THE FUTURIST! Provides Silly Blog Filler

This is brilliant.

A salute (in a non-Fascist manner) to THE FUTURIST!'s
wonderfully resourceful and devoted friend Dara Moroney
for the discovery of this creative clever creation.

Saturday Music for The Gentleman of Leisure

THE FUTURIST! dedicates this Saturday's music offering to his European friend The Gentleman of Leisure, who can claim today as the anniversary of his birth 24 years ago. The song posted below is by Billy Joel and is entitled VIENNA. THE FUTURIST! loves this song and it's Kurt Weill inspired piano tinkling. THE FUTURIST! owns that very Billy Joel album. He feels this song best fits The Gentleman's current life of ease. The lyrics imply not to rush, to enjoy and do what you need to do for just yourself ... Life progresses at the same rate for us all. As THE FUTURIST! understands it, Vienna is a metaphor for a future place of happiness and well-being. Perhaps, THE FUTURIST! will find his Vienna away from Utter Despair, too.

So, this song, with its melancholy instrumental sound imbues a sense of optimism. It fits The Gentleman. THE FUTURIST! sees The Gentleman kicking back in his usual European haunts and sighing with laconic pleasure today. Besides this vision, TF! wants to acknowledge that today is, also, the birthday of his faraway friend Dara Moroney (who you can read about here). Dara is one of the most amiable people, with a driving ambition, THE FUTURIST! knows ... a bit different than The Gentleman oddly. Oh, wait ... today is, also, the birthday of THE FUTURIST!'s friend in faraway Ireland, Detective Cannon of the Galway police department. What a day of birthday cake over eating! Great Pagan Gods ... good thing THE FUTURIST! isn't overseas in their company today. He would have severe sugar overload ... or too much Guinness or whiskey.

Happy Birthday, to all the gentleman mentioned above.
THE FUTURIST! thinks of you all as one this Saturday
and sends you his very best of wishes for happiness.

Listen:


VIENNA
written and performed by Billy Joel

Postcard to Take Off the Edge

A week of drudgery and dark thoughts can be swept aside so easily.

THE FUTURIST! returned to his abode in Utter Despair and found mail awaiting his discovery. There were two bills needing to be paid, a NetFlix DVD and a postcard from overseas. Overseas?!! The back of the card was the first thing he saw and it was from Scotland. Admirers from the land of kilts and Sean Connery had sent him a postcard. Quite delightful. However, turning the card over and seeing the front (above picture) was even more smile inducing; a picture of Woody Allen as Jimmy Bond, James Bond's nephew (alias Dr. Noah) from CASINO ROYALE (1967).

Ah, Great Britain, Ireland and Scotland. It seems destined to be a land that THE FUTURIST! needs to explore. It is the home of new Internet acquaintances, namely Amber Wilkinson of EYE FOR FILM, the Dr. Who enthusiast man/child David Quin, the comically ever angry Jonnie Marbles, the aptly named Ms. Wozy Hamish and the new home to The Gentleman of Leisure. What kind souls all and how affable.

Yes, a mere 6 inch x 4 inch piece of cardboard with a greeting bearing a film favorite on its front that traveled a great ocean to Utter Despair ... something that small could make Utter Despair a bit brighter.

Saturday Music to Kill For

THE FUTURIST!'s friends and correspondents in the faraway land of Ireland have created another music video, this time featuring the three man rock band called MIGHTY ATOMICS. The sound the band generates is loud, a bit in your face and reminiscent of those "angry young men" groups you'd see in black and white British films of the "kitchen sink" period or those drive-in AIP teen and horror films were a relatively unknown rock band would be featured at a party on the beach or dance hall playing in the background and occasionally featured on camera.

IN this video, the usual easy going Ealing Films-like touch of Fake Dog Films is replaced by an influence of comedic horror. The film is shot with a hand held camera and the band performs in a desolate barren wheat colored area of Ireland. In the distance we see a figure approaching with steadfast intent toward the band. THE FUTURIST! wondered what was going to happen ... the result reminded him of George Romero's opening to NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD with a touch of Edgar Wright, a dash of Richard Lester, an opening that recalls THE MONKEES TV show and a bit of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT.

Watch and Listen:


KILL THAT BOY
performed by The Mighty Atomic

Snack Ad Contest Friday

THE FUTURIST!'s faithful correspondent in Ireland, Dara Moroney, (of Fake Dog Films) seems to have entered a Doritos 30 second advertisement contest being held across the big pond.

Good Luck, Dara.
By the way, your Dad will go through quite a lot for his son, obviously.
And good facial expressions.

And in Utter Despair we have Human pick-up day every other Thursday.
It's not an accidental pick-up, as in your ad. It's intended.
Utter Despair Sanitation Dept. is very good at recycling organic matter.

Cannon & McGrath's Most Wanted List

Cannon and McGrath Dutch Angle Style.

THE FUTURIST! was recently befriended by Irish police detectives Cannon and McGrath after he assisted them, and their Chief, with information regarding counterfeit Guinness being mass produced and black marketed overseas by unscrupulous characters in a certain part of New Jersey. How THE FUTURIST! was able to assist them cannot be disclosed except to say that it involved a lot of vomiting. Anywho, since he has made their acquaintance and found them to be quite affable, THE FUTURIST! asked them to give him a list of their favorite television detective/police/crime programs. They acquiesced immediately and sent him the following list:

CANNON & McGRATH'S FAVORITE TV CRIME SHOWS
(list compiled while they were on duty)

McGrath:
The Wire: This one took me a while to get into but it definitely lives
up to the hype. I particularly love the bluesy soundtrack and backdrop
of Baltimore. It's very complex and you get a lot out of watching it
for a second time.

The Shield: Criminally, this one is often overlooked, but I think it's
one of the most thrilling and dramatic shows on TV. Great acting and
the camera work (which I was initially put off by) add so much to it.

Cannon:
The Sweeney: Excitingly basic thrills and gritty storylines make this
an essential '70s British police show. No matter how boring an
episode's plot has been, when it abruptly ends and makes way for the
poignant closing theme, you're always left wanting more.

The Job: A sitcom based in a New York police precinct, starring Denis
Leary. The same team went on to create the much more successful, and
more hard-hitting, Rescue Me. One of the funniest shows around, it
was, of course, cancelled after one series.

Police Squad: A send-up of the police genre which went on to spawn the
even funnier, and tighter, The Naked Gun series. But, there are still
plenty of glimmers of that genius here, not least the "freeze-frame"
gag at the end of every episode.

Columbo: Always on TV on a Sunday afternoon, Columbo is a very
danger-free detective show. We always know who has committed the crime
(as does Columbo), but keep watching for two hours until he tells
them. Typically, they always take it well.

And here is one of their adventures. It begins with one of THE FUTURIST!'s favorite opening shots in film history.

Galway Birthday

THE FUTURIST! wishes a very Happy Birthday this November 6th to one of his most faithful followers of and contributors to this blog ... young Mr. Dara Moroney of Galway, Ireland. THE FUTURIST! can't exactly recall when he became acquainted with Dara and his creative team of FAKE DOG FILMS; it was through another Internet source and not the blog you are currently perusing. Dara and his creative partner in film, Paul "Webby" Webster, have been under the scrutiny of THE FUTURIST! for some time. He has watched their films from the very first they created (a parody of the television show LOST) to the very latest they have produced. Though crude in its execution, their first short film provided THE FUTURIST! with great chuckles due to their sense of capturing the show's stop and stall sense of plot structure. It had an aura of intelligent spoofing and Dara was a perfect stand-in for Matthew Fox with his short cropped hair and rumpled suit wandering throughout a stark Irish wooded plot of land which stood in for the mysterious island. This film made THE FUTURIST! want to see what else they would accomplish. Dara and Paul continued to make more films and music videos for local and more prominently known Irish bands.

They've made several of these music videos (a style they seem very comfortable with), a couple of pieces featuring them as themselves in a situation comedy sort of manner and a short (and sequel) that tries to capture a 70s feel of "buddy cop" films. Though not THE FUTURIST!'s favorite of their endeavours, the Cannon and McGrath cop characters have a certain charm and their first "adventure" has an exquisite opening that might impress Godard. Dara, also, has a favorite look in these films that THE FUTURIST! finds perfectly retro 70s and quite amusing .. look at that moustache (below)

Whether you find their films funny or whimsical or amateurish or not to your liking at all ... well, that is not the point to THE FUTURIST!'s collection of words he has gathered together here to, hopefully, make sense of how he feels about the wonderful drive, creativity and optimism of these Irish gentlemen and their wonderful cohorts in film making. THE FUTURIST!'s main motto is "The Future is not bright", but Dara makes THE FUTURIST! smile and gives him hope. Dara's ambition and bravado to strive to be better and accomplish his dreams is to be admired. THE FUTURIST! wishes Dara the happiest of birthdays today and hopes he embraces every minute of a day he can truly call his own.

If it weren't for the wonders of the Internet, THE FUTURIST! would not be able to bring a little of Galway to Utter Despair, even though it is an ocean away. And he would not have been able to see the creative growth of Mr. Moroney and his merry men. The following videos are favorites of THE FUTURIST! and they are both music videos. Please take note of the progression in style, design, editing and thought put into each, but ... brought to a shining evolution in the second video. You will see Dara in each video as the runner in the first and the electrical handyman in the second. THE FUTURIST! must admit he does not fully understand the first in regard to song tied to visual, but he loves the idea and the mood it instills.


NEXT YEAR
music by Buttefly Explosion



BRING THE DANCE
music by Simon Fagan

Grand, isn't it?

Happy Birthday, Dara ... and thank you for providing THE FUTURIST!
with one of those little oases of refreshment in the desert of Life.

Dara and Paul

FAKE DOG FILMS

Election Day

Today is Election Day and THE FUTURIST! must make his way to the Edgar Allan Poe Elementary School 6 blocks from his home, wherein he shall enter a voting booth. THE FUTURIST! votes every year and fulfills his great freedom to express his opinion in who he wishes to represent him in the various forms of government, whether it be a national, state or local election. Today THE FUTURIST! will be voting for his state governor and other local elected positions. One of the two councilman running for a post in town was recently seen in his boxer shorts in the frozen food section of the Utter Despair Sack it Yourself Grocery. He claims they were Bermuda Shorts and not underwear. He could not explain the Kaiser Wilhelm WW I helmet he was sporting, however. There will be, also, a question concerning the building of a ostrich farm on a development in town and the right to divert water from a nearby lake to quench the thirsts of these odd birds before they are slaughtered. The owners propose to build the ostrich farm near the Utter Despair Old Age Home. THE FUTURIST! must consider the annoyance that the screams of butchered ostriches may inflict on the elderly residents. Then again, they are old and may not detect any screams at all due to faulty hearing. Then again, if they do hear the screams of the ostriches will this make them think of their own impending deaths and cause distress which may even hasten their end (due to bad hearts) sooner then expected. Serious questions are to be pondered this election day ... as well as what delicious lunch THE FUTURIST! can concoct. Maybe a nice bowl of broth with chives and orzo pasta and an ostrich burger.

In the meantime, THE FUTURIST! asks you to watch this delightful little short made by his whimsical friends in Ireland. The following film was made by Dara Moroney and his brother Gearoid and their Fake Dog Films production company. It was entered in the Darklight Film Festival's Democracy and Dialogue Competition. It features THE FUTURIST!'s favorite European pen pal, Dara, as John Iver, a very persistent politician who goes beyond the "foot in the door" practice of door to door canvasing.

Movie Mustache Monday

TEN MEMORABLE HAIR BEARING LIPS IN CINEMA

CHARLIE CHAPLIN

ERROL FLYNN
as Robin Hood

WILLIAM POWELL
as Nick Charles in The Thin Man

YOSEMITE SAM

GROUCHO MARX

BURT REYNOLDS

in Smokey and the Bandit

JOHN WATERS
Director

MING THE MERCILESS

from the Flash Gordon Serial

NIGEL BRUCE
as Dr. Watson from The Hound of the Baskervilles

DARA MORONEY
as Cannon in Crackdown 2