Neil Innes, Unsung Comedy Hero

I just re-acquired two old records that I'd lent to someone a long time ago, both by a group called The Bonzo Dog Band. The name probably means nothing to most Americans, but I went to a lot of trouble to find these records in the first place. Why? Because one of the core members of the band was a guy named Neil Innes. If that still doesn't ring a bell, Neil was the guy who at least partially wrote the funny songs in the movie "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", which is an obscure little film that most people who'd read this blog may have seen once or twice (probably more like two or three hundred times). Neil appears in the film as Sir Robin's lead minstrel, singing the song about Sir Robin bravely running away.

Paul McCartney and George Harrison were known fans of the Bonzo Dog Band, with Paul producing a song for them ("I'm the Urban Spaceman", under the pseudonym Apollo C. Vermouth).

Neil was also involved with a TV movie called "The Rutles" which was a Beatles parody involving members of Monty Python and the original cast of Saturday Night Live. It was a ratings catastrophe for NBC in spite of the quality cast, probably because you had to know a fair amount about the Beatles in the first place to get some of the jokes. The music demonstrates impressive understanding of what made the Beatles distinctive. If some of the lines weren't so damn funny, you'd think some of the songs were actual lost Beatles tracks.

Fans of Pythonesque humor will probably find it worthwhile to track down anything recorded by the Bonzo Dog Band or the Rutles (though the Bonzos 40's/50's era style is probably funnier, overall). My personal Bonzo favorites are "Hunting Tigers Out in Indiah" and "Canyons of Your Mind", which I guarantee contains the worst guitar solo you'll ever hear in your life. You'll hurt yourself laughing even as you cringe. "Mr. Apollo" is great for those of us old enough to remember the Charles Atlas ads in comic books. "I'm the Urban Spaceman" is good, if not especially funny.

Now I just need to find a way to get these records into a more modern format so I can play them in the car. Any suggestions as to how to do that would be appreciated.

More Movies

We just rented the American remake of "Pulse". Meh. I hope the Japanese original was better. Kristen Bell sure is cute, though, in a generic sort of way, and gives the only performance that's even marginally interesting.

I was going to write a more detailed review, but this movie doesn't deserve it. I'll just say that there are a couple of cool shots, but it's not worth sitting through an entire film to see them. Everything else is just blah. It's a three on a scale of 1-10.

"Pan's Labyrinth" was better, though I can't see how this movie won awards. I couldn't tell you what exactly I think is wrong with it, because it's not so much that there was something wrong with it as that it just didn't connect with me.

Predictability was a problem. The only character I cared the least bit about was Mercedes, and I suspect that was because she was the only character with a real question about what was going to happen to her. I knew what was going to happen for every other character within the first five seconds they were on screen.

The fantasy sequences were sufficiently fun, especially the one with the Pale Man (the one with eyes in his hands), though I wouldn't recommend sitting through an entire movie to see them.

The real world parts of the film were more engaging to me, even if the results were predictable. The performances were fine, if not exceptional. I'd still give this movie only a five out of ten, and wouldn't recommend it unless you think you'd really enjoy the fantasy sequences.

Happy Father's Day!

First of all, a Happy Father's Day to my father, with whom I share a love of games, a fairly sociable nature, and (increasingly) a hairline. Thanks for teaching me chess, which was one of the main things that started my involvement with games. Our taste in games rarely matches, but the game gene seems to be there in general, and is lasting a lifetime. My wife has often stated that much of what she loves about me comes from my father. Thanks for your contributions to my sense of humor, which I'm sure is one of those things.

Thanks to my father-in-law, who embraced my relationship with his daughter wholeheartedly. He's been there for us in many tough situations. He's been my Sunday football buddy for the last couple of years. Now if only I could get him to teach me a few of his poker tricks...

Thanks to my former sensei Ralph Jenkins, who was a spiritual father to me, whether he realized it or not. It was the eastern spirituality that came with my martial arts teaching that has taken me down an especially useful path, not to mention the benefits of good physical conditioning during my younger years.

And thanks to my stepfather, who married my mother after I'd left home. He allowed me to stay in his home for a couple of months during the lowest point of my life when he could've said "no". I don't think we ever understood each other at all, but he made my mother happy during their years together and we eventually learned to co-exist.

"Mama Falls Out"

I just returned from a funeral in South Carolina. My mother picked up an interesting slice of local culture along the way. She was talking to her friend Denise about funerals, and Denise was explaining why she didn't like to go to funerals with her mother anymore. "Mama falls out", she explained.

"Falls out of what?", asked my mother.

Denise laughed and went on to explain that in her particular Southern subculture, some people go into spectacular displays of grief at funerals, to the point of literally falling on the floor crying and sobbing. This is called "falling out". Apparently it's not unusual there for at least one or two people to do that at each funeral.

Everywhere you go, people do things a little differently, and this is consistently fascinating to me.