A To Z: A.C. Newman to Billy Bragg (Catching Up)

A couple of months ago, I decided to try and listen to all of the music in my iTunes library (that I all found from legal means, wink wink) that was listed at a play count of zero. My reasoning behind this was that I found I had an insane amount of music on my computer and it was almost reaching the point where I was running out of space for it all. I have lots of things that I either haven’t listened to or will probably never listen to because they actually aren’t all that good. Also, I kind of shamelessly stole the idea from The AV Club.

I’m going to try every week to recap some of my thoughts about some of the artists I listened to. Since I started back in April I’ve made it about half way through the Bs. We’ve got some catching up to do (Note that bands I actually really like, I’ve listened to most, if not all of their albums since I got my new computer and new iTunes library set up in the fall of 2006).

David Letterman and Late Night

by Paul Mikesell

When David Letterman began hosting NBC’s Late Night with David Letterman in 1982 following Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show, it is unlikely that many viewers thought he would still be a late night fixture for millions of Americans twenty-five years later. Letterman’s sense of humor was dry and sarcastic, to the delight of fans but often at the displeasure of his guests who often found him rude. Late Night played around with the conventions found in most talk shows. Bland bits performed by other hosts were transformed into absurdist comedy bits by Letterman such as the “Top Ten” list, “Stupid Pet Tricks” (as well as “Stupid Human Tricks”), fictitious “Viewer Mail,” and the destruction of items, often by throwing them off a building.

There’s Always Money In The Banana Stand: A Genre Analysis of Arrested Development

by Paul Mikesell

During the 2003 to 2005 television seasons, FOX Television aired one of the most innovative comedy series in recent memory, Arrested Development. This was a series that’s presentation was made up of a blend of different genre elements, many of which were rarely found in sitcoms. By adding a postmodern, self-aware slant to this perspective, the series took upon a unique view of not only what the sitcom could do, but also how modern viewers would watch a sitcom. As narrative complexity continues to develop in nearly every format on television, it is of great interest to look at a comedy that was helping to drive forth these trends.

They Say It’s Your Birthday

by Paul Mikesell

I am indifferent about my birthday. I don’t talk about it and just hope that no one asks any questions about it. I think I’m down to four people who know what day I was born: my parents, my brother, and my girlfriend. Oh, and I guess the DMV does too.

When I was younger, the only thing I liked about my birthday was how close it was to Christmas. I had a friend in elementary school whose birthday was on Christmas Eve and was pissed when he only got one set of presents. I guess being a week and a half later helped me out gift-wise. When my birthday rolled around, there were never any surprises. I always knew ahead of time that each box wrapped in leftover Christmas paper would have a leftover Christmas present inside. It was nice because these were things I wanted, but sometimes I got pieces of things at different times. The worst was when I was six and got a Super Nintendo for Christmas. I had to wait until I was seven to get Super Mario World.