MEDIA MONDAY
What have you been listening to, watching and reading?

John Moe v. Charlie Daniels
What John Moe has been listening to, "for the first time in 25 years," is Charlie Daniels' "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." John has a few questions. 39 to be exact, published at McSweeney's. Here's #8:

8. If the Devil went down to Georgia 'cause he was looking for a soul to steal, why does he arrange what appears to be an honest competition?

Simpsons Did It
From BoingBoing, and in Media Monday's recognition of yesterday being Dictionary Day, a link to Wikipedia's list of words made up on The Simpsons, with their explanation. My current favorite:

Skittlebrau

Skittlebrau (or Skittlebräu) is a type of beverage that looks like beer with candy floating in it. It is implied that Homer imagined it by mixing Skittles and beer (brew in German is bräu) in "Bart Star". However, later episodes show Skittlebrau as an actual product being sold at the 33 cent store. Another episode shows Homer asking Apu for some at the Kwik-E-Mart, only for Apu to tell him that it does not exist. It is assumed the combination derives from the known phrase Life is not all beer and skittles from E. Cobham Brewer. In addition, it may be derived from a odd regional penchant in various enclaves around the USA (parts of the Midwest and South) for combining M&Ms or peanuts and cola.

This has been tried in the real world, here among other places.

This joke is reminscent of a previous gag on the Simpsons where Homer declares that he is a white male between 18-49 and "everyone listens to him," as he pops open a can of Nuts & Gum (Together at Last!).

Time's 100 Greatest Novels
ever since 1923...i can't claim to have read even most of them, but there are a few head-scratchers. [UPDATE: It's not a list of greatest novels ever, just greatest novels since "Time" began, if that distinction makes sense. They're so clever. I should have read a bit closer. At least the list itself is not so confusing now.]

Weekend Box Office
1. The Fog
2. Wallace and Gromit
3. Elizabethtown
4. Flight Plan
5. In Her Shoes

Darnitall, I've been looking forward to Cameron Crowe's Elizabethtown ever since I heard about it. But I see it gets not-so-good composite score at Metacritics. So, now something else will have to happen to tip the scales in its favor and get me to buy a ticket. Too many other enticing things are out or coming here soon: Corpse Bride, History of Violence, Good Night and Good Luck, to name a few. Also sorry to see that Article 19 favorite Atom Egoyan apparently has a dud on his hands as well. Too bad. His trio of Exotica, The Sweet Hereafter and Felicia's Journey is one of the most shocking, riveting, upsetting, beautiful set of films I've seen from a single director.

Melloman
BoingBoing links to a homemade version of the old mellotron (heard at the beginning of Strawberry Fields Forever, for example). This contraption, the melloman, instead of directly playing tape loops of flutes and strings, activates walkmen with the keyboard. A brilliant poor man's sampler. The mellotron is a fabulous and underused creation, although composer/producer Jon Brion sneaks it in film scores and the tracks of unsuspecting rock and rap artists from time to time.

The Melloman reminds me of the night many years ago that I planted a Beavis and Butthead talking device (push a button and hear one of their classic catch phrases) into a girlfriend's piano. It was a clandestine operation that left her middle c giggling with huh-huh-huh boy-laughter instead of striking its intended string. I loved playing Mozart's C Major Piano Sonata that way. But alas, some were not so amused. I believe that was the night that lost me my key privileges, and marked the beginning of the end of that doomed relationship. From the vantage point of today, definitely a fun time that was worth it.

Cat Power
Chan Marshall is playing at the Mercy Lounge tonight. I'm hoping to go. If you're a Nashvillian looking for some Monday night culture, maybe I'll see you there. A little-known claim to fame of mine is that in the Women in Music in America since 1900 encyclopedia, I wrote the entry for Barbra Streisand. I didn't do it for the money (zero); and not because of my amount of love for the music of Ms. Streisand (also, zero). I did it because it was part of a package deal that allowed me to also write the entry on women in indie rock. Ms. Marshall, aka Cat Power played a role in my version of events, but I've never seen her live.