NFT's February Mix

This mix is mostly about wrestling, hoverboards, the return of Shamrock shakes, and the Lego Movie.

Enjoy!

NFT's December Mix

Lost some creative juices this past week and still haven't finished my part 2 best of whatever list. I have however been making lots of mixes lately. here's one right now:

Enjoy!

PS: There's no Christmas music. 

NFT's October Mix

Almost forgot about this...

Starts with some regular jams and then at the end I put down some cool Halloween music I like for that full October feel. Check it out:

Enjoy!

Are You Afraid of the Dark? - The Tale of The Silver Sight

Last year I reviewed and sorted out some of my favorite episodes and films from one of my all time favorite childhood horror series, Goosebumps. It was a lot of fun and I was very proud of the outcome. This year I was planning on digging even deeper into the nostalgic pockets of my mind by searching for and reviewing my favorite Are You Afraid of the Dark? episodes. Unfortunately, as I started to dig and uncover what was going to be the ultimate blast-from-the-past trip-out of the last quarter century, I realized that I not only forgot many of the episodes, I also had not watched Are You Afraid of the Dark? since the last reruns stopped showing back in 2000. I did end up watching a lot of episodes, but I didn't feel it was appropriate to make any lists or "best of" posts. Plus, there are sites out there that already have the most obvious "best" episodes alongside the ones with Ryan Gosling, Melissa Joan Hart, Jay Baruchel, and other special guests you may not have known were in the show while growing up.

So, just as I was beginning to lose all hope, I managed to remind myself of one episode. It was a very different episode than the rest of the Are You Afraid of the Dark? series and I could only think of one part to help me search for it. So, I did a little research and actually came up with a result. What I discovered was more than your average episode of a Canadian kids fright show that aired almost 15 years ago; I discovered Are You Afraid of the Dark?'s greatest tale ever told, a 3 part episode called, The Tale of The Silver Sight!

The Tale of The Silver Sight was the first episode(s) of the last season, season 7, and is unlike any other Are You Afraid of the Dark? episode seen before (or after). A normal AYAOTD? episode starts with the Midnight Society getting together around the open fire in the deepest part of the woods with one of the members setting the mood for a story they were going to recite that night. In The Tale of The Silver Sight however, the episode does not start with the Midnight Society, or even someone telling a tale; it starts with Gary, the former president of the society who went off to college, having a nightmare and then getting a call of bad news from his grandmother. 

When Gary arrives at his grandmother's home, he learns that his grandfather passed away from an unexpected heart attack. Gary's grandmother then gives him something that his grandfather had left him; it's a broken piece of a record and a letter. As it turns out, Gary's grandfather was apart of the very first Midnight Society, where he and his friends conjured up a mystical artifact of some kind that helped them get anything they could ever ask for (because kids in the 30's had nothing better to do). The broken piece of the record is part of a guide that informs the listener just where this mystical object can be found and that the other pieces are with the original members who have not had unexpected heart attacks yet. 

Gary, after reading the note his grandfather left him with his piece of the record, shows his brother and new leader of the Midnight Society meetings, Tucker what he has just received and informs him that he'll be visiting the crew tonight for a very special meeting. As the episode rolls on, it is revealed that there is not a tale being told that night, but rather, the Midnight Society is in their own tale as Gary introduces them to the broken record, what the silver sight is, and why it needs to be destroyed. The current Midnight Society then split up like good mystery teams should and go on a search for the original members of the Midnight Society, the members' pieces of the record, and to destroy the silver sight once and for all. 

As Gary and his brother Tucker go on a search for a member of the original Midnight Society called "The General", Quinn has to go looking for "The Prom Queen" at the dump, and Megan, the team's residential preppy girl, finds herself in the sewers. Along the way, a young boy with raggedy old-timey clothes follows the Midnight Society around and seems to be helping them on their search for the broken record pieces... or so it seems.

Tucker is the first to find another piece of the record. Tucker retrieves the broken record piece when The General disappears from his home on Tucker's return to pick it up and instead has to play human chess like in the first Harry Potter book/movie. Then Quinn gets his piece of the record from the Prom Queen's unlucky true love (who now works at the city dump) by trading him a picture he made that The General stole way back in the day. This is the part where I should probably also mention that The General was the trader of the group and stole the Prom Queen from the dump guy but that's really not important in the end, so I'm just going to move on...

Then there is Megan, who had to go down in the sewer. Megan was looking for "The Tycoon" but instead discovers a family living there due to the silver sight causing them such misfortune. Megan even finds herself a nice sewer boy down there, but once she mentions the silver sight, the family kicks her out. Luckily, the boy knew where the piece was and told her to come back later to pick it up. When she goes to pick it up, the whole sewer home the family was living in is dismantled and some other shenanigans happens until Megan finally finds the record piece inside one of the boy's school books (even though he lives in a sewer).

Finally there's the scarred-y cat crew of Vange and Andy who must find the ring in the well - I mean record piece. Once they do though, the team just needs to put the record together and solve the riddle. Since the last piece is from the original member named "The Riddler", who happened to also own an amusement park, it was a safe bet to guess that the silver sight would be somewhere in the park. So, the team figures out that the silver sight must be located somewhere on the carousel (according to the riddle told from the record) and that's where they must go next.

Eventually the Midnight Society finds the damn thing. I'm not going to give that part away, but I will say that this part of the tale is what I remember most from watching The Tale of The Silver Sight a while back. The picture above is an example of the part permanently burned into my memory.

While this tale is about the Midnight Society themselves, it still follows a very similar theme that a lot of the tales told on Are You Afraid of the Dark? revolve around. The theme to most of the tales told have something to do with a spirit of a dead person, usually a kid, getting stuck in this life and needing the help of living people, usually kids, to get them to the other side/cross over to the afterlife by fulfilling some sort of task. This tale, while somewhat complex for such a simple kids show, was all about fulfilling what the original Midnight Society could not and that was destroying the silver sight for good. Once the silver sight was destroyed, the demon was vanquished and all the souls it had captured were set free. 

Anyways, enjoy this long forgotten gem. Your Halloween will be that much better!

NFT's May Mix

NFT May Mix

Inspired by that driving movie, Champale, the worst pizza I've ever eaten, classic underdog sports flix, and Mother's Day/Memorial Day.

Enjoy...

Happy Pie Day!

The Rock's gonna tell you little story about Pie...

"Ohhh, that's the pie you were talking about..." - Slick Rick (yes, thee Slick Rick or Slick Rick fame)

Enjoy!

12th and Last Day of NFT Christmas

Merry Christmas!

For all of you who do not celebrate Christmas or Chrimbus, I apologize. However, THIS will be my final post about such things for a long time.

I promise!

Here's what I have left:

Jamaican young-adult mutated ninja tortoises singing "Deck the Halls" with a bit of a pizza-themed twist.

Fan made Pokemon Christmas Bash video featuring Brock humping a Sudowoodo.

Christmas comes early for Doink the Clown when the real Santa Claus appears on WWF Superstars of Wrestling and delivers him his little friend, 'DINK". You know, since there can only be one Doink in the WWF.

Uncle Muscles sing his Christmas wishes. Ho ho ho.

Hope I got you everything you wanted!

11th Day of Christmas + Monday XXXXXXI

Day 11.

Monday:

Lvl Up - Space Brothers (2011)

Lvl Up features the likes of Dave Benton and Nick Corbo from Spook Houses and Sirs. This is sort of their side project featuring a bit more bedroom recording/acoustic/lo-fi stuff than those other bands.

Favorite track would have to be "NIGHTSHADE". Check 'em all out though!



Last.fm

The Chewers - Chuckle Change and also (2012)

The Chewers are a two-man outfit based in West Virginia that make "deliberately off-kilter" music.

Off-kilter is definitely one way of putting it...

I found out about this interesting band/album after looking through my spam mail the other day. I'm not sure how it ended up in there but I'm pretty glad I decided to check. It really makes me wonder how much stuff I miss when I don't check my spam!

Ayeyeyeye!

Official site
Soundcloud
Last.fm

/mu/ - A Very Merry Gripsmas (2011)

4chan made this last year. It's a Death Grips Christmas remix album.

Highlights include: "Takyon the Housetop", "Shock the Halls", and the bonus track, "I've Seen Jingle Bells".



That's all I got.

10th Day of NFT Christmas

Day 10.

Music:

Recently I sent in a playlist idea to one of the local record stores in town, Bull Moose, as they were putting on a contest where the best Christmas playlist posted on their Facebook wall ended up being played in their store one weekend in December. Unfortunately, I didn't win. I did however make it to 'the finals' though and truthfully had a lot of fun putting the damn thing together.

So, long story short, here is a Christmas playlist I made:

Songs not available on Spotify: I like Trains' "Last Christmas" (so I just put "The Christmas Tree Ship" on it instead), La Dispute's "Twas the Night Before Christmas", and Weezer's "The Christmas Song" (a Japanese B-side from 'The Green Album').

Hope you enjoy it!

9th Day of NFT Christmas

Day 9.

Man, I'm really running out of things:

Merry Chrimbus everybody.

8th Day of NFT Christmas

Day 8.

Music:

For the past 13 years, "Arbor Christmas" has been compiling a Christmas collection featuring the likes of By Surprise, It's a King Thing, The Fur Not Longs, Norick Eve, Ages, Young Statues, Aspiga and many more!

Arbor Christmas: Volume 13 (2012)

This 19 song compilation features un-stale holiday-themed jingles that are mostly original numbers. Plus they're by people and bands you don't hate yet! How can you go wrong?




Along with this collection, the people behind Arbor Christmas are putting on their 13th annual Christmas show in New Jersey where most of these acts are from and will be playing. It's a long standing tradition with a great story behind it as well!

All past years' compilations can still be found on Arbor Christmas's bandcamp - and all for free!

I'm also certain that Ages have created enough Christmas songs for these comps and on their own that they have compiled 'em all up and made a Christmas song anthology which is for free on their bandcamp!

Arbor Christmas (for more info on the show and stuff)

7th Day of NFT Christmas

Day 7.

Movie:

This Holiday season, Hulk Hogan is...

SANTA WITH MUSCLES!

There's been a lot of Santa's but none named 'Hulk'.

This complex tale of holiday nonsense also stars: a young Brenda Song, a young Mila Kunis, and the neighbor  from That 70's Show (also starring a more grown up Kunis), Don "Bob Pinciotti" Stark.

IMDB

Enjoy?!

P.S.: More music coming soon! I promise!

6th Day of NFT Christmas

Day 6.

Movie:

Jingle All The Way.

Yes. I'm serious. I like Jingle All The Way...

Because Christmas is really about getting the coolest action figure or having the coolest dad who can kick Santa's frost-bitten ass!

I was going to take this opportunity to write why I genuinely like this movie and how much I can relate to it, but then I figured, what's the use? I know it's bad. It's got Sinbad as a mailman for Christmas' sake! That won't stop me from watching it though.

If you would like to watch someone who at least acts like he hates this masterpiece, I highly recommend you watch the Nostalgic Critic review:

I would definitely watch the Turboman TV show, Doug! I would!

Also: Ironically I think I got a Jake Lloyd action figure for Christmas a few years after this movie came out:

As well as that annoying as hell Jar Jar!

You Mad?

5th Day of NFT Christmas

Day 5.

Wrestling miscellaneous:

In 1995, "Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase once again proved to everyone that he was the biggest heel with the biggest wallet after attacking Savio Vega with his latest purchase, Santa's brother! Ladies and gentleman, I present to you, hailing from the South Pole: Xanta Klaus

That's right! Xanta Klaus! The reverse Santa Clause who would wear black and red instead or white and red, lived in the South Pole instead of the North Pole, and, of course, stole presents instead of gave them!

At least this Claus brother is better than Vince Vaughn (Fred Claus).

Xanta Klaus only appeared a few times on screen in the WWF during the later parts of 1995; I'm guessing he had to go back to the South Pole to re-hydrate his evil powers or something and then his visa expired. He did however have one match while in that short time after appearing for the Christmas themed PPV, In Your House 5: Seasons Beatings, and it was on Raw against Scott Taylor AKA Scotty 2 Hotty! 

                      

Xanta Klaus by Wrestlegameshow

Truth be told, Xanta Klaus actually went east after the end of 1995 and took up a more hardcore wrestling approach as Balls Mahoney in ECW! Looking back on Balls' match as Mr. Klaus, we can see that the chair wielding manic actually knew how to wrestle! Yep, even with that silly costume on.

4th Day of NFT Christmas

Day 4.

Christmas Special:

Since I've never actually seen any of Pee-Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special passed the grand opening, I will be watching it as a little "study break" for myself today. And by little, I mean, all day.

Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special (TV) (1988)

Guest stars include: Frankie Avalon, Magic Johnson, Little Richard, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg, Grace Jones, Charo, K.D. Lang, Joan Rivers, and of course, Santa Claus!

"Mecca lecca hi mecca ho ho ho!"

Enjoy!

3rd Day of NFT Christmas

Day 3.

Music:

I LIKE TRAINS - The Christmas Tree Ship (2008) (re-released 2012)

I LIKE TRAINS (formerly iLiKETRiANS) re-released their 2008 instrumental concept album entitled, 'The Christmas Tree Ships' after the tragic November 23, 1912 sinking of the Rouse Simmons, a schooner that was nicknamed the Christmas Tree Ship since it carried Christmas trees. 

This time though, I LIKE TRAINS has decided to make it one continues stream of music rather than 5 different tracks. Usually I'm not a big fan of tracks from albums becoming one long piece for my convenience, but this is really much better as one entity. Plus, it's post rock. Post rock tracks are supposed to be long and contain all sorts of parts or "scenes" to give them that orchestral story-telling feel.

The Christmas Tree Ship's "scenes" include, the opening title track about the Rouse Simmons itself, the next three about the other ships that sank that night: "South Shore", "Two Brothers" and "Three Sisters", and the last track, "Friday, Everybody Goodbye" which is dedicated to the opening line of a message in a bottle thrown overboard by the captain. 

Also, if historic ship-sinkings and everyone dying doesn't get you in the holiday spirit, I LIKE TRAINS also have their rendition of "Last Christmas" which is still available here.

Official page

Bandcamp

Last.fm

2nd Day of NFT Christmas

Day 2.

Movie:

The other day, I had a overwhelming nostalgic trip while watching The Santa Clause 3. Not because of my love for the perfect third installment of a beautiful Tim Allen classic (this time featuring one of the greatest actors/celebrities/human beings/someone absolutely watchable/not terrible in any way, Martin Short) but quite the opposite. I was actually so embarrassed that Santa Clause 3: whatever the rest of it was called still existed that my mind started to drift off and put me in a dream sequence where I was a little kid again watching a Christmas movie I had once very much enjoyed. After waking up from this odd Santa Clause 3 paralysis and nostalgic coma, I went on a search to find this mysterious Christmas movie of my past... AKA I went on the computer and looked up: "What is that Christmas movie where they can stop time and must put all the Christmas presents back on Christmas eve" via Google.

Lo and behold, if you actually type all that into Google and press search, the Wikipedia for the movie I was looking for comes up first thing! 'Twas the Night is the name of the movie and it was a classic Disney Channel movie that aired in 2001. It stars Bryan Cranston (or Walter White from Breaking Bad/Hal from Malcolm in the Middle) as a character named Nick Wragley who must pay off thugs that are after his Bosses bank account... by Christmas no less. What does Nick decide to do? He decides to steal Christmas presents on Christmas night after finding out that Santa uses a device to stop time so no one can see the big guy putting children's goodies under the tree!

Not in picture: Elf Jesse

That's Right, folks! Not only has Cranston sold Crystal Meth to save his son from dying, he has also murdered Santa and stolen Christmas to settle a debt for his boss.

Okay, Nick doesn't really kill Santa, but still. He does however knock him unconscious, so it's not like good ol' Kris Kringle just fell off the roof and Nick must fill in for him...

Evenly though Nick's nephew, Danny, who comes for the ride with his uncle as he pretends to be Santa, figures out that he is Grinch-ing everyone out of their presents rather than playing Santa like Tim the Tool Man once did. Feeling betrayed, Danny decides to take off on Santa's fancy new sleigh leaving impostor Santa to fend for himself and learn a bunch of Christmas and family values along the way.

Now doesn't that sound a lot better than Santa Clause 3?

I Do.

'Twas the Night (2001)

IMDB

Happy 2nd day of Christmas!

12 Days of Nostalgia For Tomorrow Christmas

Something about being away from home has caused me to miss the little things in life... Normally I wouldn't be excited about covering by blog with Christmas related posts and being in a 'seasons greetings' mood. Bahumbag! But I miss the simpler times nowadays; the times when I had nothing better to do but wait for Santa to show up at my house (even though I never had a chimney), eat my cookies, drink (most of) my milk, and hopefully leave me the right action figures I had asked for.

So, in the spirit of the great horned hunter god, the Christmas ham, Krampus, Satan, and Saint Nick himself, I present The 12 Days of Nostalgia For Tomorrow Christmas! Sit back, relax, drink some eggnog, and get excited about Christmas again!

Day 1.

Music:

Listener & Dust - Just in Time for Christmas (2005)

Yes, Listener has a Christmas album. But it's not the same 'talk music' Dan Smith that we all know from Wooden Heart. No, in 2005 Dan Smith was still rapping and rapping well for that matter... even if it was about Santa and behaving for the good list. Of course that's not really what this Christmas related album is all about; it's actually much more about real topics like faith, the true meaning of Christmas, poverty, consumerism, and other more serious things than 'hey, it's Christmas! Here's a generic Christmas carol because there's no real-world problems during X-mas".

You don't have to be a religious person to appreciate this little gem either, just remember that Christmas, like any other day, or any other season, will never be perfect. It can actually be a really shitty time...

But let's not dwell on that.

Listener is also accompanied by his friend and Deepspace 5 mate, DJ Dust AKA Nate Corrona of Mars ILL who can be heard on the last track, "That Leaf Sure is Heavy, But You Have to Turn it Over" (I believe).



Love it or hate it, this is an original Christmas album. Anyone can cover 8 classic Christmas tunes - and they do i.e. every pop star who has ever been popular ever. And while not a lot of folks are listeners of Dan Smith for his Deepspace 5 Christian rap days material, it's still him. I mean isn't talk music rap, anyways?

Interesting things to note: Dust is a name of 18 different artists according to Last.fm and, according to Wikipedia, DJ Dust's real name is Adolf Hitler. I kid you not! That sure puts a damper on this whole Christmas album thing if that is true...

Dan Smith's official site (cleverly titled 'thedancemyth')
Last.fm (Listener)
Last.fm (Listener & Dust)

Bonus:

This year for Christmas, Santa Claus is not going to be giving out coal for all you boys and girls on the naughty list. Nope, instead those of you who decided to misbehave this year will receive and must watch beginning-to-end, A Christmas Story 2.

That's right! This year Hollywood not only tried to recycle old toys to movies (again) and 80's flix that the kids today don't know about, they also did THIS. This right here is just plain silliness. Than again, one man's angry rant is another man's (my) pleasure. I actually don't find these things as horrible and "OMG my childhood has been raped in its terribly metaphor-ed anus " as internet people badger on about with shitty things like this. I understand why these kinds of blasphemy-inducers are conceived; it's a cheap way to make some quick money and piss people off. Seriously though, no one asked for this piece of presumable garbage but hey, I might actually make the best of it and watch the damn thing. I won't pay for it or anything but I may have to witness just how bad it really is for myself. Because I'm human... I love watching horrible things.

For anyone who would like to hear more about the sequel to probably the best Christmas movie ever made, I'd suggest checking out the review on Wrestlecrap.com, a site that is usually dedicated to the very worst of pro wrestling - which there is never any shortage of. Trust me.

I don't want to give anything away.. but at one point, a supposedly 15 year old Ralphie, supposedly since he looks old enough to drink through this movie, ends up doing this:

Courtesy of Wrestlecrap

Merry first day of Christmas everyone!

Happy Father's Day!

My dad is the coolest dad in dad school.

Dads - Brush Your Teeth Again ;) (2011)

These guys put the "dads" in twinkly daddies. Just some messy sounding emo/punk caused by two instruments from New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Get into it.

Last.fm (free stuff)

My dad's spending his father's day cleaning out the shed.

Bonus:

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day. Hope everyone has a cool mom like me. If not... get a new one!

Songs for Moms - I Used To Believe In The West (2009)

Not really Mother's Day related but I don't think they would mind me plugging them here for their name. But hey, nothing really says Mother's Day more than female melodic/pop punk anyways. Am I right or am I right? Fun, fun stuff.

Bandcamp
Last.fm

Elsewhere:

Nothing says Mother's Day like whistling about it, either:

Thank yo mamas.