Saturday, March 27, 2010

Odd Bits - March Madness Edition

I had so much fun posting last week about the hypothetical sitcom I want to create about my friend Kelly.  That post also had a link to an earlier situation that came from our sitcom-idea document, that talked about her longstanding wish to kidnap Penguins defenseman Kris Letang and keep him in the Silence of the Lambs pit she wants to dig in her basement. 
This is a shot I took of Letang (or “Le Unicorn” as he’s sometimes called by the ladies) in 2008, as the Anthem was finishing up.  So you can see why “Kelly” thinks he’s “pit-worthy.”

Then I found an old email thread in which we came up with another episode idea.  I thought I’d get another cheap post out of it share it with you today.

The email started with us discussing an online video of the Penguins doing a charity bowling event, followed by the house warming party she was planning for the weekend, which was being threatened by yet another massive snowstorm.  She’d already cancelled one a couple of weeks earlier, for the same reason.

Bluz: I totally want one of those bowling shirts.  It they’re smart, they’ll be marketing them on NHL.com.

Kelly: I'll be sure to grab you one out of the closet of whomever I spend the night with...

Bluz: L. O. F’n. L.
 You just made me have to clamp my hands over my mouth.  I think I burst an eardrum.
Do you purposely schedule your parties for bad weather?

Kelly: It’s a test of my friends’ true friendship… 

Nothing’s going to happen.  It’s too soon to know for sure.  If I have to sit by myself and eat a whole pan of baked ziti and drink a whole case of wine…  gosh darnit, I will!!  I’m having this party, even if it’s only me.  Screw the weather and the weatherman!!!

Bluz: You know, that sounds like an episode.

I know, it’s too far out for them to have the forecast pinned down… But that’s not stopping them from the Traditional Pre-Storm Hype:

HERE COMES THE KILLER DEATH SNOW… TAKE PRECAUTIONS… LOOT THE SUPERMARKET… TAKE SHELTER IN THE STORM CELLAR!!!.  (Or in your case, the Wine Cellar.  Or the Pit.)

Bluz (again): Just added this to the sitcom document:

    “You Gotta Fight (For Your Right to Party)” – Kelly keeps trying to throw a housewarming party and it always ends up on the same night as some kind of weather-related disaster.  She finally commits to having one no matter what and of course there’s a blizzard.  Must include scene with Kelly sitting on the floor alone, surrounded by empty wine bottles with pasta in her hair, spooning ziti directly from the pan.  Her cats are sitting around her, wearing tiny little party hats.  Party music is playing.  Wii Bowling is set up on the TV… you can see her name as a player, with 3 other names on the scoreboard reading Someone, No one, and Kris Letang.
Or maybe Letang is still in The Pit, shown yelling, “Can I have some ziti?”

(Every episode has a title taken from a 1980’s or 90’s song.)

Kelly: I love the part with Kris Letang in The Pit yelling “can I have some ziti?”  Cracks me up!!

Bluz: OK, I’ll add that… I only thought of it when I wrote the email.
Question though… if he’s in The Pit, would she still have his name on the Wii?

Eh, probably…
It would make it funnier if, even though she had the guy in the basement, she’s still “daydreaming” about him…

Kelly: When it was his turn to bowl – “Kelly” will yell down to The Pit – “It’s your turn.  I’ll bowl for you.  You got a strike.” And I’ll do an air high-5 in the direction of The Pit.

Bluz: Beautiful… I know just how to frame it…

You see “Kelly” saying “It’s your turn… I’ll bowl for you.”
Then you see the look on his face, down in The Pit, and hear “Kelly” say, “You got a strike.”
Back to her for the high five.

I see a graphic during the end credits, “No hockey players were actually kidnapped during the production of this show.  Yet.”

Kelly: This brilliance needs to be shared with the world!!

OK, this is probably all the exposure it’s ever going to get.  Isn’t the creative process fascinating?

March Madness
The NCAA tournament is in full swing.  Me… I’m not really into college basketball.  I may get mildly interested around the Final Four.  But for the most part, this is my kind of March Madness:


This was always one of my favorite videos.  It looks like it was shot for about $75, but still kills.  I use this tune as an eraser, too.

You know how sometimes you get a song stuck in your head and can’t get it out?  I hate that, especially if it’s a song I don’t like, or worse, a commercial jingle.  When that happens, I use an “eraser”.  That’s what I call a song I forcibly jam in there and concentrate on, to remove the previous earworm.
 
Granted, that song is then stuck in my head, but at least it’s an upgrade. 

8 comments:

Mary Ann said...

All the sins of your youth are erased and forgiven because of your picture of the "Unicorn". He can have all the ziti his little LeTang heart desires.
The guys in the video should be confined.

bluzdude said...

You can invite Letang over for ziti yourself. And of course, wear your Letang jersey.

That video is more fun than should be allowed in one clip.

Hey, what sins of youth? I was the Good One. All downhill after me...

Mary Ann said...

What about the black footprints on the shower walls?
What apron should I wear? Don't want to splash my LeTang jersey.
The guys in the video remind me of the goobers at our Saturday night high school dances except for the guy in the undershirt and the sax player with the sunglasses.

bluzdude said...

Those weren't my footprints...

I think the guys from Madness all came direct from the Ministry of Silly Dances.

CrackerLilo said...

I haven't thought about that song in forever! Thanks for that. Thanks also for the idea of an "eraser" song. I had a few and didn't even know it!

I'm really not into March Madness, either.

The sitcom seems more watchable than most anything else on TV, including the Office lately. Given the fact that Letang injured Evgeni Malkin's foot with a puck 'cause he can't find the goal lately, I think he belongs in Kelly's basement eating her ziti.

bluzdude said...

Lilo:
The "Eraser"... another fine idea brought to you by your friends at Darwinfish!

Remember how much fun MTV used to be? (OK, you may be too young to remember the early days...) I used to sit and watch MTV for hours with my finger on the "record" button, waiting for my favorite songs to come on. The early videos were so cheesy. I remember the English bands had a leg up because videos were being made and shown in Europe long before MTV came to be. Then they started putting stories into them, and you didn't see as many "performance" videos. Back then, unless you went to a live show, you had no idea what the band was like when they played.

Going by the comments directly above, I think "Kelly" may have to fight my mom for the rights to "Pit" Letang.

VetTech said...

I'd watch that sitcom :-)
Few people remember it but videos were around long before MTV, they were around back in the 70's...there used to be a show on late nights called Don Kirshner's Rock Concert.. they used to play Rush and ELO videos...it was lame and cheesy, but it was the precursor to music television.

bluzdude said...

I remember watching those old videos too... What was the other show, the Midnight Special? They played videos from time to time...

I guess MTV just came along and expanded on it the idea.