Structured Rambling

Paul used to spend three weeks in July in the town of Drumheller teaching theatre and that always made him nostalgic for Jerusalem, a city he's never been to.

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. "Hava Nagilia (Christmas Arrangement)" from Ruin Jonny's Bar Mitzvah. USA: Fat Wreck Chords, 2004.

Scott, Ridley. Kingdom of Heaven. USA and UK: 20th Century Fox, 2005.

SPECIAL SUMMER BONUS!
Paul discusses Judaism in literature, specifically three texts--one of which is the Old Testament. So there's that. 

Ambrose and His Orchestra, "A Selection of Hebrew Dances," from 100 Traditional Yiddish, Hebrew, & Jewish Folk Classics. Worldwide, 2010.
The bible.
Jacobs, A.J. The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to follow the Bible as Literally as Possible.  New York: Simon and Schuster, 2007.
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. "Hava Nagila," from RuinJonny's Bar Mitzvah. Fat Wreck Chords, 2004. 
Michener, James A. The Source. New York: Random House, 1965. 

A discussion on that elusive effect a writer can have when casting the dream in our mind.

Dream Theater. "Scene One: Regression" and "Scene Two: I. Overture 1928." Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory. USA: Elektra, 1999.
Fitzgerald, Ella and Louis Armstrong. "Dream a Little Dream of Me." Ella and Louis (Original Album Plus Bonus Tracks). USA: Polygram, 1989. 
Gardner, John. The Art of Fiction. Toronto: Random House, 1991.
Heller, Joseph. Catch-22. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1979.
King, Stephen. Misery. New York: Viking, 1987.
Puzo, Mario. The Godfather. New York: J.P. Putnam's Sons, 1994.
Steinbeck, John. East of Eden. New York: The Viking Press, 1999.
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Hobbit. London: Harper Collins, 2010.

On this 2021 Canada Day, Paul updates and celebrates the state of his podcast and updates, celebrates, and laments the state of his nation.

The Arrogant Worms. "We Are the Beaver." Idiot Road. Canada: Arrogant Worms Records, 2001.

Big Sugar. "O Canada." Brothers and Sisters, Are You Ready? Canada: Universal, 2001. 

Paul tackles the granddaddy of Norse Sagas with the story of Sigurd the Dragon-slayer, role of Odin and the lovely Brunhild; Attila the Hun drops in, and there's also the discussion of this saga's adaptation by Richard Wagner, and it's lamentable appropriation by the Nazis. 

Byock, Jesse L. (Translator). The Saga of the Volsungs. Berkley: U. Of California Press, 1990.

Jones, Chuck. What's Opera, Doc? USA: Warner Bros. Cartoons, 1957.

Tarantino, Quentin. Django Unchained. USA: Columbia Pictures, 2012.

Wagner, Richard. Die Walkure. 1870.

Have you noticed that no popular hero gets to retire or just ride off into the sunset? Sure, because Harrison Ford needs to make bank, but it seems indicative of an overall problem of not letting people just be old.

The Presidents of the United States America. "Back Porch." The Presidents of the United States of America. PopLlama/Columbia, 1995.

Young, Neil. "Old Man." Harvest. Reprise, 1972. 

I spent like fifteen minutes thinking up an episode title and that's the best I came up with. But this is a great episode about the second volume of the Lord of the Rings.

Faith No More. "Epic" from The Real Thing. Slash,1990. 
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Two Towers. London: Harper Collins, 2010.
Torrini, Emiliana. "Gollum's Song" from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Reprise, 2006.  

There's been a lot of hullabaloo and even a fair amount of ballyhoo about this Snyder Cut JLA movie shenanigan. It was mostly a McGuffin, I figure.  But why, why is it so hard to make this thing better? Because at it's heart, the Snyder-verse is a flawed creation.

Paul discusses the Man of Steele, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (a movie that's actually worse than its horrid title), the Whedon Justice League, and the four hour Snyder (not so) Cut


Snyder, Zack. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Warner Bros, 2016
Snyder, Zack. Justice League. Warner Bros, 2017
Snyder, Zack. Man of Steel. Warner Bros, 2013
Snyder, Zack. Zack Snyder's Justice League. Warner Bros, HBO Max 2021

"Is She With You?" composed by Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL
"Superman Theme" composed by John Williams

Batman is the most popular super hero in existence, but his depiction as the grim, humourless Dark Knight hasn't been the whole story of his 82-year history. In this episode, Paul explores the critical period from 1986-1989 that completely redefined the character through four texts.

Miller, Frank. The Dark Knight Returns. DC Comics: New York, 1986. 

Moore, Alan and Brian Bolland. Batman: The Killing Joke. DC Comics: New York, 1988.

Morrison, Grant and Dave McKean. Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on a Serious Earth. DC Comics: New York, 1989.

Starlin, Jim and Jim Aparo. Batman: A Death in the Family. DC Comics: New York, 1988. 

Batman theme (1989 and 1992) composed by Danny Elfman.  

I'm just kidding with that title, but it's pretty clear that the majority of people who have encountered the Godfather in the past forty years have encountered it as a film first. I finally sat down to read the novel and compare it to the two fine films.

Coppola, Francis Ford. The Godfather. Paramount Pictures: USA, 1972.

Coppola, Francis Ford, The Godfather Part II. Paramount Pictures: USA, 1974.

Puzo, Mario. The Godfather. Signet: New York, 1999. 

"The Godfather Waltz" composed by Nino Rota