Hey! Check out the new Wiretap trailer. With never before seen footage of Josh Karpati (looks exactly how I imagined him) and Buzz Goldstein (looks different from how I imagined him). Also see Sam Shalabi, Howard Chackowicz, Jon Tucker and ….. The Barber!
Oh, and by the way, I would’ve owned in the Wiretap quiz he gives. Missed opportunity.
Hi, pals. I’ve got summaries for you: Why We Mistakes and Adam and Eve.
These episodes are quite the treat. Adam and Eve had a performance by John K Samson of The Weakerthans, Christine Fellows, and Leanne Zacharias. The trio appeared on Ms. Fellows albums Paper Anniversary and The Last One. Also, Why We Mistakes has a funny bit with Howard and Wiretap newcomer Natalie Karneef. Also, there’s an interview with Joe Hallinan, author of Why We Make Mistakes. More details inside.
AThis week’s episode has gobs of references, and the debut of Starlee buddy and Post-it Note Stories partner Arthur Jones. Check out the summary and then these links:
Anyway, this episode features 50 fun facts about the United States and some pronunciation lessons from David Rakoff (though no one flagged the unsavory pronunciation of “Ill-eh-noise,” which is really only acceptable when Sufjan Stevens does it). Buzz Goldstein hangs out too and Tucker is mentioned, as usual.
Just posted episode summaries of “Human Nature” and “Who Wants to Live Forever?”
Here’s what’s inside:
And more, of course.
Hello, handful of readers.
I have been terribly remiss. Some stuff came up last week and I completely missed recording the episode*.
Luckily, though, I grabbed this week’s episode, “Human Nature,” with Heather O’Neill, Howard Chackowicz, Gregor Ehrlich and Dyna Goldstein. Summary from CBC:
“Human Nature?” This week on WireTap, flying cows that leak milk from the sky, and a hippopotamus that hangs upside down like a sloth: it’s Heather O’Neill’s retelling of the H.G. Wells classic, The Island of Dr. Moreau. Plus, Jonathan’s weekend alone in the woods turns out to be less like Weldon Pond [sic], and more like the Blair Witch Project.
“Human Nature?”
This week on WireTap, flying cows that leak milk from the sky, and a hippopotamus that hangs upside down like a sloth: it’s Heather O’Neill’s retelling of the H.G. Wells classic, The Island of Dr. Moreau. Plus, Jonathan’s weekend alone in the woods turns out to be less like Weldon Pond [sic], and more like the Blair Witch Project.
Also, last week’s National Post article was weird – published on Monday and not findable on the National Post Web site. So here it is: Rain Drops Keep Fallin’ on My Head. A good read, for anyone interested in hearing more about Jon Tucker’s bald spot.
*update: It appears that my hero SupernintendoChalmers got last week’s episode, “Who wants to live forever.”
So hooray for that. I haven’t even listened to it, so I’ll have a summary up when I do.
Also, you’ll notice on the CBC Web site, there is a clip of Jonathan talking to the devil. That comes from the Wiretap Halloween Special from 2004, which features at least one squirrel fight.
Discussed in this Wednesday’s National Post article:
“Manarchy” – just dudes hanging out. i.e. Josh, Tucker, Jonathan, et al. enjoying a night of scotch, pizza and stout beer. See: Man Is a Rope Between Ordinary and Extraordinary.
“Phone-abler” – akin to an enabler, one who enables another to persist in self-destructive behavior via the telelphone. See: Man Versus Himself
I thought I had more. I guess I don’t. I’ll get back to you.
(Note, I had originally uploaded Life is Lovely, but SupernintendoChalmers has it up now so I’m going to take down my link. If you don’t already, I encourage you to subscribe to his feed. You can do so by clicking the RSS icon on the right.)
Oh. Well looks like Ruby, Starlee Kine’s intern, is a real person. Sorry about that. I guess I denied it out of jealousy. If I could’ve been Jonathan Goldstein’s intern at 16, I think I could consider myself fulfilled. Although the intern position at Wiretap is perhaps more ill-fated than the Defense Against the Dark Arts position at Hogwarts. (Was that okay? To make a Harry Potter reference? Do Wiretap fans like Harry Potter?)
Anyway, this week’s episode drew heavily from National Post articles. The show kicked off with some diary entries about Tucker spitting in his own coffee, mohawks, souvlaki and Jonathan in a bathing suit.
These thoughts originally appeared in the articles “Get out of my dreams, get into my copy store” on June 11, 2008 and “The Truth about Spats and Dogs” from June 4, 2008.
The monologue rolled right into a conversation where Jonthan quizzes Tucker about his everyday surroundings.
In the next bit, Jonathan mentions MELBA TOAST, stating “After spending an hour eating breadsticks and melba toast over the sink while reading grocery circulars, I come to the conclusion that my life, too, lately has become more than a little stagnant.”
This rolls into a three-way conference call with Starlee and her intern, Ruby. Some material from the July 23, 2008 “How to buy cottage cheese” appears in this bit.
Jonathan re-introduces himself to Ruby as Starlee’s “older gentleman friend.” I’d like to someday introduce myself as that, rather than so-and-so’s “scrappy sidekick.”
Lastly, Gregor eggs Jonathan on to take dance lessons. In case you were wondering, Goldstein’s signature moves are the robot, “stir the pot” and “shuffle from foot to foot” and “throw in some kicks.”
The episode closes out with Jonathan learning the Soulja Boy dance from ZouZou.
As an aside, this is the first episode which I recorded myself. If anyone missed it, I’ll email it to you or something. Because I have nowhere to host it. And SuperNintendoChalmers will have tomorrow, hopefully.
(Psst. Just joking. Check out the summary to listen.)
Luckily I wasn’t wrong about it being JG’s 39th birthday last week. Here’s what he had to say about the matter in his last National Post piece:
Thursday. It’s close to midnight and tomorrow’s my 39th birthday. I receive an email from Tucker in anticipation. “We could have a few guys over to my place tomorrow and watch you get drunk and fall slowly out of your chair until you’re asleep on the floor. Then we’ll play you a British-speaking subliminal tape recording so when you awake, you’ll think you’re from Yorkshire. Welcome to the last year of your thirties, mate!” I’m starting to wish you could skip from 38 straight to 40. There’s something more dignified about that. It would be like taking control of your destiny before destiny takes control of you. Hanging on to the last dregs of your thirties strikes me as desperate. Tomorrow will involve dinner with my parents and phone messages from my friends’ kids singing Happy Birthday. I’m sure it’s just me, but every year the tone of their singing seems to get more mocking. It’s 11:55 p. m. when I crack open a bottle of Jack Daniels I’ve been saving. “Mr. Daniels,” I say. “I think this is going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” I pour out a shot, brace myself, and wait.
Thursday. It’s close to midnight and tomorrow’s my 39th birthday. I receive an email from Tucker in anticipation.
“We could have a few guys over to my place tomorrow and watch you get drunk and fall slowly out of your chair until you’re asleep on the floor. Then we’ll play you a British-speaking subliminal tape recording so when you awake, you’ll think you’re from Yorkshire. Welcome to the last year of your thirties, mate!”
I’m starting to wish you could skip from 38 straight to 40. There’s something more dignified about that. It would be like taking control of your destiny before destiny takes control of you. Hanging on to the last dregs of your thirties strikes me as desperate.
Tomorrow will involve dinner with my parents and phone messages from my friends’ kids singing Happy Birthday. I’m sure it’s just me, but every year the tone of their singing seems to get more mocking.
It’s 11:55 p. m. when I crack open a bottle of Jack Daniels I’ve been saving.
“Mr. Daniels,” I say. “I think this is going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” I pour out a shot, brace myself, and wait.
Google is a haven for red herrings. For example:
