Hola, Sneakers! Welcome back to Sneaky Dragon, the only podcast on the internet that thinks too highly of itself!
This week: calling yourself; kill your phone; peed pants; exerservice; choir weirdo; the Book of Axe; good point; Hell’s gift shop; tough love; Dick Tracy watch; no excuse for The Spirit; unrequested rejection; bitchy times; he-man woman haters; toxic nostalgia; cheap thrills; escape goat; turn offs; why we late; shock to the heart; painful pain; temporary fixes; stressors; it couldn’t be easier; door prank; sad passings; hairy hands; kindness; getting back to Get Back; Beatle knock-offs; Dork Shadows – Time After Time; Question of the Week – Sneakers respond; whichcraft; EDification; free flowing ideas; pulsing; meat poop; insecure; purposeless soul searching; and, finally, always behind.
Question of the Week: What is something that does nostalgia right?
Sub-question of the Week: Did you have a mentor who helped you find your path in life?
Thanks for listening.
Want to hear David imagine sequels to, make conjectures about, and get Christmassy over Dirty Harry? Well, go here!
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Hello! Look, a real comment! Yay! The only story behind the ECG is that one of you made an offhand comment that Ed might be dead because he hadn’t commented on episode 521 (glad you’re not dead, Ed!), and would he please email his pulse to let you know he was alive. Then you said in the sign off that if anyone else wanted to send their pulse, the email address was… and so on. My [insert capitalist fruit] watch has an ECG app, so I took my pulse right then and there and sent it off to prove that I was alive. The fact that it mentions A-fib (or lack thereof) in the readout was pure coincidence – I haven’t had any issues, thankfully. Sorry for the confusion.
Having said that, Ian, I’m sorry you’re going through all of this, but glad to hear that the medication is helping. The experience of not being entirely unconscious during the shocks sounds particularly terrifying. I hope that as we gradually drag ourselves out of this endless Covid nightmare and you can get yourself healthy again, it might resolve on its own. I don’t think we’ve even begun to see how many ways this whole thing has affected us all. I may be relatively healthy physically, but it has done a real number on my mental health, which wasn’t excellent to begin with. I’m completely burned out at my job and exhausted everywhere else, but I’m hanging in there and taking steps to get myself in a healthier place. I am an incurable optimist, so at least I have that going for me. ????
I think I need to watch Get Back at least one more time before I can really dig into a discussion, because there was so much to take in, but it sure was incredible. I watched parts two and three in a marathon that first Saturday, and the next night at work I had the strangest experience whenever I thought about it. It didn’t feel like I’d watched something. It felt like I’d traveled somewhere, gone out of town, stepped out of my life, visited some magical Beatleland. I haven’t had a proper vacation in years, so it was a nice feeling. If that’s the best I can get for now, it was a damn fine place to go!
A co-host of a Beatles podcast I occasionally listen to (Nothing Is Real) suggested watching it again in January in one-day fragments, on the corresponding dates, so you’d essentially be watching them work in real time, exactly 53 years later. I hope I can find time to watch it again before then, but I thought that sounded like the kind of wacky thing I would do, so I’m planning to do it. Anyone with me?
I didn’t have one specific mentor, but the connections I made through improv really helped. In the writing biz, there’s often a boxcar effect. If one person hears of a show that needs writers, they’ll recommend someone whose writing they trust and that friend might recommend another friend who might recommend you. For instance, Andrew used to host Vancouver’s Switchback then he moved to Halifax to host it there. He recommended Roger for Street Cents. The next season, Roger suggested me. A few seasons later, we recommended Ian and Frank. When Frank created Big Sound, he hired Ian and Roger. When Ian got on Weird-Ohs, he recommended Roger and me. And so it goes round and round and round in the circle game.
Something that does nostalgia right…Ian mentioned Cobra Kai which is far better than Disney’s TV reboots such of The Mighty Ducks and Turner and Hooch. Disney’s Star Wars division got it right with The Mandalorian, but the movie trilogy was uneven. I’m looking forward to seeing what they do with The Book of Boba Fett. I also like Superman and Lois’ return to Smallville approach with their kids learning to deal with their superpowers (or lack thereof.)
I’m sorry to hear about Ian’s misadventures in heart resetting, especially as he has one of the biggest hearts around. For the past 30 years, my mom has had a skipping heart which sometimes races requiring the occasional trip to the ER to get it under control. She’s 85, so take heart. Louise’s Top 5 Heart Malfunction Songs:
1 Al Green – “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart” 1972
2. John D. Loudermilk – “Callin’ Dr. Casey” 1962
3. Toni Braxton – “Un-break My Heart” 1996
4. Natalie Cole – “Jump Start (My Heart)” 1987
5. Elton John and Kiki Dee – “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” 1976
Another crazy week but I have some time to write here as my daughter is getting married this coming weekend!
Thanks Dave for mentioning your solidarity for “The Last Jedi.” As you’re well aware, the Rian Johnson treatment was very polarizing and caused so much toxic backlash. I stand by my theory that due to the way the Prequels were directed by Lucas, the backlash from them were a direct result to what Disney did with “The Force Awakens.” By this I mean a return to traditional effects treatment and the original formula under J.J. Abrams. This then caused audiences to criticize “The Force Awakens” for being too much like 1977’s “A New Hope” so what does Disney do next? They assign the next installment to Johnson and let him take the story so far from the original formula that it drove audiences berserk. I consider what Johnson did to be a brave masterpiece with “The Last Jedi”, why keep doing the same stuff? I think his treatment was just as bold as Irvin Kershner was with “The Empire Strikes Back” in 1980 and I stand by the directorial creativity of all the Star Wars directors, even Lucas. I could get into more about Luke’s character arc, but I’ll save that for later. You guys have a show to wrap up.
It can be said that nostalgia may well be at the heart of the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy fan fallout but I’m an exception to that. I remain a fan who unconditionally accepts Star Wars in every way, no matter what…but you knew that so I won’t go there. The use of nostalgia done right that I immediately thought of was how Alex Ross has handled the his DC stories such as “Kingdom Come” and “Justice”. Ian, back me up here, Ross does this thing with the DC characters that shows such a love and understanding between them all, as if they’re a family and close. The nostalgia is there but handled in such a new and realistic style. The Justice League all call each other by their real names and have a familiarity with one another that suggests they’ve been together for a long time. Ross did this so well that it caught on and other writers started doing it too but Ross did it first and it works. It might not drive you to read the older DC Comics from the 60’s but it makes you feel like you have.
My first Creative Director at Dr Pepper was very instrumental when it came to my starting place in the industry. His name was Eric and he had studied in New York, imagine Niles Crane from “Frasier” and that was about what he was like. Eric was a genius in design and even though he didn’t remain at Dr Pepper long, he set me on my path for the next 32 years. We all knew Eric was meant to be a teacher, not working at Dr Pepper, he had that mentored quality to him, so he ended up as the head of the Design Department of my college, The University of North Texas…and he’s still there 31 years later. Now my son Alec knows Eric since he’s going to the same college I did. Alec and I visited Eric not long ago and Eric told my son if he needed anything to come and see him directly, “I have a great amount of respect for your Father”, Eric told him, “If you need anything, my door is always open.” That meant a lot to me that he said that and remembered me in that way, just as much as Eric meant to me. I was lucky to have started with him.
Ian, a simple message to you. Quoted from MGM’s “The Wizard of Oz” when the Wizard gives the Tin Woodman his heart, “Remember my sentimental friend, that a heart is not judged by how much you love but by how much you are loved by others.”
Please take care of yourself Ian so we can all continue loving you.
Now to be Father of the Bride for a few days….
Peace all!
Congratulations Edward, and good luck with the all the father-of-the-bride-ing to come!
Your mention of ‘Kingdom Come’ reminded me of a largely overlooked Alan Moore book – Top Ten spinoff ‘The Forty-Niners’. A simple tale, lovingly drawn and beautifully watercoloured, blending early comics and post-WWII Americana. Worth a read.
Thanks for talking about musicals! I’m more familiar with them than with the comic book world. But occasionally they overlap, which is fun. I loved that scene in Hawkeye where his kids have dragged him out to see Rogers: The Musical! (There’s a video of the musical clips from that episode on YouTube your listeners can check out without having to sign up for Disney+.)
In The Sound of Music, I think Rolfe foreshadows his fascist tendencies by boy-splaining to Liesl, “You need someone older and wiser telling you what to do. I am seventeen going on eighteen. I’ll take care of you.” That’s dictator talk.
Fiddler on the Roof is still staged around the world and in different languages and by people of different ethnicities. I don’t think it will disappear from schools entirely as it has a large cast and family-friendly content. Ian is right that burlesque dancing doesn’t stop some high schools from doing shows like Cabaret, Gypsy, and Guys and Dolls. They’re set in historical periods, so I guess they count as educational. I was in two productions of Fiddler, one in summer school then another done by a community theatre company. Both casts had some Jewish performers but if they hadn’t, I’m sure the creators wouldn’t have minded as long as the productions were respectful and the rights to perform it were secured through official channels. No matter your ethnicity, all writers (or their estates) appreciate a good royalty cheque.
A place I loved that’s now gone was the old Vancouver Opera rehearsal hall. It was across the street from the bus depot on Dunsmuir Street (also gone). Its dance floor was large enough to rehearse shows destined for the stages of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre and Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park. I rehearsed No No Nanette and Kiss Me Kate there for Theatre Under the Stars so I remember it fondly.
Aside to Dave: the lyrics to the “Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle” clearly state that “Five passengers set sail that day.” You may doubt the competence of the fearless crew, but they didn’t lose anyone overboard.
Aside to Ed: I hope the marriage of your daughter went off WITH A hitch!