Ferrell, Best Coast and Pike Place Market ghosts

Some summer movies are so slight, so marginally interesting, that I'm always left wondering why I bothered.  Such is very much the case with "The Other Guys" which I saw earlier this week as an escape from the playdates and home projects that fill the days until kindergarten gets us back on a regular schedule.  Straight up, my rating is a slightly pissy D.  Will Ferrell plays himself barely testing the limits with his overworn charm.  Mark Wahlberg and a cast of sleepwalkers yuck it up.  Only Michael Keaton made me feel anything like good about what goes on here.  I'm still a big fan of his particular charms, even though he looks like he's been shriveling up at the bottom of a bottle of tequila for the last decade.  The larger point being this movie makes me hate my instinct (or is it learned behavior?) to play catch up on movies that have been in theatres for a handful of weeks.  If you're not inspired, don't force it.  That, in effect, could have been the tagline of this movie.  Rent it.

One new album that I dig while struggling to explain exactly why is Best Coast's "Crazy for You".  The same things get said about them repeatedly.  Lo-fi.  Surf rock.  Indie.  But the standard breakdown's as lazy sounding as a first listen of the album.  I think the appeal is broader.  Start an arc from Nancy Sinatra connected all the way through a fuzzy Karen Carpenter up all the way through Sleater-Kinney to the current flavor of hipster female ennui and you've got the sound that's being repeated here.  I like that sound.  It's a bit haunting.  Echoey.  More than a bit pretentious.  If you could boil down the sound of a band practicing some songs on their porch without amps a spleef's throw away from the ocean, you'd have Best Coast and the handful of hooks on this album.  An album I very much recommend.  My rating's a solid B.  Bring it on your next road trip and I'll bet y'all a round of In-N-Out burgers that it will get replayed often enough to stick.

Finally, a very strange Seattle touristy mention.  Not a recommendation in its current form, by any means.  But something worth pointing out in hopes that it will get serious about entertaining people in the future.  Almost everyone that comes through Seattle makes it to the Pike Place Market.  As they should.  And I think that anyone living here would love to avail themselves of opportunities to get to know the Market better.  I tried to do so last night, cashing in a Groupon for a half-price tour with the Market Ghost Tour.  For those familiar with the competition, I'd say it's about half as interesting as the Underground Tour around Pioneer Square (I took it years ago and remember it was half a hoot).  But I in no way begrudge the Ghost Tour folks for the effort - I love public theatre, no matter the form.  I merely suggest that they seriously step it up a notch.  I was the only local amidst a sold-out tour group of what the guide said would be 20 (it wasn't).  What did we do?  Not much.  We walked a few blocks worth of the Market and got some stories that didn't really stick.  I challenge the Ghost Tour to at the very least make some compelling stuff up.  Deliver it with verve.  Tourists will swallow it whole.  The coolest thing by far was seeing that a ballsy attitude can mean you're let loose inside the Market after the producers have packed up for the day.  But otherwise, my rating is an encouraging D.  With a smile and a friendly handshake.  You'd be better off spending $15 at Kell's or The Alibi Room and chatting up a Irish drunk or a trannie.  Or better yet, both.

Hope your own scattershot entertainment hits the mark today.  Rock on. 

Say "hi" to your mother for me

With the Olympics winding down, I'm glad that I was reminded early this morning of one overriding principle that this quadrennial event promotes.  Hot people getting seriously busy with one another.  I applaud the fact that 100K condoms are handed out in the Olympic Village.  These athletes, after all, are in tip top condition and the finest physical specimens that their respective countries have to offer.  Not to mention that everyone in a northern global position this time of year innately seeks to share body heat, even if Vancouver is currently warmer than Dallas.  I was reminded by the replay of yesterday's ice dancing competition, as seen in replay form as I stretched before a run this morning.  The Canadian gold medal pair of Whatshisname Again and the virginal Tessa Virtue, especially.  Tessa Virtue, for the sake of Pete.  Followed by the Russian pair of Skanky Bonkski and Vigor Meshovits.  Or whatever their names are.  Regardless, thank you ice dancers of the world for putting some heat back on the ice.  Even if it's sibling heat, which is basically just wrong.  Except (apparently) in either Israel or New Jersey.

A few quickie reviews.  The new album by Hot Chip ("One Life Stand") has been in constant rotation for the past week in my brain.  Very throwback to 80s sounding clever pop, very hard not to get hooked on.  In a month I may never listen to this album again.  But for now, I give it a solid B rating.

The new HBO series "How To Make It In America" is a load of utter cast off runway trash.  Lindsey Lohan's label created more buzz.  I want this show canceled, and Mark Wahlberg should go back to underwear ads after producing this dreck.  My rating - a flat D-minus.  I'm only not pulling the F-rating out of storage because of Tessa Virtue.  But I'm not sure why.

Hope you say find another tagline to hang on Marky Mark that sticks like glue today.  Rock on.

If Ronald Reagan ever said "I screwed up" to Johnny Carson, do you really think he'd have had a career thereafter...

Two quickies.

John McCain on Letterman last night was an absolute clinic in how a glib politician trying to redirect his public persona can be made to look like an absolute boob. Dave earned even more respect from me than ever before by not allowing his questions to be steam-rolled by crappy talking points.

Maya has a new favorite video. If you missed the "Mark Wahlberg Talks to Animals" skit from "Saturday Night Live" you missed a moment of hilarity that speaks for itself. Spot on impression, utter inanity, and cute animals - what's not to love? But even as this stupid clip gets more and more play, Maya cannot get enough. Every day - "can we watch that guy talk to the animals?" Every day - "yes, sweetie." Yet with all the repeated viewings...it's still funny.

Hope your own comedy routine before a white-tie crowd allows you to make a Superman joke today. Rock on.