Yearly Archives: 2022

Guilty Pleasure No. 56: Once You Understand By Think

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Things get a little easier

Once you understand

That is the message of TSL’s latest guilty pleasure, a little song from 1971 called Once You Understand.  In case you missed that message the first time, don’t worry.  It will be repeated.  In fact, it’s the only lyric in the entire song.  The song starts with one voice singing, “Things get a little easier/once you understand” but soon, several other voice join in until there’s a heavenly choir of sorts.  It’s really enthusiastic choir, too.  In fact, it’s so enthusiastic that it’s a little bit creepy.  No one’s that happy about understanding.

While the voices are singing to us that things get a little easier once you understand, we also get to listen to a few scenes from the late 60s/early 70s generation gap.  The scenes are acted out by a bunch of uncredited actors who give it the old community theater try.  We listen to teenagers argue with their parents and parents talk down to their children and what we immediately notice is that no one is trying to understand and therefore, things will never get a little easier.

One mother accuses her daughter of doing more than babysitting and demands that she stay out of a certain neighborhood.  A father demands that his son get a haircut and reminds him that he had to work hard when he was young.  Another kid is super excited to have gotten a guitar and he’s planning on starting a band.  His father replies that there’s more to life than music.

Things get a little easier

Once you understand

Things get a little easier

Once you understand

Things get a little

Suddenly, the music stops.  We listen as one of the fathers gets a tragic phone call about his son, the one that he didn’t understand.  The father sobs uncontrollably as the song ends and I guess it could, in theory, have been a powerful moment if not for the fact that father is so obviously reading a script.  The other problem is that 99% of the song consists of parents acting like jerks but then, in the final few moments, it turns out that at least one of the parents was right about his son throwing his life away.  So maybe, it was the son who needed to understand.  Who knows?

Anyway, Once You Understand is one of those songs that’s often included in lists of the worst songs of all time.  However, much like The Dawn of Correction, I like Once You Understand because it is so totally a product of its time.  It’s a cultural artifact and listening to it is a bit like stepping into a time machine.  That said, I kind of doubt this song inspired anyone to understand.  If anything, everyone comes across as being kind of whiny.

Previous Guilty Pleasures

  1. Half-Baked
  2. Save The Last Dance
  3. Every Rose Has Its Thorns
  4. The Jeremy Kyle Show
  5. Invasion USA
  6. The Golden Child
  7. Final Destination 2
  8. Paparazzi
  9. The Principal
  10. The Substitute
  11. Terror In The Family
  12. Pandorum
  13. Lambada
  14. Fear
  15. Cocktail
  16. Keep Off The Grass
  17. Girls, Girls, Girls
  18. Class
  19. Tart
  20. King Kong vs. Godzilla
  21. Hawk the Slayer
  22. Battle Beyond the Stars
  23. Meridian
  24. Walk of Shame
  25. From Justin To Kelly
  26. Project Greenlight
  27. Sex Decoy: Love Stings
  28. Swimfan
  29. On the Line
  30. Wolfen
  31. Hail Caesar!
  32. It’s So Cold In The D
  33. In the Mix
  34. Healed By Grace
  35. Valley of the Dolls
  36. The Legend of Billie Jean
  37. Death Wish
  38. Shipping Wars
  39. Ghost Whisperer
  40. Parking Wars
  41. The Dead Are After Me
  42. Harper’s Island
  43. The Resurrection of Gavin Stone
  44. Paranormal State
  45. Utopia
  46. Bar Rescue
  47. The Powers of Matthew Star
  48. Spiker
  49. Heavenly Bodies
  50. Maid in Manhattan
  51. Rage and Honor
  52. Saved By The Bell 3. 21 “No Hope With Dope”
  53. Happy Gilmore
  54. Solarbabies
  55. The Dawn of Correction

What Lisa Marie Watched Last Night #220: Deadly Yoga Retreat (dir by Brian Herzlinger)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Last night, I watched the Lifetime film, Deadly Yoga Retreat!

Why Was I Watching It?

I watched this film for a number of reasons.  First off, yoga has been on my mind lately because, over the past two weeks, I have managed to strain my back not once but twice!  My mom also had trouble with her back and she was a big believer in yoga as something more than just an excuse to wear a cute outfit.  Myself, I have to admit that the outfit has always been the main appeal to me.

Secondly, the film was on Lifetime and it’s been a while since I’ve gotten to sit down and watch a good Lifetime film.

Third, I wanted an excuse to do one of my What Lisa Marie Watched Last Night reviews.  I have fun writing them.

What Was It About?

Remy Morrow (Jonathan Bennett) runs the most exclusive and demanding yoga retreat out there.  He expects you to show up on time.  He expects you to take yoga seriously.  He expects you to take him seriously.  If you don’t take him seriously, he’ll kick you out of the group.  And, if that’s not enough to get rid of you, he’ll just kill you.  Killing people over yoga?  That may sound extreme but Remy’s an extreme guy.

Isabella (Danielle C. Ryan) may just be planning on using the yoga retreat as a way to get away from her struggling marriage but she’s about to discover that Remy has his own plans for her and the other students.

What Worked?

Like many recent Lifetime film, Deadly Yoga Retreat takes a deliberately campy approach to its story.  It’s not meant to be taken seriously and Jonathan Bennett brings exactly the right sensibility to his performance as Remy, playing him as being the unhinged yoga instructor from Hell.  There’s not a single subtle moment to be found in Bennett’s performance but this isn’t a film that calls for subtlety.  This is a film that calls for someone willing to totally embrace the melodrama and go over the the top and, as anyone who saw him on Celebrity Big Brother can tell you, Bennett is certainly willing to do that.  Bennett’s approach was nicely balanced by Danielle C. Ryan, who was likable as Isabella.

When you sit down to watch a film called Deadly Yoga Retreat, you know what you’re getting into.  If there’s anything that I don’t have much use for, it’s people who act all offended or shocked that a movie like this would turn out to be deliberately campy and kitschy.  This is a Lifetime film and it’s about a psychotic yoga instructor.  You knew what you were getting into when you saw the title.  The title promises attractive people in cute outfits doing dangerous and sexy things in a lovely, beach-filled location.  Here’s the important thing: Deadly Yoga Retreat delivers exactly what it promised.

What Did Not Work?

As far as I’m concerned it all worked.

“Oh my God!  Just like me!” Moments

My best friend Evelyn and I occasionally went to a yoga class when we were in college.  The instructor was intense, though not murderous.  He always used to say stuff like, “Yoga is for lovers” and “This weekend should be all about you, yoga and a lover.”  Actually, he was pretty  creepy.  Anyway, he always used to get annoyed because we would giggle through his class but I don’t think he ever killed anyone.

Lessons Learned

Don’t say “Namaste” unless you mean it.

Guilty Pleasure No. 55: The Dawn of Correction

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The year was 1964 and folk singer Barry McGuire had just released a new song called Eve of  Destruction.  In Eve of Destruction, McGuire painted an apocalyptic view of the world and put a lot of the blame on the Cold War.  McGuire wrote about 18 year-olds being sent to war when they weren’t even allowed to vote.  (At that time, the voting age was 21.)  McGuire wrote about the nuclear arsenals of the U.S. and Russia, saying that nuclear annihilation was just one push of a button away.  McGuire sang about the Civil Rights struggle and the feeling that all of the well-meaning protests hadn’t led to any real change.

Not surprisingly, this early protest song was as controversial as it was popular.  While many claimed that McGuire was one of the few singers willing to sing the truth, others said that he wasn’t being unpatriotic and excessively negative.

That’s where The Spokesmen came in.  The Spokesmen were a trio, made up of John Madera, David White, and Ray Gilmore.  Feeling that McGuire wasn’t being fair in his critique of the good old U.S., the Spokesmen released an “answer song,” one that addressed all of McGuire’s charges and which dismissed them all.  McGuire sang about the “Eve of Destruction.”  The Spokesmen decided that they would sing about the …. DAWN OF CORRECTION!

As the song’s chorus says: 

So over and over again, you keep sayin’ it’s the end
But I say you’re wrong, we’re just on the dawn of correction

What exactly is “the dawn of correction?”  I honestly have no idea.  But it probably sounded profound while the song was being written.  Plus …. destruction …. correction …. it rhymes!

Anyway, the Dawn of Correction was a minor hit when it was released, though it was soon forgotten about as the protest movement grew and teenagers in the 60s saw far more evidence to support McGuire’s vision of the world than the vision of the Spokesman.  Among music aficionados, Dawn of Correction has developed a reputation for being one of the worst songs ever written.

I have to admit though that, when I recently listened to the song, I kind of liked it, in much the same way that I like zero-budget polemical films and kitschy dance scenes.  It’s one of those songs that is so definitely rooted to one cultural moment that, from a historical point of view, it becomes rather fascinating.  It’s lyrics are just so strangely literal.  (It takes a certain …. something …. to try to put a positive spin on the policy of mutually assured destruction in a folk song.)  Even more than that, lead singer John Madera attempts to duplicate the raspy growl the McGuire used while singing Eve of Destruction and, even though he doesn’t succeed, there’s something oddly touching about how hard he tries.  With a Dylanesque harmonica playing in the background, the song is so determined to be “with it,” that you just know some government teacher in 1967 probably tried to reach her apathetic students by forcing them to listen to this song in class.  

Finally, to be honest, that chorus is kind of catchy.  Watch the band perform below and be sure to pay attention to the dancers.

Lyrics
The western world has a common dedication
To keep free people from Red domination
And maybe you can’t vote, boy, but man your battle stations
Or there’ll be no need for votin’ in future generations
 
So over and over again, you keep sayin’ it’s the end
But I say you’re wrong, we’re just on the dawn of correction
 
There are buttons to push in two mighty nations
But who’s crazy enough to risk annihilation?
The buttons are there to ensure negotiation
So don’t be afraid, boy, it’s our only salvation
 
So over and over again, you keep sayin’ it’s the end
But I say you’re wrong, we’re just on the dawn of correction
 
You tell me that marches won’t bring integration
But look what it’s done for the voter registration
Be thankful our country allows demonstrations
Instead of condemnin’, make some recommendations
I don’t understand the cause of your aggravation
You mean to tell me, boy, it’s not a better situation?
 
So over and over again, you keep sayin’ it’s the end
But I say you’re wrong, we’re just on the dawn of correction
 
You missed all the good in your evaluation
What about the things that deserve commendation?
Where there once was no cure, there’s vaccination
Where there once was a desert, there’s vegetation
Self-government’s replacing colonization
What about the Peace Corp. organization?
Don’t forget the work of the United Nations
 
So over and over again, you keep sayin’ it’s the end
But I say you’re wrong, we’re just on the dawn of correction

But I say you’re wrong, we’re just on the dawn of correction
 
So over and over again, you keep sayin’ it’s the end
But I say you’re wrong, we’re just on the dawn of correction

Previous Guilty Pleasures

  1. Half-Baked
  2. Save The Last Dance
  3. Every Rose Has Its Thorns
  4. The Jeremy Kyle Show
  5. Invasion USA
  6. The Golden Child
  7. Final Destination 2
  8. Paparazzi
  9. The Principal
  10. The Substitute
  11. Terror In The Family
  12. Pandorum
  13. Lambada
  14. Fear
  15. Cocktail
  16. Keep Off The Grass
  17. Girls, Girls, Girls
  18. Class
  19. Tart
  20. King Kong vs. Godzilla
  21. Hawk the Slayer
  22. Battle Beyond the Stars
  23. Meridian
  24. Walk of Shame
  25. From Justin To Kelly
  26. Project Greenlight
  27. Sex Decoy: Love Stings
  28. Swimfan
  29. On the Line
  30. Wolfen
  31. Hail Caesar!
  32. It’s So Cold In The D
  33. In the Mix
  34. Healed By Grace
  35. Valley of the Dolls
  36. The Legend of Billie Jean
  37. Death Wish
  38. Shipping Wars
  39. Ghost Whisperer
  40. Parking Wars
  41. The Dead Are After Me
  42. Harper’s Island
  43. The Resurrection of Gavin Stone
  44. Paranormal State
  45. Utopia
  46. Bar Rescue
  47. The Powers of Matthew Star
  48. Spiker
  49. Heavenly Bodies
  50. Maid in Manhattan
  51. Rage and Honor
  52. Saved By The Bell 3. 21 “No Hope With Dope”
  53. Happy Gilmore
  54. Solarbabies

Lisa Marie’s Week In Review: 5/30/22 — 6/5/22

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

On Monday, no sooner had I returned home from my impromptu two-week vacation then I noticed that the main trending topic on Twitter was that Jada Pinkett Smith had “finally” spoken out about The Slap.  Of course, she didn’t really say much beyond her usual “Let the healing begin” crap, which is what people always say when they’re trying to sound mature without actually being an adult about anything.

But what was interesting was that I actually had to remind myself about what The Slap was all about.  I didn’t look at that headline and think to myself, “Finally, she’s speaking up about Will Smith hitting Chris Rock on national television.”  Instead, I was like, “Oh yeah, that happened just a few months ago.”  The news moves fast nowadays.  Celebrity news moves even faster.  For all the drama surrounding The Slap, it really didn’t take long for everyone to move onto the Depp/Heard trial.  And now that the Depp/Heard trial is over, it won’t take long to move onto the next celebrity controversy.

Speaking of celebrities, Senator Dr. Oz is not something that I ever expected to be a serious possibility but here we are.  My fear is that when ever either Cruz or Cornyn retires or moves on to another office, Dr. Phil will throw his hat into the ring to succeed them.  Pretty soon, the entire Senate will be made up of TV doctors and reality show stars.

As for me, I was doing better as far as my back is concerned but then, on Friday, I was out in the backyard when it started to rain.  As I went back to the house, I slipped on a puddle of water.  I didn’t fall but, in the process of not falling, I managed to strain my back yet again!  URGH!  It’s a hard knock life.

Anyway, here’s what I watched, read, and listened to.

Films I Watched:

  1. 8-Bit Christmas (2021)
  2. Birds of Paradise (2021)
  3. Liberty & Bash (1989)
  4. Madhouse (1974)
  5. Pitch Perfect (2012)
  6. RoboVampire 3 (1989)
  7. Save The Last Dance (2001)
  8. The Sky Is Everywhere (2022)
  9. Tightrope (1984)
  10. The War of the Worlds (1953)

Television Shows I Watched:

  1. Allo Allo
  2. Barry
  3. Creepshow
  4. Full House
  5. Norm McDonald: Nothing Special
  6. Maid
  7. Pistol
  8. Saved By The Bell
  9. We Own This City

Books I Read:

  1. Donavan (1974) by Carter Brown
  2. The Suicide Cult (1978) by Marshal Kilduff and Ron Javers

Music To Which I Listened:

  1. Adi Ulmansky
  2. BANKS
  3. Big Data
  4. Blondie
  5. Britney Spears
  6. Cedric Gervais
  7. The Chemical Brothers
  8. The Clash
  9. Coldplay
  10. Crud
  11. Daft Punk
  12. Donna Summer
  13. Em Biehold
  14. Gorillaz
  15. Jace Everett
  16. Jakalope
  17. Jessie Murph
  18. Julia Rocka
  19. Katy Perry
  20. Martin Garrix
  21. Metric
  22. Michael Fredo
  23. Muse
  24. Paula Cole
  25. The Pretenders
  26. The Prodigy
  27. Public Image Ltd.
  28. Ramones
  29. Rich White
  30. Rolling Stones
  31. Saint Motel
  32. Sarah Barrios
  33. Sex Pistols
  34. Souixsie and the Banshees
  35. Tomoyasu Hotei
  36. Upsahl

Trailers:

  1. 6 Classic Trailers For May 31st, 2022
  2. Destroy All Humans 2 — Reprobed
  3. Urban Myths — Tooth Worms
  4. The Devil Within
  5. Pinocchio

News From Last Week:

  1. Jury awards millions of dollars to Johnny Depp in libel suit; Amber Heard wins less in countersuit
  2. Atlanta rapper Trouble shot and killed
  3. Actor Milton Gonclaves Dies at 88
  4. Dr. Mehmet Oz wins GOP Senate Primary in Pennsylvania
  5. Top Gun Won’t Stop
  6. Box Office: ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ Bites Into $55 Million Internationally

Links From Last Week:

  1. “Dinner And A Movie”! Frogs Legs! Veal Stew Recipe From Paris! The Legendary Le Grand Colbert! “Something’s Gotta Give” With Nicholson, Keaton and Keanu! — Bite! Eat! Repeat!
  2. My May 2022 In Book (The World’s Common Tater)

Links From the Site:

  1. Erin took a look at The Covers of Space Busters, the work of Joe Little, and The Totally True Covers of True Adventure!  She also posted For Memorial Day!
  2. Erin shared North-West Romances, Jenny By Nature, Killer Come Back To Me, The Lessons of Love, Isolation, Dirty Harry, and Memorial Day At Freeman Park!
  3. Jeff reviewed Liberty & Bash and Graveyard Shift at the Riverview Motel!  
  4. Jeff shared a great moment from television history and a great moment from comic book history!
  5. I shared music videos from Em Beihold, Sarah Barrios, Jessie Murph, Paula Cole, Julia Rocka, Metric, and Upsahl!
  6. I shared my week in television, Why Study Speech?, and How Do You Know It’s Love?
  7. I shared an AMV for Clint Eastwood’s birthday!
  8. I took a look at the making of Dirty Harry!
  9. I shared my way too early Oscar predictions!
  10. I reviewed The Sky Is Everywhere, The Assassination Chain, Breezy, Escape From Alcatraz, Jud, and The Incredible Melting Man!
  11. I paid tribute to Marilyn Monroe, Howard Hawks, and Rainer Werner Fassbinder!
  12. I shared a scene from Magnum Force!
  13. I congratulated you on surviving the merry old month of May!

More From Us:

  1. Ryan has a patreon!  Consider subscribing!
  2. At her photography site, Erin shared bridge, garden, beacon, possum, tracks, another possum, and Pearl Harbor Memorial!
  3. At my music site, I shared songs from Rolling Stones, Adi Ulmansky, Donna Summer, Katy Perry, Martin Garrix, Daft Punk, and Jace Everett!

Check out last week by clicking here!

The Covers of Space Busters

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

In the far future, with Earth under constant threat from extraterrestrial invasion, it was up to Captain Crockett to fight invaders from outer space!

That was the idea behind Space Busters, a pulp comic/magazine that was briefly published in 1952.  Each issue featured the adventures of Captain Crockett, along with some other sci-fi tales that were not related to the captain and some non-fiction science articles.  Unfortunately, it appears that there were only two issues of Space Busters.  The first issue was dated March of 1952 and the second was dated August of 1952.  Readers decided not to follow the adventures of Captain Crockett, despite his hard work protecting the planet.

Today, both issues are eagerly sought by collectors, due to the fantastic covers that were done by Allen Anderson and Norman Saunders.  Captain Crockett may be gone but his legacy lives on.

by Norman Saunders

by Allen Gustav Anderson