Author: mikeladano

Metal, hard rock, rock and roll! Record Store Tales & Reviews! Grab A Stack of Rock and more. Poking the bear since 2010.

#1131: Foxes & Fireworks: Five New Things This Weekend at the Lake

RECORD STORE TALES #1131: Foxes & Fireworks
Five New Things This Weekend at the Lake

After 52 years, it’s not always easy coming up with new experiences to have at the lake.  Sometimes it’s a fortuitous mixture of planning and luck.  I am always conscious  that every second at the lake counts.  Unfortunately, my energy isn’t what it was.  I don’t remember having so many naps back in those days.  I just remember going, and going, and going!  Gosh, when Peter Cavan used to come up to the cottage for a weekend, we’d go from one activity to another without taking a break.  We’d go from badminton to throwing around a football, to playing a video game to making a stir fry for dinner.  Then we’d be in the car to buy some fireworks.  We like it easier these days.

New thing #1:  Road tunes

Our weekend began on Thursday evening for the first spin of Arkells’ new album Disco Loadout Volume One on the road.  It was a singalong success from start to finish, but it only took us as far as Listowel.  For the rest of the trip, we played the Moody Blues Long Distance Voyager.  Another success.  It is always a pleasure to try new tunes for the road.  I am happy to report that both albums did very well, and voices were raised.

We settled in quickly for a quiet weekend.  Well, quiet for the moment.  I inaugurated the weekend with some Deep Purple on the porch.  This was done to celebrate Rock Daydream Nation’s excellent Deep Purple Stormbringer episode, which I was a part of.  The episode was well received and I had a blast doing it.  Of course, Friday night was Grab A Stack of Rock which I always love doing from the lake.  There’s only one issue with doing anything on the porch involving a computer.

As another hallmark of my increasing age, my back hurts plenty after a day of rocking out and a night of live streaming from the porch.  Writing?  Extremely difficult.  The deck chairs are very comfortable there, but only for leaning back.  For working with a keyboard and a screen, they are not so practical.  Not to mention, we just have these small glass deck tables to put my laptop on.  I’ve used a number of laptop stands, but none offered the height, position and stability that I needed to easy my aching back.  There must be a solution.  Enter:  Amazon.

New thing #2:  Amazon calling

I heard through the grapevine that Amazon were now delivering to the cottage, though sometimes they have problems finding the addresses.  Some of these places are not on GPS.  However, let’s give it a shot.  I picked a new desk that I thought would work on my front porch, and had it delivered straight to the cottage.

Much to my surprise, it worked!  The delivery truck backed into the driveway at 3:00 in the afternoon, and I went outside to find a cardboard box on the deck, waiting for me!

The game has changed.  With Amazon now offering next-day delivery to the cottage, imagine what things I will waste my money on when I’m bored!  When we were kids staving off boredom, we were limited to whatever toys and cassette tapes the local stores had to offer.  Not anymore!

Now, time to set up the desk!

New thing #3:  I have a desk on the front deck now

The desk was easy enough to assemble, though the included tools were no match for my dad’s ratcheting screwdriver.  It would have taken me an hour or more if I used the wimpy little screwdriver that came in the box.  Soon, I had my desk set up, and adjusted for maximum comfort.  The game has been changed.

I could spent all day typing now.  It was like I had my own little porch nook, surrounded by coffee, lego, potato chips and CDs.

With this new desk, I should be able to do more writing and more video editing than ever before.  If I want to!  That’s the key to remember.  The cottage is for relaxing.  I must remember to do what feels right, instead of pressuring myself to “produce”.  That said, it was great broadcasting Grab A Stack of Rock with such comfort.

I did want to produce a video short this weekend, and that was semi-successful.

New thing #4:  Slow-motion fireworks

My mom and dad left us some Roman candles from the May 24 long weekend.  Though not as practical as fountains, they would do for my attempt to get some slow motion video of fireworks.

The first one didn’t give me any footage.  The problem is the firework is mostly pauses between bursts of colour.  It’s hard to hit record at the exact right time to capture anything, and even at super slow-mo, it’s hard to get more than five seconds of footage.  Next time we’ll try a fountain, but for this experiment, I was able to get two videos up on Youtube.

I love it when a plan comes together!

The last new thing that happened was complete serendipity.

On the Saturday night, Jen and I went down to the beach after finishing our delicious ribeye steak dinner.  It was after sunset, but the glow of the sun lingers for hours, and you don’t need a flashlight at the beach during twilight.  I got up to have a pee in the bushes, and after doing my business, I sang a little song and turned around.  That’s what I saw him.

The fox was heading straight towards me.  He had a gait unlike a dog.  He was unmistakable.  With absolutely no fear of humans, he walked with intent right past both of us, and on down the beach.

New thing #5:  I finally captured the fox on camera

I’ve been trying for four years now, and I finally got him.  The pictures don’t do him justice, but you’re never expecting the fox until he’s right there in front of you.  I named this one Eric Caravello.

We didn’t even get into the Lego, the steaks, the fish fry!  That will eventually make it into the cottage video.

A wonderful weekend of firsts.  Maybe the next weekend will just be old favourites!

 

 

Rock Daydream Nation: Deep Purple – Stormbringer – Did this album push Blackmore to leave Purple?

I need to remember for fortunate I am.  Some time in 2023, I was approached by an Australian man named Peter Kerr to do a show on the Vinnie Vincent Invasion for his channel, Rock Daydream Nation.  He had seen me around on social media, and we hit it off immediately.  Meeting Peter has led to some of the best shows I’ve done, including a couple on Grab A Stack of Rock.  This week on Rock Daydream Nation, Peter and I went back to one of our core deep love bands:  the Purples.  Deep Purple Mk III in fact, and the sometimes maligned Stormbringer LP.

As per the deep dive format, we begin with first impressions.  Mine begin with a cheap cassette copy bought at Encore Records in Kitchener Ontario.  We then go track by track through the whole album, side A and side B.  By the time we offer our final thoughts, it is plenty obvious that we love Stormbringer.  Blackmore may have disliked the funk, but we like when he plays funky.  We touch on Rainbow,  Whitesnake and much more.

We drive into some Deep Purple history here, so grab a coffee and enjoy this deep dive!

That’s a Wrap: Top Five Albums After a Long Gap, with Metal Roger and John Clauser plus the Mad Metal Man!

A big thank you to Metal Roger for the topic, and thanks to John Clauser for an awesome show!  The topic tonight was Roger’s:  Top five albums after a long gap between.  There was no crossover on any of our lists.  I went mostly mainstream with my bands.  Clauser surprised us with a lot of bands I didn’t know, but were popular in the comments.  A nice Steve Augeri band too! Metal Roger did industrial, metal, and beardliness.

My list is below, and included two Japanese imports and a couple of special editions with DVDs.

At the end of the day, the mighty Harrison Kopp the Mad Metal Man himself turned up with a list of his own, which surprisingly lacked any Blaze Bayley.  A huge thanks to Harrison for coming on last night.

Tune in next week for the Battle of ’84 with Pete Jones:  Defenders of the Faith vs. Powerslave!

I cheated.

TIE

KISS – Sonic Boom (2009) – 11 year gap from 1998’s Psycho-Circus

Van Halen – A Different Kind of Truth (2012) – 14 year gap from 1998’s Van Halen III (8 year gap from 2004’s Best of Both Worlds)

Faith No More – Sol Invictus (2015) – 18 year gap from 1997’s Album of the Year

Deep Purple – Perfect Strangers (1984) – 9 year gap from 1975’s Come Taste the Band

Styx – The Mission (2018) – 15 year gap from 2003’s Cyclorama (13 year gap from 2005’s Big Bang Theory)

Extreme – Six (2023) – 15 year gap from 2008’s Saudades de Rock

Top Five Albums After a Long Gap, with Metal Roger and John Clauser

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
Episode 61: Top Five Albums After a Long Gap, with Metal Roger and John Clauser

‘Twas Metal Roger who suggested this week’s topic.  What are our Top Five Albums after a Long Gap?  Well, Chinese Democracy is an obvious example, but there are many more, ecpecially from the last decade or two.  It took 24 years for The Who to release a new album (Endless Wire) and then another 13 years to release the followup Who.  For the sake of this exercise, we are arbitrarily saying at minimum, at least a five year wait to qualify an album for this list.

Joining us will be Johnny Clauser from My Music Corner, which is doubly good since Roger has no physical product to show off for his picks!  (Come on, Roger!)  I have eight picks and have to narrow it down to five, which I will probably do at the last minute.

This will also be John and Roger’s first shows at the cottage.  We hope for clear weather and chipmunks!  Join us live in the comments.  We love to talk to the audience!

 

Friday May 31 at 8:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 9:00 P.M. Atlantic.   Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!

MOVIE REVIEW: Role Models (2009)

ROLE MODELS (2009, 99 minutes, Paul Rudd, Seann William Scott)

Directed by David Wain

All those “bro” movies are from the same mold, aren’t they?  They still make them too, variations on a theme.  The same general plotline always applies:  there’s a pair of funny but crude friends, who have a love/hate thing going on.  There’s a girlfriend (or fiance), usually a professional of some kind, to win or win back.  There are usually dick and fart jokes.

Role Models is all this, so I won’t go and tell you that it’s different from Knocked Up, Superbad, or Mr. Woodcock in any significant way.

Except one way.

.

Role Models is a love letter to the Hottest Band in the Land.  One of the writers clearly loves them, and knew how to make that funny.

In one of the earliest scenes, Scott throws Love Gun into the car tape deck.  “Kiss?  Nobody likes Kiss.  Paul Stanley is sick of Kiss,” says Rudd.  Yet, the song “Love Gun” is a recurring motif in Role Models.

Here’s the plot in a nutshell:  Two guys work for an energy drink company called Minotaur (think Red Bull, but in gross green).  Their job entails doing presentations to kids in highschool to stay off drugs, and drink Minotaur instead.  (“We’re selling nuclear horse piss to kids” – Rudd.)  One day it all goes wrong for Rudd and his girlfriend Beth (get it?  See where this is going?), played by Elizabeth Banks.  Rudd goes a little nuts at a presentation, and his giant minotaur truck ends up mounting a horse statue in the school yard.

Luckily, Beth is a lawyer and cuts Rudd and Scott a deal with the judge (without the two even having to appear before him, how convenient for a 99 minute movie).  They have to volunteer with “Sturdy Wings”; sort of like a big brothers program.  They each have to mentor a child for a set number of hours.  The program, run by a hilarious Jane Lynch, is only mildly creepy.

As the two protagonists get to know their assigned “littles”, Scott teaches his new friend about Kiss.  “These guys look like clowns,” says lil’ Ronnie.  Scott explains that they’re not, they’re actually really rich Jewish guys, and all their songs are about fucking!  This interests his young friend, who then starts dancing to “Love Gun”.

“You pull the trigger of my…Love Guuuuuuuuuun!” goes the familiar song.

“See Ronnie?  His dick is the gun!” explains Scott helpfully.

Meanwhile, Paul Rudd’s little buddy Augie is played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse (known to you as McLovin).  Augie loves fantasy role playing (LARPing), and takes Rudd to a battle.  Rudd is not impressed (“I just spent the afternoon with Gleep-Glopp and the Floop-dee-doos”), but decides to help Augie when he needs battle companions.  There’s a memorable camping trip that ends with a naked Seann William Scott, but it’s balanced out by Wings jokes (including a fake Wings song called “Love Take Me Down to the Streets”).

Without spoiling the epic ending (complete with a sword battle, a siege, and  Ken Jeong), except to say that before credits role, you will hear at least two more Kiss songs, and see the four main characters dressed in Kiss makeup and battle armor.  No explanation is given for how the quartet threw the armor together in a mere afternoon, but details do not matter in a film like this.  Prepare for a climax that finishes the movie on a hilarious note.

Other great talents in this movie included Joe Lo Truglio and Ken Marino, so check it out if that sounds like your kinda thing.  And especially if you’re a Kiss fan.

4/5 stars

2/5 stars for non-Kiss fans

#1130: If I Had A Million Dollars? A Top Five List

RECORD STORE TALES #1130: If I Had A Million Dollars? A Top Five List

 

If I had a million dollarsWell, I’d buy you a fur coatBut not a real fur coat, that’s cruelAnd if I had a million dollarsIf I had a million dollarsWell, I’d buy you an exotic petYep, like a llama or an emu

 

Fur coats?  Exotic pets?  No thank you!  If I had a million dollars, I’ll tell ya exactly what I’d buy!

 

1. AV Designhaus Derenville VPM 2010-1

There goes half my money in one shot ($650,000)!  What do I get for my money? A belt-driven turntable on a Corian chassis, that rests on four feet that are supported and balanced through an air suspension system. Has an ethernet connection, and a HD-TV camera that monitors the diamond stylus.  Why?  To watch it on a high resolution monitor and make necessary adjustments. It would probably take two engineers to set up and test; I certainly couldn’t do it myself!  I doubt there is much you could do to improve the sound of a vinyl record that this turntable doesn’t already have packed in.

2. Vintage 1982 Nakamichi Dragon 3 Head Autoreverse Cassette Recorder

This one will cost me another $10,000 Canadian, but some consider it the Rolls Royce of tape decks. If you ever wanted to make a tape sound almost as good as a CD, this is the way to do it. It requires tuning, maintenance, and knowledge. But money is no object in this exercise, so why not? Dare I say why not? It’s a sleek, beautiful looking beast of 80s esthetics.  Just look at all those buttons and LEDs!  Might be more work than it’s worth, but the sound you can get from a high-quality blank tape and this machine are better than what my ears can discern anyway.

3. PS Audio FR30 speakers

$40,000 for the pair. Then I’d need the amplifiers and Paul McGowan himself to set it all up.  I’d also need to move into a bigger house.  They require a large, neutral listening space.  Which I’d like to have anyway!  By all accounts, these speakers (when set up correctly) provide a very real sounding experience, as if you’re in the room with the musicians.  The low end is supposedly amazing, aided by eight passive radiators.  Plus, don’t they just look gorgeous?

4. Iron Maiden – Best of the Beast vinyl (1996)

Needed for just a handful of tracks!  A live version of “Revelations”, and technically the Soundhouse Tapes EP.  In the condition I want it, it’ll cost me upwards of $1000.  Wish I bought it for $300 new when I had the chance back in 1997.  It’ll sound as good as CD, over my new AV Designhaus Derenville VPM turntable and PS Audio speakers!

5. Marantz SA-10

May as well grab a new CD transport while I’m at it!  This Super Audio player boasts a high-end DAC, and will play files from FLAC to MP3 via a USB stick.  It won’t connect easily with your iPhone, which means nothing to me anyway.  I’ve always wanted a Super Audio player, so why not go with the best?   This will set me back about a grand, and I’ll probably never use most of its features.  But that’s what dreaming is all about!

There you go.  500 words on what I could do with a spare million bucks just kicking around.  What would you buy?  Keep it fun – this is a fantasy exercise, so no need for serious answers.  Drop your comment below!

 

REVIEW: The Beaches – Blame My Ex (2024)

THE BEACHES – Blame My Ex (2024 FACTOR)

By now, everyone has heard the anthem “Blame Brett”, a song named for Jordan Miller’s ex, Brett Emmons of the Glorious Sons.   While we don’t have Brett’s side of the story, from Jordan’s POV, the relationship is to blame for the following “wild” phase.  “So sorry in advance, before you take off you pants, I wouldn’t let me near your friends, I wouldn’t let me near your dad.”  This exceptional single has been an earworm all year, and the band are now reaping the rewards with international touring and an appearance on Kimmel.  “Don’t blame me, blame Brett!” has become a rally cry.

“What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Paranoid” boasts a strong chorus, wicked fuzzy guitars and delectable melodies served on a plate of a great beat and fun lyrics.  “I think I’m becoming a conspiracy theorist…everyone says that love exists, but I think that it’s a myth.”  A great song that screams hit potential.

“Me & Me” plays with tempo, and goes for the accelerator with an 80s sound, and great shouted backing vocals.  One of the strengths of this band is the vocalizing by the band, making it a party atmosphere.  The party continues with “Everything is Boring” and its “ah, ah” vocals.  “Doctor please, just pill me,” sings Jordan Miller to the ADD generation.  The pace slows down on “My Body Ft. Your Lips”, a playful title.  This is a duet with an American band called Beach Weather, and the female/male vocal lines work really well.  Though it takes a minute to catch, this is a great soft, slow burner.

“Kismet” has a speak-sing style on the verses, before the chorus bursts out in exuberant upbeat excitement.  The choruses are great, with a disco flavour and a quick beat, but the verses take some getting used to.  Moving on, “Shower Beer” is a great title.  You may have heard of the concept of drinking a beer in the shower.  “I’ve got fear of missing out, I wanna get drunk and sit up, I need to be talked about,” sings Jordan Miller.

“Edge of the Earth” has proven to be a success for the band, and you can hear why.  This ballad with a beat has passionate vocals, amazing melodies and harmonies, and the right vibe for a summer cruising hit.  That’s followed by a mid-tempo number with acoustic undertones called “If A Tree Falls”, which has nothing to do with the Bruce Cockburn song of the same name.  This is a really pretty pop rocker with a nice little guitar solo that is played for vibe.  The album goes back to high-speed pop rock on the closer “Cigarette”.  “I wanna be your cigarette,” squeals Jordan Miller, on one of the album’s most fun tunes.

Here’s the big problem with this CD.  Two, in fact:

  1. Difficulty to purchase.  The only way I could get this CD was at a show (sold out) or on their website ($15 shipping).
  2. No booklet, no credits, no nothing.  Only the song titles are listed on the back, not even the band members!

This album should be in every store.  It’s a hit waiting to happen.

4.5/5 stars

#1129: Summer’s Here and the Time Is Right

Last summer was different.  I felt like I had something to prove.  I lost the co-host that was responsible for the lion’s share of my views, and I wanted to pivot back to music.  Grab A Stack of Rock was envisioned as an “easy” show, where I didn’t have to do any prep or homework.  I was ready to work hard again and I think we did that.  We brought back lists and deep dives and the show was so much better for it.

This year is a little different in another way, which is my old co-hosts are occupied.  Harrison is busy focusing on his health.  Other co-hosts have their own shows now.  Others still are focusing on family.  I can’t blame them for that.  In a way, my show has been a bit like the Alice Cooper backing band.  Just as he launched the careers of Kip Winger and many more, my show has launched others into the Youtube-sphere.  That show out of Thunder Bay Ontario wouldn’t exist without my rocket boosters.  With that in mind, I think this summer will be something of a slowdown.

This week we’re back at the cottage with John Clauser and Metal Roger.  It’ll be their first cottage show.

What will the summer bring?  Fewer shows perhaps, but Grab A Stack of Rock will still continue, perhaps with a few different faces that we didn’t have last summer.  Some familiar ones as well.  Grant from the Rock Warehaus wants to hang out on the front porch again this summer.  I’m also thinking of doing a midnight outdoors show.  We’ll see what the summer has in store, but one thing I don’t need to do is prove anything to anyone.  We did that last year and we’re better off for it.

#1128: Evil Kirk

RECORD STORE TALES #1128: Evil Kirk

It seems like a lifetime ago, that I co-wrote and recorded the only song I’m on that has ever been officially released. On August 6 2010, I sat down at my computer and wrote the lyrics to what would become one of the strangest songs on Kathryn Ladano’s CD, Open.  And yes, you can buy it on iTunes or on compact disc.  Just search for Ladano!

Kathryn performs mostly improvised instrumental music, and “Evil Kirk” was to be the only spoken word piece on the album.  I had been bugging her for a while to appear on one of her albums, but considering that I’m not a very good singer, and she doesn’t use vocals, it seemed all but impossible.  I had thrown around an idea of doing an “Optimus Prime Trilogy” – the life, death, life, death, life, and final death of the Marvel Comics version of the character.  This didn’t click with her, but eventually she thought of doing something about Captain Kirk.  “Evil Kirk” refers to the original Star Trek episide “The Enemy Within”, in which a transporter accident splits Kirk into good and evil halves.  Kathryn loved the episode (probably because there was an alien puppy dog with a horn and antennae), and she really loved William Shatner’s hilariously overwrought performance.

We had an idea of doing the lyrics as a rough series of favourite Kirk quotes.  We’d avoid the obvious stuff like “Khaaaaaaan!” and focus on some of our personal favourites.  On a personal level, I wanted to honour all eras of Kirk to date, which meant the Chris Pine movies too.  Today, Paul Wesley plays an excellent modern take on the character in Strange New Worlds, but when we recorded “Evil Kirk”, Chris Pine was the guy.

We did four takes.  I present to you the lyrics to “Evil Kirk” as they appear in my notes, with notations on the origins of each Kirk quote.  This is not exactly word for word how it went on the album, but how I wrote it initially.  Minor changes are a part of improvisation!

 

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
Message, Spock?

The Wrath of Khan takes place on Kirk’s birthday.  Spock gifts his friend an ancient printed book of A Tale of Two Cities.  “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” is Kirk reading the opening sentence of the novel.  He then asks Spock if there was a hidden meaning to this gift.  None except “happy birthday, surely the best of times.”  But Kirk is not happy getting old and fat behind a desk.  This theme of aging runs through the film.

Of all the souls I have known
His was the most
Human.

I truly believe that Spock’s funeral scene in The Wrath of Khan is some of Shatner’s very best emoting in his long career.  This line comes from his eulogy for his best friend.  When he stumbles and pauses before the word “human”, you can feel the grief as if it were real.  The way his face wrenches up before he says the word…I admit it brings tears to my eyes!

No more blah, blah!

From season one, episode eight:  “Miri”.  A planet of children frustrates Kirk with their chanting of “blah, blah, blah!”  In a rage, Kirk responds “NO MORE BLAH BLAH BLAH!”  I shortened it to “blah blah” because that’s the way it sounded to me.  This is sort of a recurring chorus.

Did I ever tell you, you play an irritating game of chess, Mr. Spock?

From the second pilot episode, “Where No Man Has Gone Before”.  In order to introduce the characters to the TV audience, Spock’s logical side is showcased here.  “Irritation?  Ah yes, one of your Earth emotions,” says Spock before Kirk checkmates him.  “Sure you don’t know what irritation is, Mr. Spock?” smiles Kirk.

So why don’t you get some more guys and it’ll be an even fight.

The first Chris Pine line in the song.  This is from the 2009 Star Trek movie, when a civilian Kirk gets into a bar fight with some Starfleet personnel.

You can whistle really loud, you know that?

Same scene, same movie.  This is when Captain Pike breaks up the brawl and sits Kirk down for a little chat about his future.

No more blah,blah!  

Of all things, a god needs compassion.

From the second pilot episode again.  Kirk’s closest friend since the Academy, Gary Mitchell, has acquired god-like powers.  As he goes slowly mad with power, Kirk reminds him of the fundamentals of godhoood.

What does God need with a starship?

From the much-maligned fifth Trek movie, directed by Shatner himself.  The USS Enterprise goes to find “God” at the center of our galaxy.  The “god” requests the Enterprise to be his chariot.  The charade doesn’t last, as Kirk questions him why a god would need a starship.

Our missions are peaceful…not for conquest.

Season one, episode 18:  One of our favourite episodes, “Arena”.  Known to casual fans as “the one with the Gorn”, Kirk is sent down by the Metrons to do hand to hand combat with an alien lizard.  You can bet, his shirt gets torn.

Worlds are conquered, galaxies destroyed…but a woman is always a woman.

A great line right out of the 1960s, from season one, episode 13:  “The Conscience of the King”.  Known as “the one with Kodos the Executioner”.   This line is regarding Kodos’ beautiful daughter.   Not a personal favourite episode, just a great line.

No more blah, blah!

Take me back! Please! I want to live!
I’m Captain Kirk… I’M CAPTAIN KIRK!

Also from “The Enemy Within”.  The only way to fix the split good/evil Kirk problem is to re-combine them.  Yet, the evil one doesn’t want that.  He wants to live!  This is a moral quandary that Star Trek would revisit again in episodes like “Tuvix”.  A harrowing performance, if campy.

Yeoman, I owe you an explanation…The transporter malfunctioned, divided me, created a duplicate…The animal part of me came to your cabin…He even scratched me to make us look more alike…I’d like the chance to explain it to you…You don’t mind if I come to your cabin later?

A great line from “The Enemy Within”, as Evil Kirk tries to seduce Janice Rand, played by Grace Lee Whitney in season one of the show.   The Evil Kirk is lying of course.  He is up to no good!

No more blah,blah!

Second star to the right…and straight on ’til morning.

From Peter Pan, but also from Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (“the one with Kim Cattrall”).  On the Enterprise-A’s final voyage, they are ordered to return home for decommissioning.  Kirk and crew decide to tell Starfleet to “go to hell”.  When asked for course and heading, Kirk responds with the Peter Pan line.  This is also something of a throwback to the ending of the very first Star Trek motion picture.  When asked for a course, Kirk responds, “Over there…thataway.”

Everybody remember where we parked.

A funny line from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.  The crew park a cloaked Klingon Bird of Prey in the middle of a park in Los Angeles, circa 1986.  The film might be better known as “the one with the whales”.

How we deal with death is at least as important as how we deal with life.

Kirk’s line of wisdom to Saavik, played by Kirstie Alley, in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.  When she fails the Kobayashi Maru test, a no-win scenario, Saavik questions the purpose of a test where everyone dies, in every possible situation.

If Spock were here, he’d say that I was an irrational, illogical human being for going on a mission like this…
Sounds like fun!

I felt I had to be inclusive, and I couldn’t ignore Kirk’s only appearance in a Next Generation-era project.  Star Trek: Generations (“the one where Kirk dies”) is derided by many fans for a swirly-wirly timey-wimey plot and some continuity issues, which we will get to.  This line here is a fan-service reference to Spock, when Picard offers Kirk one more chance to “make a difference”.

No more blah,blah!

I’ve always known…I’ll die alone.

Speaking of continuity, this line from Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (“the one where they meet God”) is a problem.  When Kirk eventually dies, Picard is by his side.  Fans have ret-conned this to mean that Kirk knew he would die without any of his friends.

What is a Man, but that… lofty spirit… that sense of, Enterprise! That devotion to something that cannot be Sensed… cannot be… Realized, but only… DREAMED! The HIGHEST Reality!

Season two, episode eight:  “I, Mudd!”  The second of several appearances for Harcourt Fenton Mudd, delightful rogue and scammer.  Played by Roger C. Carmel in the original and animated series, Mudd was later portrayed by Rainn Wilson in Star Trek: Discovery and Short Treks.  In “I, Mudd”, a planet of human-like androids is the scene for a comedic Trek.  Kirk’s line here is about what it means to be human, a common theme in all of Star Trek.

It was…fun.

Kirk’s final line of dialogue to Picard, before he dies in Generations.  Fans actually cheered his death in theaters.  That’s when Paramount knew their movie was in serious trouble.

KHAN!

OK, so I did use the line initially, but during the performance, we knew it wasn’t right.  Ending it with “It was…fun” made more sense.

And that’s “Evil Kirk” for you, line by line.  I wish I could do just one more take of it, as I think I have better control of my voice now, but I think the final version is pretty good.

 

Grant’s Rock Warehaus: Skid Row – A Career Retrospective [VIDEO]

Park Avenue leads to…SKID ROW!  But Skid Row leads to Grant’s Rock Warehaus!

This week on Grant’s Rock Warehaus, we talk about a band that Grant has been digging seriously for the last several weeks, ever since seeing former singer Sebastian Bach on an 80’s cruise.  We don’t talk just Bach.  We tackle the Johnny Solinger years, the unfortunate tale of Erik Grönwall’s short stint, and of course, current lead singer Lzzy Hale.  Take a look at my Skid Row collection, including The Atlantic Years box set (unboxing!), my original 1991 vinyl of Slave to the Grind, my Japanese Best of Skid Row, and a rare promo single from 1995.

Grant and I tried to cover as much ground as possible.  Album artwork is discussed, and a few underdog records are praised.  I tried to highlight what I think are some incredible and underrated ballads that might be forgotten in the shadow of “I Remember You”.  We shone a light on the talent of all the members, and questioned what they could have done differently through their career.  Leading to the present day, we have some suggestions for Skid Row about their future and reissues we want to see happen.

It’s all here, on Grant’s Rock Warehaus with your host, Grant Arthur!