Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Pheaturing Kamp David


Hey, guess what day it is? Hump Day! Woot Woot! Haha. If I made that commercial it would look like this.


Good evening, and welcome to a late Phile. I should be getting ready for bed, not doing this bloody thing, but I'm dedicated... or stupid. If you're wondering what happened to the Phile on Monday,w ell, I am wondering that as well. Thing's got messed up, mixed up, screwed up. It's here now though.  Spike Lee is being sued by a septuagenarian Florida couple after he accidentally encouraged mob justice against them by retweeting their address to the world, thinking he was encouraged mob justice against George Zimmerman in the wake of Trayvon Martin's murder. Though he apologized for attempting to turn hordes of bloodthirsty vigilantes against them, the couple are for some reason not satisfied. You know, I think we've come a very long way in race relations until I hear white people say "a Spike Lee joint".  Toronto Mayor Rob Ford may be refusing to step down from office... even though he's admitted to having a drinking problem and having smoked crack cocaine and a video of him going off on some kind of insane rant about his van down by the river (or something) turned up on the Internet last week. But he might do the next best thing: pretend to get better by spending a few weeks vacationing at a rehab center. After that, hopefully, the press will let him get back to his real job: personally draining the city dry of intoxicants. For the people.  I had a feew emails from people asking me why I didn't mention the typhoon that hit the Phillipines yesterday. By the way, typhoon is just a fancy word for hurricane. So, I'll mention it here... Approximately 10,000 people are suspected dead after Typhoon Haiyan, one of the worst storms in recorded history, swept through the Philippines, destroying homes, schools and untold lives. The tragic consequences of this natural disaster are unimaginable, so I recommend you try not to imagine it and instead read some dumb story about a really smart dog. Oh and by the way, America, Scott Baio, Bill Cosby and Miss Universe are trending above Typhoon Haiyan. Bad America! Bad!  And now for the smart dog story. You didn't think there was one, did you? Chaser, the 9-year-old border collie from South Carolina, is so smart, he knows practically 1,000 words and has the approximate intellect of a human toddler or an average Phile blogger. One researcher claims that she is "the most scientifically important dog in over a century," which is saying something considering Spuds MacKenzie only died twenty years ago.  It has recently come to light that the Ohio man who was arrested for making love to a pool raft in front of impressionable children over the summer also had sex with a pumpkin from a Halloween display. The man sure does get around in the seasonal-themed fuck prop circles.  Marvel Comics has announced that it is rebooting its classic blonde white superhero character Ms. Marvel as a 16-year-old Pakistani-American girl who happens to be Muslim. This represents a huge leap for the publisher, not only for its showing of racial diversity, but for its innovativeness in pissing off its largely sexist racist xenophobic fanbase. It's gonna be one small step for feminist nerds, but a giant leap for girls with flying powers.   Did you guys see the Half-Man/Half-T-Rex guy at the LSU versus Alabama game? I didn't, but I was told about it. It's weird. Take a look.


That should be a Mindphuck.  On Sunday I went to see Thor The Dark World. Thor didn't seem as tough and all together in this film as he did in his previous films.


He's doing that Miley thing with his tongue. What's he gonna do next with his hammer?  Speaking of Thor, did you see the new Charmin toilet paper ad? It was pulled rather quickly but I have it here.


Asgardian. Get it? Haha.  Last night "The Walking Dead" was on and I still didn't see it. But apparently there was something in it in Sunday's episode that I kinda wish I did.


He will try to bite you, but he will miss. That's so stupid. Well, this month is the 50th anniversary of "Doctor Who". But the TARDIS and items from "Doctor Who" were first seen in the Disney classic Sleeping Beauty in 1959, four years prior. Don't believe me? Take a look.


That's a beautiful picture, right?  On the same day "Doctor Who" turns 50, which is November 23rd, I turn 45. I would love a cake for my birthday, and I hope it doesn't look like this...


That's disgusting. Okay, now for...



It appears that they have smallered Thor. Sure, call it evolution if you want. Maybe it is. But the grand, egocentric, weird-talking Thor we were introduced to in the first film and then in The Avengers has been intimately involved with puny Earthlings for long enough that they seem to be rubbing off on him in both word and deed. And it's fine, really, a Thor who goes along to get along so that people can understand him and not flee in terror. He's not a one-man show here. Outside of these eponymous adventures he's part of a team of superheroes who'll never be done saving the world from this or that galactic bad thing. But it's an adjustment audiences will have to make as this character becomes more and more familiar and less and less imposing, no matter how well he hurls that hammer.  Meanwhile, Thor's to-do list of action and responsibility has gotten more expansive and complicated. This time around a dark elf named Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) wants to obliterate everything because our universe ate his. Something like that. Revenge. Without divulging too much plot (and there's a lot of it and I was told by a panicky Marvel expert that even mentioning some of the processes, space-items and Marvel universe specifics that unfold in this film constitutes giving away too much), Malekith is going to use the thoroughly destructive Aether to carry out his plan unless someone stops him. Who will that be?  As staggeringly expensive place-holders go, this one delivers enough good times to tide over fans until the next Avengers movie, just not in the way the studio might hope. Most of the huge destroy-all-everything set pieces, with one visually inventive and very exciting third act exception that counts as a dimension-blasting payoff for an earlier plot point, are not entirely memorable. It may be that we've all seen too many of them at this point or maybe there was a rush to release, but they feel weightless. There's no sense of genuine threat or fear or suspense. It's a battle cartoon and it looks like it.  Setting that gripe aside for a bit, the pleasures here are many and they come at you fast. The Disney/Marvel films to date, even the not-so-good ones, have prioritized light over dark, exuberance over Great Big Brooding Unhappiness. They remember that POW and BANG are as important as indelible image and great meaning, sometimes even more, and they aren't afraid of comedy. That's good for Thor The Dark World, because the casual viewer is still surface-rewarded even as the film trots out a lot of Marvel deep-nerdisms for the truly devoted. It's a wilder, more complicated, sometimes more confusing and just plain weirder expanse of universe(s) that Thor navigates here. There are in-jokes and not-so-in-jokes, a Kat Dennings we can finally enjoy, surprising cameos to keep the cross-pollination factor loaded up and, maybe best of all, Tom Hiddleston hitting his stride as Loki. The franchise is in love with this character and it shows. He's equal parts badass, effete lunatic and stylish monster and if Chris Hemsworth doesn't watch out, the man is going to walk away with every movie he's in from this point forward.  Ultimately, the joy of this sprawling, multi-tentacled and soon multi-galaxied franchise is the same kind that inspired kids in generations past to return to the next chapter of serial adventure shorts. The heroes swagger, the villians are cruel, the outcome telegraphed for maximum comfort. You don't care if it teaches you anything, but you have to find out what's next, even if what's next is pretty much just what you figured it would be. From 1 to 10 Thor The Dark World gets an 8.







This is cool. Today's pheatured guest was supposed to be just Greg Radcliffe, the guitarist for the British band Kamp David, but the whole band wanted to take part. They have a new album titled "Westway to Vegas" which is available right now on Amazon. Please welcome to the Phile from Kamp David... Murray Golding, Greg Radcliffe, Kirsty Wone, Belle Star, Tom Turner and Adam Adorjan.


Me: Hello, kids, welcome to the Phile. How are you?

Greg: Very well, sir. Just released our second album "Westway to Vegas". Now looking forward to going out and playing it.

Me: You're a pretty big band with six members, and you're from all around the world, am I right?

Greg: Correct.You should try organizing it.

Me: So, which one of you founded the band?

Greg: Two of us. Me an Muz.

Me: I take it that Muz is Murray. How did you all meet?

Greg: At "Mamma Mia" The Abba musical.

Me: Murray, you're from Australia, right? What part?

Murray: Melbourne.

Me: The band is based in England, so I have to ask, why did you leave Australia?

Murray: The weather is better in Australia. The party's better in England!

Me: I'm originally from England but live in Florida now, and yes, the weather is better in Florida as well. What part of England are you guys based? I'm guessing London.

Greg: Correct. By the way have been to Steak and Shake in Orlando.

Me: Really? I go to the one here in Clermont quite a bit. Kirsty, you're from Australia as well, did you move to England with Murray?

Kirsty: No, Germany first. Then the U.K.

Me: Adam, you're from Hungary, so where did you meet the band?

Adam: Google maps.

Me: Haha. Belle, it says you're from Camden, where is that? And did you know there was a band in the U.K. in the 70s and 80s called The Belle Starrs? They might be together still, I dunno.

Belle: Camden, London. Yes,  I know Jenny Belle Star. She was at our gig at Bar Solo.

Me: That's cool. Alright, we established where you are all from, let's talk about your music. You have a second album out called "Westway to Vegas". Have any of you guys been to Vegas? If so, what did you think?

Tom: No, but Muz and Gregster have been to America a lot and we’re on the way to Vegas now.

Me: So, who does most of the songwriting in the band?

Tom: Muz and Gregster.

Me: How does this album differ from your first album "Red Hotel"?

Greg: Is a lot cooler with retro influences.

Me: It sounds like you guys are influenced by 70s glam music such as Queen but I hear a little Duran Duran here and there. Do you all have the same influences music wise?

Greg: No, but all the influences make it sound like that.

Me: I have to ask you about the band name... in America do you know what Camp David is?

Murray: Of course we do.

Me: I bet a lot of people don't though. Who came up with the band name and what does it mean?

Murray: Greg and I did on a phone call, I agreed to do the band if we called it that, it was his suggestion…

Me: And why the K in Kamp?

Murray: K is for Kellogg's, K is for ketamine, K is for Kamp. Actually K is stronger than C graphically and also we didn’t want any probs with The White House.

Me: Good point. You kids look like you're not into relaxing but a party band, is that true?

Greg: Yes... you can sleep when you’re dead...

Me: What has ben the craziest thing you guys did together as a band?

Greg: We got together is the craziest thing I think any of us have done.

Me: Your new single is "Co Co". What does that mean?

Greg: It just scammed. Co Co the clown, Co Co Pops, I should Co Co. I always wanted to a video with a cereal killer clown called Co Co. Half droog, half Dorothy.

Me: I have no idea what you're talking about. Haha. Okay, so, I did my research on you and Kirsty, I saw a picture of you on a pole, upside down and I thought... whoa! I have to show that picture here.


Me: How long have you been that talented, does it take practice and is that the kinda thing I would see in a Kamp David show?

Kirsty: I was born with the talent and as to the second question, come and see us live.

Murray: Not just yet, there’s not enough bloody room on stage! Kirsty is better on the pole than me, we were probably drunk at the time…where did you see that?

Me: On her Facebook page. Kirsty, you were in "The Lion King" show in the West End? How long did you do that and what character did you play?

Kirsty: Until the food ran out. I ran around as half the zoo.

Me: Greg, I have to ask you about your guitar playing. How long have you been playing, and who do you think is the greatest guitar player ever?

Greg: All day!! And apart from myself, George Formby.

Me: So, now you have a new album out, will you be touring over here in America?

Murray: We’d love to!

Me: Good, bring the stripper pole. Okay, so, on the Phile I ask random questions thanks to Tabletopics... are you ready? Any or all can answer this. Has anything bad happened to you that turned out to be for the best?

Murray: Yes, we found a Star in Belle as a drummer.

Me: That's it? Okay then. Thanks, kids, for being on the Phile. Mention your website and continued success. Keep rocking!

Greg: Keep in touch kamp-david.co.uk, Twitter @KampDavid69, Twitter fans @KampireCircus.

Me: Good job, kids. Come back any again.




Well, that about does it for this entry. Thanks to the kid's from Kamp David. The Phile will be back on Sunday with singer Janet Abramson and then on Monday with Britt Brombacker, the BlondeNerd. So, spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye. Strawberry Blondes Forever!!




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