As soon as Red came into the room, he immediately closed the door behind him, stuffed some spare promotional t-shirts under it, and rolled a huge blunt and started smoking. I saw no other option but to start the interview! From the get go he was incredibly engaging, animated, and hilarious—it was just sort of surreal as I sat there watching him rant and (as I noticed when I played back the tape) answering all his rhetorical questions.
Anyway, toward the end of the interview it was clear that the ganja had begun to take its toll a bit and Red was entering his own world. This became most evident when I asked him about his memories of the infamous MTV Cribs episode, and he came out with the following answer. It still cracks me up to this day.
Now, let’s go back to the MTV “Cribs” episode, because a lot of people rate that as the best 15 minutes of television ever. How do you feel about that being one of your greatest legacies?
The way I look at it is like… First of all, Gilla House. Gilla House means over-the-top. Gilla. Short for guerrilla, just didn’t want to use guerrilla. Gilla! Like, “Is that gilla enough?” Gilla means like, say for instance you do paintings. You’re showing people your paintings, like, “See this one’s nice, but I don’t really like that one. But this one… I don’t really like this one either.” Gilla is like, why have those two in there? Why not take the time to make those two dope and have a full dope package? And over-the-top. That’s basically what gilla is: Over-the-top. And, um… I forgot the question.
No part of my question had anything to do with Gilla House! And even if it had, the analogy is insane. To date, the best answer I’ve ever received in an interview.
Read the rest here.
|
|
|
