TRAILER PARK BOYS – The Complete Sixth Season (2006 Alliance Atlantis)
Season 6 of Trailer Park Boys, that Canadian “mockumentary” program about three lovable ex-cons who can’t stay out of trouble, shall forever be remembered for two simple words:
“Piss jugs”.
Yes, piss jugs. Seems that Ricky’s father Ray (Barrie Dunn) is still living in his old truck cab, and can’t break the old trucker habit of peeing in jugs. “Way of the road boys,” he says, even though his truck cab doesn’t move an inch.
Piss jugs of varying hues of yellow and orange inhabit every episode of the brief but hilarious season 6. There are only six episodes once again, but five of those six are classic. (The only one I didn’t enjoy as much was “Where in the Fuck is Oscar Goldman”.)
As for this season’s story arc: Randy has finally dumped Mr. Lahey for his out of control drinking. Randy then finds a new love in a surprising place, while Lahey straightens himself out. But now he pretends to be drunk, to ensnare Ricky, Julian and Bubbles. His plan? Send them back to prison again, of course. His logic is that if the Boys see him constantly blasted out of his tree, their guard will be down. It will be easier to catch them committing crimes, which is an inevitability. In the meantime, the Boys have started some businesses of their own: “Kittyland Lovecenter” for Bubs, “Garbageland” for Ricky (basically selling stolen goods and garbage), and “Cory and Trevor’s Convenients Store”.
Things get fucky by the fifth (and best) episode: “Halloween 1977”. Seems Halloween of ’77 was the night that Lahey got fired from the police force, kicking off his drinking problem. And he’s just found an old home movie from that night, proving he did nothing wrong and didn’t deserve to be kicked off the force. I’m sure it won’t surprise you that very young versions of Ricky, Julian and Bubbles may have had something to do with it.
Season 6 is more of what you love about Trailer Park Boys. After the somewhat darker Season 5, the 6th season takes you back to a more familiar setting. In a way, this season was treading water a bit, with many familiar story elements returning (Lahey quitting drinking, Randy leaving him again). By the end of the season however, things have been drastically shaken up, which will lead right into Season 7. Stay tuned….
TRAILER PARK BOYS – The Complete Fifth Season (2005 Alliance Atlantis)
Just when they made enough money to buy the park and retire for life, Ricky, Julian and Bubbles are in for some nasty surprises in Season 5. Yes, the boys are down on their luck a bit in season 5, but it is no less funny or well written than the rest of the series.
Corey and Trevor, as revealed at the end of Season 4, ripped off the boys. Freshly released from jail and expecting to be rich beyond dreams of avarice, Ricky’s none too happy about the double-cross. Worse, it doesn’t take long for them to end up homeless. And if that wasn’t enough, Cyrus is back in town. And he’s sitting on a lot of hash that is just too tempting to Julian.
New characters include Terry & Dennis or “the flappy bird brothers”, according to Bubbles, due to their, errr…birds hanging out of their bathrobes all the time. Terry & Dennis have teamed up with Cyrus, and now the boys have three foes to deal with. If that wasn’t enough, Lahey’s drunker than ever. This time he doesn’t want Ricky to go back to jail — he wants Ricky dead.
Like previous seasons, Season 5 is loaded with hilarious dialogue and absurd situations. The ever quotable Ricky has almost been topped by his dad, Ray, who plays a bigger role than ever. As Ray might say, “that’s the way she fucking goes, boys.” Which is pretty much the theme of this season. You win some, you lose some. The way she fuckiing goes.
“Holy fuck! A space suit! Dee-cent!”
My favourite moment is in the episode called “Jim Lahey Is A Fuckin’ Drunk And He Always Will Be”. In this one, Bubbles gets a toy rocket, and the boys try to cheer him up by playing “space”. Didn’t you place “space” when you were kids? I know you did! Maybe without the space weed, but still.
Clocking in at a generous 10 episodes (which is the most ever for a season of TPB…so far), Season 5 adds lots of new wrinkles. Some fans didn’t like the way season 5 went, and my response to that is that if you don’t change up the formula on a show like this, your show is doomed to jump the shark. Instead, Mike Clattenburg and Co. have chosen to make things less comfortable for the boys and see how things pan out. Funnier than ever, is how!
Five stars, as always. Not a dud episode in the bunch, and actually some of the series’ best.
First up to bat, my good buddy Aaron, (who as you all know loooooooves Mastodon) decided to rectify the situation that I didn’t yet have their latest album Once More ‘Round the Sun. Which I can tell you, is awesome. Mastodon have a lot of what I liked best in metal, and this album lives up to the hype. I’m really into track 6, “Asleep in the Deep”, which has a very cool chiming Voivod-esque riff.
Proceedings got off to an unofficial start yesterday at noon. We do a monthly lunch out at work regularly, and this one fell on the Friday before my birthday. My co-workers bought me lunch at Beertown, which was very very good. Above, some beer & cheddar soup, as well as some lovely truffled sweet potato fries. I also had some battered calimari.
Jen and her mom always gets me the best T-shirts. Above, two Big Bang Theory T’s, the infamous Walter White, and a spiffy Led Zeppelin swearshirt that will definitely be worn to next year’s Sausagefest.
They also bought me Transformers. FansToys are making some absolutely astounding G1 Masterpiece-class Dinobots right now. Scoria aka Slag is a beautiful, heavy figure. He looks great next to MP Grimlock and MP Prime. If you like Grimlock, you will love this figure. Thank you to Jen’s mom for this amazing figure. I will definitely be getting Swoop. Jen also got me the new Generations Skrapnel/Shrapnel and Reflector, which I also like a lot, for a Scout-class figure.
We went to Mother’s Pizza for dinner tonight. Thanks Dad! I had the small “Grandmother’s”. It tasted a lot like I remember it tasting almost 30 years ago. It had lots of olives and mushrooms, which I topped with double cheese.
Neil DeGrasse-Tyson’s Cosmos on Blu-ray is an absolute treat. Thanks Jen. I hope you don’t mind watching the whole series, over again with me! She also picked up Paul Stanley‘s Face the Music, which I hear is a great read! And who doesn’t like jellybeans?
Thanks everyone for all the birthday wishes. It was a great, laid back day!
20 years ago…20 YEARS AGO!…I was hired at the old Record Store. It wasn’t 20 years ago today; I don’t remember the exact date. But it was mere days before my birthday, two weeks at best. I was given some money for my birthday, and I remember the exact CD that I bought on July 19, 1994. It was Rush. Chronicles.
So here’s a confession, something I’ve never admitted to here before. Privately yes, but not publicly. That Rush Chronicles that I bought 20 years ago today was my first Rush album. Ever.
I was pretty late to the Rush party. I didn’t really start to pay attention to them until the 1990’s. Growing up in the late 1980’s, in my age group, none of my friends liked Rush. As far as I could tell, nobody liked Rush. They simply were not in my hemispheres. I had seen their music videos on Much, but for the most part I didn’t like what I saw. A funny looking guy, keyboards, a guitar player wearing a tie…I overlooked Rush.
I did like one song. “Subdivisions”. That song was undeniably cool, with that slick synth part as the main hook. This song, I dug. Way more than “Tom Sawyer”. Way more than “Red Barchetta”. Definitely more than “Time Stand Still”, which I considered an embarrassment at the time. “Subdivisions” stuck with me, through highschool, through university. I decided I needed to get it, so I finally started exploring the Rush repertoire. And I started with Chronicles.
I would have got it sooner, but I didn’t have the money. Now I had money, a staff discount, and access to hundreds of used CDs in great condition. I had arrived in my own musical paradise!
I was soon enthralled with Chronicles. Many songs that were new to me were quickly becoming favourites: the new-to-CD live version of “What You’re Doing”. The silly but instantly likable “The Trees”. Most of all though, “Red Sector A” from Grace Under Pressure. For a brief while, this song unseated “Subdivisions” as my favourite Rush track.
On this day, I’m going to extend a hearty virtual handshake to the man who gave me a chance at that job, the owner-founder of the store. He did it just because he knew my dad, and my dad asked him to help me out. He didn’t have to, he didn’t even ask for a resume. He just asked me to come down one afternoon and talk. That one talk irreversibly changed my life, and I look at that moment as the end of one life and the beginning of another. It was one of those proverbial turning points.
TRAILER PARK BOYS – The Complete Fourth Season (2004 Alliance Atlantis)
Clattenberg and Co. decided to shake things up a little bit in season 4, and alter a successful formula. This is something they would not be afraid to do in later seasons, usually quite successfully. Season 4 features some of the Trailer Park Boys‘ all-time best episodes, included S04E05 aka “Conky”.
As revealed at the end of season 3, Lahey & Randy, as well as Julian, have ended up in jail. This is quite a switch from the way things usually go (Julian in jail with Ricky) at the end of a season. Ricky (!) is now the Trailer Park Supervisor, and Bubbles his assistant. They spend their days playing hash hockey (which, according to Sarah, is all they do). Ricky also has been using his position for illegal credit card scams, stealing the park money, and other greasy deals. He’s also been growing dope on an unprecedented scale.
Things for awry for Ricky when Julian, Randy and Lahey all get out early. Ricky has quarantined several trailers (including Julian’s) behind a giant wall, where he is growing all his dope. J-Roc, T, and new addition DVS (aka “DVD”) are on board with Rick to help sell his dope at the Snoop Dogg concert. Lahey and Randy, now homeless, are powerless to do anything. That doesn’t stop them from trying….
While I won’t spoil all the twists and turns of this season, I will tell you some of the highlights.
1. Conky. The greatest character in the show’s history makes his debut (a goddamn puppet at that). It might be the best episode of the show’s entire run. It has certainly become a fan favourite.
2. The Green Bastard (from “parts unknown”). Bubbles gets to live his dream of being a wrestler, in a match over who gets to control the park! 3. Rita MacNeil. Sure, Ricky could have been nicer to Rita and her band, but harvesting dope is a stressful thing. Rita is obviously a good sport and a cool woman for appearing on the show as herself. 4. Bubbles gets extra credit for coining the word “Samsquantch” (Sasquatch).
Unfortunately this season contains one hiccup. The episode “If You Love Something, Set It Free” (aka “Steve French”) isn’t that shithot. In this one, Bubbles befriends a mountain cat addicted to dope.
DVD extras are your usual fare: deleted and alternate scenes galore. The most valuable cut scene was a cameo by Brian Vollmer of Helix. All Ricky wants is for Vollmer to give him an R! This occurs near the beginning of the season, and it would have been damn cool had it remained in the aired episode.
Pick up season 4 of Trailer Park Boys and find out just what happens when you leave Ricky in charge of anything!
5/5 stars
Season 4 was followed by the 2004 Christmas Special “Dear Santa Claus, Go Fuck Yourself”. Since I already reviewed this a while back, you can just clicky clicky to check out my review on that essential episode!
RECORD STORE TALES Part 305: The Return of the Wiseman
Seeing Wiseman at Sausagefest XIII brought back a flood of memories. Some I can share, some I definitely cannot! I didn’t think I’d ever see the cat again, but it truly is a small world after all.
He was a party animal, that guy, and presumably he still is. Nice guy, smart too, but when he tied one on, he didn’t do it in half-measures. Partying for him was the full Monty. So here are two things I remembered about the guy:
1.Bacontinis. Like a Martini, but with bacon instead of olives. Count on Wiseman to try something like this, years and years before the current bacon trends. Now people are trying bacon in everything, thanks to people like Epic Meal Time. Wiseman was way ahead of the times when it came to alcoholic beverages.
2. Christmas. I was scheduled to work the evening shift on December 23, with Wiseman. He initially wanted the night off, because he had a “Christmas party” to attend. Getting the night off wasn’t possible due to scheduling, so he came to his shift fully prepared to party afterwards. He packed everything he needed, so he could go straight to the party afterwards.
For Wiseman, these crucial party supplies included a sleeping bag, copious amounts of liquor, a hose, and a funnel. I kid you not. Like I said, Wiseman didn’t do parties in half-measures.
I was glad to see at Sausagefest XIII that Wiseman hasn’t killed himself yet. It’s comforting to know he’s still out there, bringing the party wherever he goes.
QUEEN + ADAM LAMBERT – Live, July 13 2014 at the Air Canada Center, Toronto
I have to start off this review by saying I love Queen. I have listened to more songs by Queen than almost any band ever. I am told when people I know hear Queen, Steve Miller Band, Black Sabbath or 80’s metal, they think of me. So the review you are about to read really pains me to write. But I have to be true to myself and review the band as I saw them last night.
I went to this concert expecting to hate every little bit of Adam Lambert. I hated him on American Idol. Yes, I know. I hate to admit it, but for a while I did watch that show. How, you say, can a died-in-the-wool metal head and 70’s hard rock lover watch American Idol? Well. To answer that question, my family time TV viewing was limited to the type of shows we could watch together. Having a young pre-teen in the house meant only watching family type shows when she was awake. And she loved American Idol. At first I liked Adam Lambert. He was not your typical contestant on that show. But then he started showing off his pipes too much, and it got annoying. All of the viewers knew precisely when he was going to wail, and we got sick of him.
Then I heard the news that he was going to be the next lead singer for Queen.
Queen and American Idol. That is sacrilege. This would be like Gary Cherone in Van Halen. It wouldn’t work. It couldn’t work.
However, it did.
I hate to say this, but the three shining spots of the concert last night really had nothing at all to do with the original line up of Queen.
First, Adam Lambert was actually great. If Freddie Mercury was incredible, then Adam Lambert was great. He was spot on. He was campy, in a Freddie kind of way, and his voice was in top shape.
Second, Neil Fairclough, the bass player they hired to replace the retired John Deacon was amazing. His stand up electric bass was the biggest bass I have ever seen. It sounded sweet. And then he let Roger Taylor use drumsticks to play the bass (a first for me).
Third, Rufus Tiger Taylor. He is the son of Roger Taylor. And he has some serious chops. I didn’t realize how good he was until my wife pointed out to me that he was better than his dad. And last night, he was.
The concert was going along great, and then Adam Lambert left the stage, and the show for me mostly fell apart.
Please don’t get me wrong I love Brian May, but he was mostly off last night. His entire night sounded about a half second behind. His finger work was slow. His guitar solo (which was roughly 30 minutes) was about 28 minutes too long. It started out with a few minutes of Pink Floyd , then onto some Zeppelin, back to Floyd. I don’t think he was trying to copy David Gilmour or Jimmy Page, but the elements were there. At least I hope he wasn’t trying to copy them because he was doing a piss poor version if he was. For a guy that has seen many guitar virtuosos over the years, this was like watching a Junior High guitar talent show. The worst part for me was when Brian May screwed up in “Bohemian Rhapsody”. It was a real fingernails on the chalkboard moment for me.
During the song “Love of My Life”, Brian moved down to the front of the stage alone with an acoustic guitar. He admits he is not a singer. Well, Brian we quickly figured out why. Your voice was awful. God awful. And you chose to have the audience sing the other half of the lyrics of the song. You could have heard a pin drop when the 100 or so people in the entire audience of 15,000 that actually knew the lyrics were singing (whispering?). Here’s a hint. Choose a song most of the audience knows if you want them to sing the lyrics for you, or put the lyrics up on a screen.
Coming from the area of the world where Neil Peart is from, and having seen Rush in concert many times (and more recently seeing how good Tommy Clufetos can bang the skins), the drumming of Roger Taylor was another let down. It wasn’t bad. It just didn’t wow me. But in 2014, solos really are passé unless you are really amazing, and Roger Taylor was not. He does not have a great singing voice either, which really showed when he tried to fill in for David Bowie during “Under Pressure”.
His son is a real up and comer though, and I hope he finds his own way in the music industry. It seems especially tough on children of famous musicians.
After the horrible “Love of My Life”, Brian May talked about space travel and how we were all going on a journey and we may never come back, then all of the musicians(other than Lambert) went to the front of the stage and did “’39”. Pardon me while I yawn.
Please Adam, come back and save us from this snooze fest. As the lights go down and the audience sees Adam there is a huge cheer.
However, after a couple of classic Queen songs, they forced him to sing a remix of a little known Freddie Mercury disco song called “Love Kills”. He announced Queen was using this version in an upcoming album. In my opinion, they should do a new album with new material, perhaps throwing in a few B-sides of old material, or do a live album. They could include Freddie, Paul Rodgers, Freddie Tribute Concert songs and Adam. Just my two cents. Also in my opinion, the band had plenty of time to come out with this new album before the tour, but they didn’t. And all they had for sale at the swag booths were $40 T-shirts. I have enough T-shirts thanks. Not one CD or vinyl. Nothing.
The entire show for me was like “backwards day”. I assumed Brian May and Roger Taylor would be the highlight of the show. I told my wife the only reason I am going was to hear Brian May. But the cast of nobodies were better.
I should end the review by stating the whole is better than the sum of its parts for Queen + Adam Lambert. When they are together doing classic Queen songs, they sound great. When they do solos, and off-key singing, it didn’t work.
If they had included 8-10 more songs, and skipped a lot of the solos, I would have rated it higher.
My wife summed up the concert when we got back to the car by stating she liked The Lady Gaga concert a few nights before better (No, thankfully I did not attend that one). I told her “Don’t say that!”
For me, Adam Lambert was 8.5/10, the band without Adam 4/10, so together the show was 7.5/10. Too bad. It could have been much better.
[This works out to3.75/5on the five-point LeBrain scale. Thank you Boppin for this amazing review! — LeBrain]
TRAILER PARK BOYS – The Complete Third Season (2003 Alliance Atlantis)
By season 3, Trailer Park Boys was a bonafide hit show, and running on all cylinders. The confidence that Clattenberg and crew had was obvious in season 3. The writers had hit threir stride here, and produced eight of their best episodes. Granted, there are very few bad Trailer Park Boys episodes, but none of them were in season 3. Season 3 also presents the first true classic episode, “Closer To The Heart” featuring guest star Alex Lifeson of Rush.
Ricky and Julian are, once again, out of jail. They are also rich thanks to their dope sale from the previous season. Julian begins a vodka bootlegging business, and Ricky applies for the position of assistant trailer park supervisor, now that Randy has been suspended. Lahey and Ricky working together? You know that’s not going to turn out well.
Before long, Julian comes up with the idea of committing a series of small crimes, so they won’t get caught, and saving the money for a big cruise. Stealing gas and opening an illegal gas station in the park seems like a good idea. This leads to the first-ever big Ricky courtroom scene of the series. If you haven’t seen one of these, believe me, Ricky’s courtroom scenes are always a highlight.
Meanwhile, Julian starts dating a cop, and J-Roc starts jacking other rappers tunes (he calls it “cross promoting”). This leads to the debut of new character DVS (Detroit Velvet Smooth…from Moncton), who comes to Sunnyvale looking for reckoning. Seeing Bubbles rapping during a moment of crisis is another highlight of the season, as is finding out what J-Roc is really like under that headband.
Then, one day, Bubbles finds that Rush are playing at the Metro Centre. He asks Ricky to go get him a ticket, with the only money he has. That gets all cocked up, so Ricky decides that to compensate Bubbles, by having Rush do a concert in the park. Just for them. How do you do that? You start by “borrowing” one of the band members.
By the end of the season, the entire world of the Trailer Park Boys has been turned upside down, and things will be drastically different in season 4. It’s all funny, it’s all quality, it’s all good. Truly, season 3 was one of the best seasons of this show, and is actually a great place for non-fans to start watching. It is easily accessible and loaded with witty writing, inspired improvised dialogue, and great stories.
Pick up season 3 if you don’t have it already. For new fans, this is a great place to get into the series.
Part one of my new series: the Trailer Park Boys complete television series. In anticipation of the forthcoming seasons 8 & 9, we’re going to be taking a look at the original series that started it all.
For those who don’t know Trailer Park Boys, there are some serious rock n’ roll connections throughout the series. Stick around and we’ll be talking about Sebastian Bach, Helix, Rush of course, and plenty more.
TRAILER PARK BOYS – Big Plans, Little Brains: The Complete 1st and 2nd Seasons (2002 Alliance Atlantis)
Julian is an ex-con who calls Sunnyvale Trailer Park in Nova Scotia, Canada home. He has just been released from jail, and he’s vowed to clean up his life. Go straight. Ditch his bad influences. The premise of Trailer Park Boys is that a camera crew has offered to make a documentary about Julian’s life, and will be following Julian around the trailer park. Julian is determined to stay straight and not go back behind bars. His best friend Ricky, however, doesn’t have that same commitment to the straight life.
Trailer Park Boys took a season to find its feet, like many other series. By the end of the first season (only six episodes), it had definitely done so. Hang on folks, because the first and second seasons are just the beginning of what will turn out to be a pretty crazy series of mockumentary episodes.
In the beginning, the character of Bubbles (easily the funniest and most lovable of the boys) isn’t in the spotlight. Obviously, Mike Clattenberg and company realized Bubbles’ potential partway through the first season and began writing him larger parts. Also introduced in this season are Mr. Lahey and Randy, the trailer park supervisor and his assistant, who are not quite as drunk and stoned as they would get later on. Love interests Lucy and Sarah are here, not yet the adversaries to Ricky and Julian that they would become. Cory and Trevor are sidekicks (aka “jail cover”), and J-Roc and his “Roc-Pile” make their debut. Characters introduced that are later forgotten include Levi and Mrs. Peterson (who is like a grandmother to Julian). The dangerous Cyrus also makes his debut in the first episode, as a recurring antagonist.
The story arc: Ricky and Julian return from jail to find the park has changed — Cyrus has taken over. All the criminal activities that Julian used to run in the park have now been assumed by Cyrus. He’s even occupying Julian’s trailer. The boys must somehow get rid of Cyrus without going back to jail. In the meantime, Julian decides to head to community college, and that means Ricky is persona-non-grata around him. J-Roc makes some cash on the side making “greasy” porno tapes, which Ricky thinks might be a good thing for him to star in (it’s not). It’s all a build up to Ricky proposing to Lucy to finally be a good father and family man. It all comes crashing down at Ricky’s wedding which closes season 1.
While season 1 takes a while to build up speed, season 2 is full-on TPB. The verbal trainwrecks known as “Rickisms” abound. Bubbles has become integrated as one of the main three. The get-rich quick schemes are now fully formed (or at least as fully-formed as they ever get on this show) and Lahey is a total fucking drunk. Season 2 sure hit the ground running with full confidence and skill.
Yes, I used the word skill — to execute dialogue off-the-cuff like this and create such lovable characters out of criminals takes skill. The execution of this show is such that they make it look easy. I once heard it said that you have to be really smart to pull off a really dumb character.
Once again, Ricky and Julian have returned from jail. Once again, the park has changed for the worse. Lahey’s drunk and in neglect of his duties as trailer park supervisor. As a consequence, the park has turned to shit. Sam Losco (who lives in a camper, not even a full trailer) is seeking to be elected the new supervisor. This would be very bad for Ricky and Julian. With drunk Lahey around, it’s easy for Ricky to grow dope. Sam Losco won’t make it that simple for them. New character Barb Lahey (Mr. Lahey’s ex-wife and owner of the park) and Treena Lahey, played by newcomer (!) Ellen Page add a new element to the show.
Since Lahey’s drunk out of his tree, it’s the perfect time for Ricky to start growing dope again (“Freedom 35, boys!”). All is almost derailed by some greasy Bible pimps, some dope-eating insects, new antagonist Sam Losco, and once again, Cyrus. Other schemes this season involve J-Roc’s illegal night club in the trailer park, which does not go according to plan.
Lots of DVD bonus features are included, and the best one is the Tragically Hip video for “The Darkest One” starring the boys and Don Cherry! Great song. Lots of alternate and extended takes are included, and as an easter egg, the very first Bubbles short called “Cart Boy”.
The only negative thing I have to say is regarding the packaging. My case broke the day I brought it home, and so did those of some friends of mine.
5/5 stars
Winner – Best use of a crane shot in a music video – 2003 LeBrain Music Video Awards
Thanks again Windows Movie Maker for not messing up this video. This is the last video I’ll be using Movie Maker to create. Thanks Seb for the new software.
Part II features the first ever live performance of “The Maiden Song” written by Seb, Dave and Meat. Yours truly on second vocals.
TRAILER PARK BOYS – The Complete Sixth Season (2006 Alliance Atlantis)
Things get fucky by the fifth (and best) episode: “Halloween 1977”. Seems Halloween of ’77 was the night that Lahey got fired from the police force, kicking off his drinking problem. And he’s just found an old home movie from that night, proving he did nothing wrong and didn’t deserve to be kicked off the force. I’m sure it won’t surprise you that very young versions of Ricky, Julian and Bubbles may have had something to do with it.
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