"Rock Box" Track of the Day: Pulp, "Like a Friend"

On Monday, I began a series of weekday posts about each of the existing songs that are streamed during the "Rock Box" block on A Fistful of Soundtracks (4-6am, 9-11am and 3-5pm on Mondays and 5-7am, 9-11am and 3-5pm on Fridays). Each post will provide info on a different track from the "Rock Box" playlist and point out the movie or TV series moment where the track is so effectively used. Sometimes, the post will be brief, and sometimes, it'll be long. Today, it's a long one.

Song: "Like a Friend" by Pulp
Released: 1998
Why's it part of the "Rock Box" playlist?: This awesome track--written by Pulp and composer Patrick Doyle for the 1998 Great Expectations remake that Doyle also scored--showed up in The Venture Bros.' recent fourth-season finale "Operation P.R.O.M."
Which moment in "Operation P.R.O.M." does it appear?: It was the most effective use of an existing song on TV in 2010. I'm referring to the finale's closing montage, where the wildly funny animated series briefly hits pause on the comedy to deepen the character of badass SPHINX operative and former Venture family bodyguard Brock Samson, with the help of "Like a Friend." In less than four minutes, the sequence brings closure to both Brock's love/hate relationship with love interest and nemesis Molotov Cocktease and the season-long thread about Brock's self-imposed separation from the Ventures.

(Photo source: Annie Wu)

Alan Sepinwall, the biggest championer of NBC's cult show Chuck, once said he found The Venture Bros. to be unfunny (huh?) and unappealing. Of the two pop culture reference-heavy action comedies, which are both about losers who are trying to make sense of a crazy universe full of comic book supervillain-style adversaries who constantly want them dead, The Venture Bros. is clearly the more consistent and superior show. It's more willing to shake things up in its universe, like keeping Brock separated from the Ventures for most of the fourth season or having The Monarch's meek and flabby underling 21 gradually morph into a more capable, assertive and muscled henchman, yet still retain a bit of his previously buffoonish self when he continues to talk to his dead best friend 24 as if he's still alive. (As someone who often finds the Buy More hijinks on Chuck to be less entertaining than the spyjinks and thinks the Morgan character is better utilized in the latter because of Josh Gomez's chemistry with Adam Baldwin, I was hoping the destruction of the store at the end of last season would mean no more stories at that limited and increasingly tiresome setting. But that was not to be when the CIA rebuilt the Buy More this season.) Team Venture is also far less reliant on music montages than Chuck. Like The Wire, the animated series is aware that music montages have more of an impact when they're used sparingly.

Storytelling drawbacks aside, there's a lot to like about Chuck, but the more flawed and screwy characters in The Venture Bros. make Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer's creation a more interesting show. Chuck is ultimately about triumphing over cowardice and self-doubt to win both the girl of your dreams and the respect of the U.S. government (or the respect of the Buy More). It's a nerd's fantasy that presents how nerds would like to see themselves. That's not a bad thing, but it can also make for formulaic viewing (Chuck's current season has been an uneven one where I've found my attention wandering, despite whatever Yvonne Strahovski's almost wearing that week and the presence of Timothy Dalton, who has to be the show's greatest casting coup so far). Meanwhile, The Venture Bros. isn't concerned with triumph. It's about failure, the inability to impress or satisfy women and the difficulty of overcoming inner demons like cowardice, self-denial or unhealthy sexual appetites--in other words, it shows the ugly reality of how most nerds really are.

Okay, now I see why Sepinwall doesn't like The Venture Bros.

But that willingness to take its humor to dark places and rarely let the characters win is why I keep coming back to The Venture Bros. It never lets me down, unlike how the fuckbuddy or lost love in "Like a Friend" frustrates Jarvis Cocker, who keeps coming back to her even though he knows she's bad news--or how Molotov disappoints Brock. Her final rejection of Brock (while plunging off the cliff in a limo with her new boyfriend Monstroso) is accompanied by a song that perfectly encapsulates his obsession with the hot, celibate and unattainable Russian mercenary, a habit that Brock, like many other Venture Bros. characters, can't seem to kick. Or does he?

(Photo source: gadren)

At the point of "Like a Friend" (which is playing at Hank and Dean Venture's home school prom at the Venture Compound) when Cocker sings "Oh, and I'll come running/Just to do it again," Brock runs off to act on Molotov's intel and once again rescue the compound, this time from Molotov's Blackheart agents, who disguised themselves as hookers and tricked Dr. Venture into bringing them to the prom. "Like a Friend" also perfectly encapsulates Brock's other habit, his attachment to the Venture family, whom he keeps coming back to even after quitting his duties as bodyguard (and father figure to Hank and Dean, a task he's far better suited for than the self-absorbed Dr. Venture).

When Cocker rattles off various metaphors about his woman's shortcomings ("You are the habit I can't seem to kick/You are my secrets on the front page every week...") and the song's mood goes from sad to celebratory about the woman's faults, it's as if Cocker's voicing thoughts the laconic Brock can't express about Hank, Dean and Dr. Venture, who are helpless without him. There's a wonderful dialogue-less moment when Brock bursts into the prom, surveys his friends and notices how happy and carefree they are as they dance to "Like a Friend," indulge in their usual quirks or fetishes and make out with the Blackhearts (or in the case of Shoreleave and The Alchemist, each other). The looks on Brock's face are both of relief that the Blackhearts' threat has been delayed for the moment (because the ladies were drugged by the prom punch Dr. Venture spiked with a special brand of Spanish fly he invented) and relief that he's home.

Then we discover Dr. Venture has created yet another mess that someone else has to clean up when his unstable Spanish fly causes the Blackhearts to transform into giant mutant houseflies and attack the prom attendees. Brock the ice-cold professional--who has no time to mourn for Molotov and has proven to be better at resilience than Dr. Venture or even the all-new, all-different but still-living-in-denial-for-most-of-the-season 21--moves on with his life and gleefully gets back to doing what he does best, which is cleaning up the Ventures' messes and being a murder machine. Brock gives up one habit and revisits another one. There's something oddly uplifting about the sight of Brock getting over Molotov, whom he became tired of chasing, whether as a lover or lawman, and pouring himself into his work with a grin (just as "Like a Friend" is an oddly uplifting tune about accepting the same faults about someone that drive us crazy).

I think both that--and in the same episode, 21's tearful breakdown and realization that he has to move on without 24--count as actual rare victories on The Venture Bros.



A lot of thought was clearly put into the song choice for this sequence. That's one of the virtues of the extended amount of time Adult Swim allows Astrobase Go! to work on The Venture Bros. The sole drawback of that longer production schedule is the lengthy wait between seasons for Venture Bros. viewers. "Operation P.R.O.M." is such an outstanding finale and so inspired in its use of music that part of me wishes season 5 began tomorrow.

It's lucky for you that we're patient, Astrobase.

TV arty

Screw the overcrowded and stress-inducing San Diego Comic-Con (which begins today). Here at A Fistful of Soundtracks: The Blog is an Artists' Alley that's far less crowded or funny-smelling than the one down there. It consists of the niftiest TV show-inspired artwork I've found on the Web.


Treme by illustrator and Fistful of Soundtracks listener Owen Freeman (for a WaPo article about the show).


Phil Dunphy from Modern Family, Leslie Knope from Parks and Recreation and Michael Scott from The Office by Freeman (for a WaPo critique of mockumentary sitcoms).


Dr. Girlfriend from The Venture Bros. by Darwyn Cooke. [Via Almost Darwyn Cooke's Blog]


Futurama/X-Men mash-up by gottabecarl.


The Simpsons by Lelpel.


Spaced/Scott Pilgrim vs. the World mash-up (made through the Scott Pilgrim movie site's avatar creator) by Dark Bunny Tees.


"Sushi Off a Friend," an A-Team/Greatest American Hero mash-up by Scott Campbell.


Leverage by Kweli.


The 11th Doctor and Amy Pond from Doctor Who by Blair D. Shedd, one of the illustrators of IDW's Doctor Who comics.


Twilight Zone by Ken Garduno.


Twilight Zone's "To Serve Man" ep by Garduno.


The Colbert Report by Sean Pryor, with Colbert surrounded by Douglas Rushkoff (far left), Jon Stewart and the recently deceased Harvey Pekar (from Pekar's SMITH Magazine comic "Kibbitzin' About How Life Got Incorporated").

"On, Donner! On, Blitzen! On, Chuy! On, Tavo! C'mon, Becto!": 10 current favorite Christmas tracks

The following is inspired by a holiday music meme I first saw posted by Matt on Scrubbles.net. Like Matt said in his list, some of us require a bit of acid in our eggnog (or in our DVD players--my favorite holiday movie is The Ref, the film where Kevin Spacey memorably tells his evil mom he'll get her a cross for Christmas so that whenever she feels unappreciated for her sacrifices, she can climb on up and nail herself to it).

10. The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl, "Fairytale of New York"
Now that's my idea of the perfect Pasko song. The cover version with Dr. Girlfriend as Shane MacGowan and the Monarch as MacColl is hilariously fooked up.

9. OutKast, "Player's Ball"
Andre 3000 and Big Boi's very first single was originally a Yuletide joint, in which the Player's Ball happens on Christmas Day instead of "all day e'ryday." The Christmas Day line is removed from the Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik version, but most of the other holiday references remain ("Ain't no chiminies in the ghetto/So I won't be hangin' my socks on no tip").

8. Darlene Love, "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"
I first heard this tune during the opening credits of Gremlins. I've grown fond of "Baby Please Come Home" because of Love's annual performance of the Phil Spector-produced standard on Letterman's Christmas shows.

7. Donny Hathaway, "This Christmas"
Everyone from Patti LaBelle to woman-beating douches have covered "This Christmas," but Hathaway's 1970 original will always be the best version. It's mostly because of the thunderous percussion and them funky horns. Earlier this month, the Chicago Sun-Times published a terrific article that contains interesting tidbits about the Chicago native's classic recording, like its unlikely ties to film music (the song's bridge was inspired by Elmer Bernstein's Magnificent Seven theme!).

6. Booker T. & the MGs, "Merry Christmas Baby"
Atlantic's 1991 Soul Christmas compilation is my favorite holiday CD, thanks to the inclusion of "This Christmas," Clarence Carter's "Back Door Santa" and the sizzling Booker T. & the MGs cover of singer Charles Brown's 1947 standard, which was featured in David Sedaris' classic 1992 NPR reading of The Santaland Diaries.

5. Vince Guaraldi Trio, "Skating"
This is the only track on the list that's from a film or TV score. My favorite tune from the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack is neither "Christmas Time Is Here" nor "Linus and Lucy." It's the underappreciated "Skating." Guaraldi once said, "I don't think I'm a great piano player." Nah, during "Skating," Guaraldi was a great piano player.

4. The Waitresses, "Christmas Wrapping"
Like in "This Christmas," the horn section sounds so tight during "Christmas Wrapping."

3. Cheech & Chong, "Santa Claus and His Old Lady"
Donde esta Santa Cleese? Another enjoyable Christmas track involving a Latino comedian is Horatio Sanz's "I Wish It Was Christmas Today," which was covered earlier this week by Julian Casablancas and the Roots.

2. Patton Oswalt, "My Christmas Memory"
I lose it every time I hear Oswalt's impression of a slowed-down David Seville from "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)."


1. Run-DMC, "Christmas in Hollis"
Jam Master Jay's killer "Back Door Santa" sample is a reason why millions of us continue to exclaim "Goddamn, that DJ made my day!" long after his death.

Ear candy: AFOS October 2009 segment playlists

Starting tonight at 11pm, these October '09 playlists (intro'd by yours truly, of course) will air all through the month on the Fistful of Soundtracks channel. Until November 1, they'll be repeated every Tuesday and Thursday at 4am, 10am, 3pm, 7pm and 11pm and every Saturday and Sunday at 7am, 9am, 1pm, 3pm and 5pm.


"Steven Soderbergh's Scorezopolis":
1. Marvin Hamlisch, "Golf," The Informant!, New Line
2. David Holmes, "Dice Men," Ocean's Thirteen, Warner Sunset/Warner Bros.

"Bubblegum Music Is the Naked Truth":
3. Lynn Carey & Barbara Robison, "Sweet Talkin' Candy Man," Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Soundtrack Classics
4. Danny Janssen, "Seven Days a Week," Scooby-Doo's Snack Tracks: The Ultimate Collection, Rhino

"Cardiff Rift":
5. Jacques Loussier, "Main Theme" (from Dark of the Sun), Guns for San Sebastian & Dark of the Sun, Chapter III
6. Lalo Schifrin, "Carry On," The Liquidator, Film Score Monthly

"Bollywood and the Stars":
7. Asha Bhonsle & Mohammed Rafi, "Chura Liya Hai Tum Ne" (from Yaadon Ki Baaraat), The Rough Guide to Bollywood, World Music Network
8. Lucky Ali, "Ek Pal Ka Jeena" (from Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai), The Rough Guide to Bollywood, World Music Network

"Life in La-La Land":
9. John Carpenter in association with Alan Howarth, "Tenement/White Tiger," Big Trouble in Little China, La-La Land
10. Shirley Walker, "City Street Drive/Sal Velestra/Good Samaritan," Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, La-La Land
11. Danny Elfman, "Trailer," Mars Attacks!, La-La Land

"Harmony of Dissonance":
12. Ennio Morricone, "Trafelato" (from Giornata Nera Per L'Ariete), Crime and Dissonance, Ipecac
13. Ennio Morricone and Bruno Nicolai, "Il Buio" (from L'Anticristo), Crime and Dissonance, Ipecac

"Sally (That Girl)":
14. Michael Small, "On the Roof" (from Klute), Klute/All the President's Men, Film Score Monthly
15. Lalo Schifrin, "Scorpio's View," Dirty Harry, Aleph

"Yes, I Only Hunt Blaculas":
16. J.G. Thirlwell, "Bolly," The Venture Bros.: The Music of JG Thirlwell, Williams Street
17. The Hues Corporation, "I'm Gonna Catch You" (from Blacula), MGM Soul Cinema Volume 1, Beyond/MGM Music

"...And Then James Woods Staked Edward--The End":
18. John Carpenter, "Stake and Burn," John Carpenter's Vampires, Milan
19. Texas Toad Lickers, "Padre's Wood," John Carpenter's Vampires, Milan

"In Absentia Luci, Tenebrae Vincunt":
20. Marco Beltrami, "Stand by Your Man," Hellboy, Varèse Sarabande
21. Marco Beltrami, "B.P.R.D.," Hellboy, Varèse Sarabande

"Fitted for a Suit of Flame":
22. Christopher Young, "Drag Me to Hell," Drag Me to Hell, Lakeshore
23. Christopher Young, "Lamia," Drag Me to Hell, Lakeshore

"Death Ain't No Way to Make a Living":
24. Danny Elfman, "Intro/Titles," The Frighteners, MCA Soundtracks
25. Danny Elfman, "Patty Attack," The Frighteners, MCA Soundtracks

"Loungin'":
26. Ennio Morricone, "La Cugina" (from La Cugina), More Mondo Morricone, Colosseum
27. Lalo Schifrin, "Tape Machine" (from the Mission: Impossible episode "Underground"), The Best of Mission: Impossible: Then and Now, GNP Crescendo

"R.I.P. Jerry van Rooyen":
28. Jerry van Rooyen, "The Great Bank Robbery" (from How Short Is the Time for Love), At 250 Miles Per Hour, Crippled Dick Hot Wax!
29. Jerry van Rooyen, "Sundown" (from The Vampire Happening), At 250 Miles Per Hour, Crippled Dick Hot Wax!

"That's Good Chowdah":
30. J.G. Thirlwell, "Warped Span," The Venture Bros.: The Music of JG Thirlwell, Williams Street
31. J.G. Thirlwell, "Tuff," The Venture Bros.: The Music of JG Thirlwell, Williams Street

"The Best of Jimmy J. Aquino on Twitter," Part 1

In March, I gave up resisting Twitter and launched a page there to write any blog posts that are only two or three sentences long. I didn't like Twitter at first, but I've adjusted to it, and now I think it's a more enjoyable and appealing microblogging/social networking site than the cluttered and less stripped-down Facebook.

I've found Twitter's 140-character limit to be a great way to test out my humor writing and be better at brevity. On Facebook, members have somehow discovered ways to bypass the character limit on their status updates, which has resulted in two things: 1) a lot of users writing updates that are longer than the Iliad, which kills the point of a microblog, and 2) me glancing briefly at those long-winded updates and wanting to log out of Facebook as fast as I can.

However, Twitter has a few downsides as well. Too many Twitterers have used the site to write some of the most vapid and boring microblogs I've ever come across (which resulted in Lewis Black uttering on Attack of the Show one of my favorite quotes about vapid-sounding Twitterers, "I'm not that interested in my life! What kind of ego do you have to have to think other people are interested?... If you're walking around telling people what you're doing, then guess what, you're not really doing it, are you? You're describing it!"). Instead of tweeting nonstop about every single activity in my life, I've preferred to focus most of my tweets on either the Fistful of Soundtracks radio station, movies and shows I've watched, links I want people to check out or links to the posts I write here at afistfulofsoundtracks.blogspot.com.

But the biggest downside of Twitter for me is that unlike Blogger or WordPress, Twitter doesn't automatically create archives of your older tweets, making it difficult to access older tweets that either you or someone else posted. If you want to access an older tweet without repeatedly clicking on the "more" link at the bottom of the page, you have to have previously copied and pasted the tweet's URL somewhere on your computer (like on Notepad) so that you can copy and paste that URL into your browser.

Because of the lack of an archive section on my Twitter page, here's a compilation of the tweets from my page that have received replies or have been retweeted (Twitter slang for being quoted), starting with my very first tweet.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dammit. I give up. I'm on Twitter now though I'm not feelin' the concept. I'm joining only b/c writing 140-ch. posts on Blogger seems lame.
12:59 PM Mar 14th from web

Awesome. My first word on Twitter was "Dammit," which, in the Cosby household, means "Russell."
12:59 PM Mar 14th from web

You know who does the best dammits on TV? Kiefer. Not since DeForest Kelley has someone taken dammiting to a whole 'nother level.
1:00 PM Mar 14th from web


@pfunn I see that dumb new name and I think, "Shouldn't it be pronounced 'sy-fee,' as in the Syufy [sy-yoo-fee] movie theater chain?"
1:31 PM Mar 16th from web in reply to pfunn

Rotten Tomatoes Show on @current is the anti-Movie Mob. Their webcam reviews come from intelligent folks, not annoying attention whores.
11:15 AM Mar 20th from web

I prefer Savage Steve Holland (Better Off Dead) over John Hughes b/c SSH's '80s comedies aren't as racist as Hughes'--and they're weirder.
11:37 AM Mar 20th from web

Savage Steve Holland's How I Got Into College is on Fox Movie Channel right now. Damn, tanktop-clad Tom Kenny is paler than @jimgaffigan.
11:38 AM Mar 20th from web

Is it me or do some Twitterers sound like Norm MacDonald as Larry King reading his USA Today News & Views column? http://tinyurl.com/d2m79h
4:08 PM Mar 21st from web

How nice. An earthquake just woke me up.
10:46 AM Mar 30th from web

Dammit, I can't get that silly Lady Gaga "this beat is sick" refrain out of my head ever since I first heard it on #Chuck last week.
1:30 AM Apr 11th from web


@gcdb She's the creation of a gay mad scientist who needed a new icon to worship b/c Madonna and Dona Versace are getting too old & creepy.
8:34 AM Apr 11th from web in reply to gcdb


@gcdb I bet every Canadian right now wants to bitchslap Billy Bob Thornton just like how Kurt Russell slaps around BBT in that movie.
7:56 PM Apr 11th from web in reply to gcdb

There needs to be an Asian American comedians' version of MST3K or Cinematic Titanic or #twitflixing (like the HGers' skewering of Crank 2).
4:08 AM Apr 17th from web

Why are Asian Americans always so serious and humorless and tweedy when they write essays or posts about racist pieces of shit like Crank 2?
4:13 AM Apr 17th from web

We Asian Americans need to take a cue from MST or HG or Paul Mooney and try a comic approach to ripping to shreds the Crank 2s of the world.
4:18 AM Apr 17th from web

@ALBaroza I want to do a live show in which an AA comic & I do snarky running com. on a racist flick. A RiffTrax-ish site might be dope too.
11:28 AM Apr 17th from web in reply to ALBaroza

"Why don't you make like a bass player and be inaudible?"--Metalocalypse. I've posted my all-time favorite basslines on @LivingSocial.
9:15 AM Apr 20th from web

Dopest basslines: 5. Jamiroquai, "Space Cowboy (Stoned Again Mix)"--the ultimate #420 anthem. Bassist: Stuart Zender.
9:18 AM Apr 20th from web


Basslines: 4. Jack Elliott and Allyn Ferguson's Barney Miller theme. Bassist: Jim Hughart. Rarely does a Jew on TV get a theme this funky.
9:20 AM Apr 20th from web

Basslines: 3. Freddie Hubbard, "Red Clay." Bassist: Ron Carter. ATCQ fans know this bassline from "Sucka N," which sampled a cover of "RC."
9:24 AM Apr 20th from web

Dopest basslines: 2. Slave, "Just a Touch of Love." Bassist: Mark Adams. Sampled by De La Soul ("Keepin' the Faith") and Das EFX ("Shine").
9:27 AM Apr 20th from web

Dopest basslines: 1. The Smiths, "This Charming Man." Bassist: Andy Rourke. His bass work is the coolest part of the chune.
9:30 AM Apr 20th from web


I can never hear "Ready to Go" by Republica again without thinking of Dr. Girlfriend.
4:33 PM Apr 20th from web

To be continued.

Time 4 sum aksion: AFOS June and July 2009 segment playlists

Starting today, these June and July '09 playlists (intro'd by yours truly, of course) will air Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4am, 10am, 3pm, 7pm and 11pm, and Saturdays and Sundays at 7am, 9am, 1pm, 3pm and 5pm all through the rest of June and the first half of July on the Fistful of Soundtracks channel.

The '90s action score cues block came about after I rattled off names of my favorite original cues from '90s action flicks on Facebook's LivingSocial app and Twitter and then realized all those tracks together would make for a great block on AFOS.


"Love Theme Three-Way":
1. Isaac Hayes, "Love Scene Ellie (Ellie's Love Theme)" (from Shaft), Shaft Anthology: His Big Score and More!, Film Score Monthly
2. Vangelis, "Love Theme," Blade Runner, Atlantic
3. Bernard Herrmann, "Conversation Piece," North by Northwest, Turner Classic Movies Music/Rhino Movie Music

"Adams Family Values":
4. Bear McCreary, "Cybernetic Life Form Node," Caprica, La-La Land
5. Bear McCreary, "Caprica End Credits," Caprica, La-La Land

"Favorite '90s Action Score Cues":
6. Mark Mancina, "Footchase," Original Score from the Motion Picture Bad Boys, La-La Land
7. Nick Glennie-Smith, Hans Zimmer and Harry Gregson-Williams, "Hummel Gets the Rockets," The Rock, Hollywood
8. Bruce Broughton, "The Launch," Lost in Space: Original Motion Picture Score, Intrada
9. Bruce Broughton, "You're No Daisy; Finishing It," Tombstone: Complete Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, Intrada
10. James Horner, "The Flying Circus," The Rocketeer, Hollywood
11. David Arnold, "White Knight," Tomorrow Never Dies: The Original Motion Picture Score, Chapter III
12. Jerry Goldsmith, "End of a Dream," Total Recall: The Deluxe Edition, Varèse Sarabande
13. Shirley Walker, "Ski Mask Vigilante (Expanded)," Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, La-La Land
14. Danny Elfman, "The Chase," Sleepy Hollow, Hollywood
15. Basil Poledouris, "Klendathu Drop," Starship Troopers, Varèse Sarabande
16. Jerry Goldsmith, "The Fire Dragon," The 13th Warrior, Varèse Sarabande
17. Jerry Goldsmith, "Red Alert," Star Trek: First Contact, GNP/Crescendo
18. Trevor Jones, "Promentory," The Last of the Mohicans, Morgan Creek
19. James Horner, "The Ride," The Mask of Zorro, Sony Classical/Sony Music Soundtrax
20. Jerry Goldsmith, "Arthur's Farewell," First Knight, Epic Soundtrax
21. Danny Elfman, "Zoom B," Mission: Impossible: Original Motion Picture Score, Point Music

"Buttercream-Frosted Murdercake Mix":
22. J.G. Thirlwell, "Assclamp!," The Venture Bros.: The Music of JG Thirlwell, Williams Street
23. J.G. Thirlwell, "Bolly," The Venture Bros.: The Music of JG Thirlwell, Williams Street

"Movement of Giacchino":
24. Michael Giacchino, "To Boldly Go," Star Trek, Varèse Sarabande
25. Michael Giacchino, "End Credits," Star Trek, Varèse Sarabande

There won't be any more new episodes of A Fistful of Soundtracks: The Series. I've dumped the one-hour episodic format for the lengthier, more flexible and Scion Radio-inspired format that you see here. You'll still be able to check out past eps of AFOS: The Series Wednesdays at 10am and 3pm.

Williams Street does Blu-ray-less Venture Bros. fans a solid

Here's some good news for budget-conscious Venture Bros. fans like myself who want avant-garde composer J.G. Thirlwell's Venture Bros. score album but don't intend to buy either the Blu-ray release of the third season (which, unlike the DVD release, will include the album as an extra) or the vinyl version of the album. Williams Street Records will make The Venture Bros.: The Music of J.G. Thirlwell available on its amusingly retro site (which spoofs the primitive designs of sites like the ones Veronica Belmont and Ryan Block blog about on The Vintage Web). The label will begin shipping the CD on March 24.

The $12 CD version will contain 20 tracks, which are all listed here (no OSI theme song, unfortunately), while the $18 LP version will contain 16 (to accommodate the higher fidelity) and come with a coupon for a free digital download of the album.

Thirlwell's work on The Venture Bros.--particularly that wonderfully over-the-top opening theme--is the craziest-sounding original score music I've heard on an animated show since Yoko Kanno's genre-straddling music for Cowboy Bebop.


"Go Team Venture!"

Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology at NYCC

NYCC's Secret Identities panel on Saturday was an exciting moment for myself and everyone else at the con who was involved in the New Press graphic novel of the same name. Secret Identities editors Keith Chow and Jeff Yang, whom I'm standing behind in the above pic (Jeff's the one who's holding a not-quite-final copy of the novel), unveiled the official trailer for the novel and discussed the project at the panel, which kicked off a Secret Identities promotional tour. The novel will hit stores in mid-April and contain my comic book scriptwriting debut, "Sampler."

The standing-room-only crowd delighted us, but I was even more jazzed about how the audience consisted of readers of all races who are interested in our novel. That's a great sign. It means we've been doing something right. We created these stories for everyone to enjoy.

Like the creators of the Harold & Kumar flicks (yeah, those guys are white, but they understand what us Asian Americans have been going through), I wrote about a protagonist who happens to be Asian American, and I tried not to delve into identity politics too much, which is what a lot of pre-Harold & Kumar movies about young AAs would do as a response to past one-dimensional portrayals of AAs on the screen (and sometimes these films would counter that problem not very effectively or not very subtly). But at the same time, I wanted to insert little moments into "Sampler" in which the title heroine recognizes there's racism out there and she responds to it either with humor (she wears an "I suck at math" T-shirt) or--because this is the superhero genre--mucho bitchslapping.

Here I am sitting in the audience, talking to another Secret Identities contributor, Secret Asian Man creator Tak Toyoshima, before the beginning of the panel:


It was awesome to finally meet Tak, whose strip I've read for years. Tak's contribution to Secret Identities is an interstitial Q&A with legendary G.I. Joe and Wolverine comics writer Larry Hama.


Right after the Secret Identities panel, Tak and I saw an Asian guy in a Superman costume and an Asian woman in a Wonder Woman outfit posing for photos together--an amusing epilogue to the panel. I was disappointed that my camcorder somehow deleted my footage of Asian Supes and Asian WW. Apparently my camera's racist and it hates Asian superheroes.

I found a pic of the Supe posing with Jeff and Keith (Asian Supes' other identity is Bryan Nguyen)...


... but I'm still looking for a shot of Asian Supes' scantily clad sidekick.


At my left is multitalented Incredible Hercules writer and Robot Stories director Greg Pak, who scripted "The Citizen" for Secret Identities.


At my right is Giant Robot's Anne Ishii, who moderated the Secret Identities panel and is the first person to tell me she dug "Sampler." Later, Anne and I were stunned to discover we both were Banana Slugs who attended Uncle Charlie's Summer Camp at about the same time (we never crossed paths during our years at UCSC).


A full shot of the Secret Identities crew after the panel discussion. Back row, left to right: Anne, moi, Greg, Ken Wong (writer of "Justified"), Jonathan Tsuei (writer of "9066"), Tak, Bernard Chang (illustrator of "The Citizen"), Larry Hama. Front row, left to right: Keith, Jeff, Sarah Sapang (illustrator of "16 Miles"), Jef Castro (illustrator of "Peril"), Alexander Tarampi (illustrator of "Gaman").


A Joker/Monarch team-up would rock a nerd's world.

20 favorite TV moments of 2008

Happy New Year. These favorite moments of mine are all from scripted or non-reality TV. Screw reality TV.

(Warning: some spoilers ahead.)

20. Conan, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert try to kick each other's asses to the tune of "Brianstorm" by the Arctic Monkeys (Late Night with Conan O'Brien).

19. Barney, Ted and Lily rock "the Naked Man" (How I Met Your Mother).

18. Rob Riggle gives Code Pink enough rope to hang themselves (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart).

17. Walt blows up Tuco's office (Breaking Bad).

16. Brock battles a French assassin who's obsessed with Silver Age comic books (The Venture Bros.).

15. Michael goes undercover as a wimpy chemist (Burn Notice).

14. "She must prove she loves America, as opposed to Republicans, who everyone knows love America. They just hate half the people living in it" (The Daily Show).

13. The island is visited by the freighties, who include Daniel, a heroic science nerd, and Miles, a wiseass "ghostbuster" and the most interesting and least clichéd Asian American male character to hit network TV in years (Lost).

12. Patterson punches Encino Man (Generation Kill).

11. "Hey John, I got a question! You need a ride to the airport?" (Late Show with David Letterman).

10. Stephen tries--and fails--to hide actual tears during Barack Obama's historic victory (Indecision 2008: America's Choice).

9. Wendy emerges from the water in Ursula Andress' Dr. No bikini (The Middleman).

8. Don tells Peggy to get out of the hospital and move forward (Mad Men).

7. The survivors find Earth (Battlestar Galactica).

6. Katie Couric (Amy Poehler) interviews Sarah Palin (Tina Fey) (Saturday Night Live).



5. Jack crashes Liz's high school reunion (30 Rock).

4. Bubbles is finally invited to the dinner table (The Wire).

3. Vic confesses (The Shield).

2. Joe Biden (Jason Sudeikis) and Sarah Palin (Fey) go head to head (SNL).



1. Iceman's team sings "Teenage Dirtbag" (Generation Kill).

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Runners-up:
- The Bawlmer cops sing "The Body of an American" for the final time (The Wire).
- Desmond looks for his constant (Lost).
- "A guaranteed disaster. Like eating a burrito before sex" (30 Rock).
- Samantha Bee tries to get Republican delegates to say the word "choice" (The Daily Show).
- BET fires everyone who can read (The Boondocks).
- 6H turns into Amadeus (30 Rock).
- John Legend sings "The Girl Is Mine" with Stephen (The Colbert Report).
- Will Arnett does his last sex tape (Human Giant).
- Sayid sells his soul (Lost).
- Anna Paquin and Lizzy Caplan finally get naked (True Blood).

Have you played The Venture Bros. today?

The Venture Bros. Season 3 DVD and Blu-ray packaging's '80s Atari video game cartridge box-style design rocks. It reminds me of the Activision-style design for the 2002 DVD cover of DJ Qbert's Wave Twisters.

The box sets' street date is March 24. Why do I have to wait so damn long until I can finally delete last season's Venture Bros. episodes from my DVR?

Arriving at retail as a two-disc box set on both platforms for the suggested retail prices of $29.98 and $44.98, respectively, The Venture Bros. Season 3 features all 13 uncensored episodes from the show's highly popular third season and bonus material including deleted scenes and commentary. Additionally, the Blu-ray disc box set will be packaged with an exclusive CD which includes 20 tracks that comprise the full musical score from the television series' third season.

[Via TVShowsOnDVD.com]