OK, so last week I promised a full-on Asperger’s mind journey, and that’s just what you’re gonna get this week. For those who don’t know, I have Asperger’s which is basically means I’m high-functioning with low-level Autism. Because I’m lower on the spectrum, the symptoms aren’t quite as obvious to others (or myself, for years) but they’re mostly all still there in their various shapes and ways they rear their ugly heads. Like repetitive behavior (like how I eat the same thing for lunch every day: two eggs, shredded chicken, spinach and salsa verde evenly divided between three corn tortillas with tortilla chips on the side. Or how after a show, I always come home and have a glass, or two, of bourbon and big scoop of cottage cheese. Weird, I know but that’s what I have to do), obsessive/repetitive interests (how late at night, before going to bed, I need my fix of Rick & Morty despite having played through all the episodes at least 12 times, with some episodes nearing 50 views or how I once listened to nothing but Open Mike Eagle’s “VERY MUCH MONEY” for almost a month. Luckily, no one had to share a car with me on any road trips that month…) and difficulties with social interaction/non-verbal communication (how small talk is extremely difficult, but if you wanted to, say, MAKE LISTS OF UNIMPORTANT THINGS or hear me rant about how much I hate plastic and the oil industry or hear a profanity-laced rant about HOW FIGURE SKATER MEDVEDEVA GOT SCREWED OUT OF A GOLD MEDAL AT THE LAST WINTER OLYMPICS, yes, I’m still pissed about that; all of those would be easy for me). All of which is to say, I’m wildly off topic and we haven’t even started… So, we might as well get going…
1) The Great British Bake Off - Season 10 - Why does Paul Hollywood hate Steph so much?
I know, you’re like “what?” Bradley likes baking shows? Well, kind of. I like this one (especially since the reboot with Richmond from IT Crowd, or whatever his real name is) and the holiday ones that are coming up soon. But that aside, Paul continually tries to put Steph in the middle to possibly going home range but she’s won star baker like 4-5 times this year, including a three in a row run in the middle of the season. Why is he looking to boot her out? He even snubbed her a handshake, which is a big deal for those who don’t watch, happens only 1-2 times per year for doing really fantastically well, then had what appeared to be a make-up handshake the next week and gave out a second right after to make it not seem as important. Seems like he was told by the producers he had to, so he did another to water it down. I’ve never like Paul but I especially don’t after this season. Why can’t Steph just be awesome and kick ass this season? Why is he trying to poo-poo her as the clear front-runner? I don’t get it but it’s been bothering me so I’ve been bringing it up unprompted as much as possible to try and uncover the answer to this riddle.
2) Why isn’t Meatloaf more revered as an artist?
In his heyday, he was essentially a mix of Elton John and Bruce Springsteen. I mean, come the fuck on WITH HOW AWESOME THIS SHIT IS. What a voice. I love every minute of this. I actually just had to stop writing so I could just sit and watch this in its’ entirety (for like the thousandth time…). Though it is a kinda bullshit that they replaced the actual singer for an actor for the video because she was “prettier” but that’s for another rant. And he had some other huge hits as well. Sure, his reign at the top was short-lived compared to his peers and most people my age remember him for either Fight Club or as the bouncer in Wayne’s World. And that’s fair, he was awesome in both of those. But artists that burned this bright, for however long they did, should be celebrated. Maybe I’m wrong but most of the time when I bring up Meatloaf I get scoffs or blank stares. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s like Peter Frampton, you had to be there. And if you were, you bought the record and the T-shirt, but if you weren’t, they didn’t stand the test of time for one reason or another.
3) World Series - Why did everyone assume the Astros would roll over the Nationals?
Look, this series isn’t over, though it could be tonight, but I was astounded to see how heavily favored the Astros were. The Nats proved they can hit anyone, have high-level pitching and ran through the National League (including my Brewers in the Wild Card game). Juan Soto is already a star who looks like he got Ted Williams plate discipline (at times), David Ortiz’s knack for big hits in big games, and a swing like Ken Griffey Jr.’s. (OK, it doesn’t really look like that, but the ball jumps off his bat in a similar way and I can tell the kid is having fun like Jr. did). And the Nats have a big 3 when it comes to pitch, same as the Astros. I still think the Astros will win the Series but I always assumed it to go 6 or 7, where the more talented team wins out. Still fucking weird that a home team hasn’t won a game yet.. And, props to the Nats fans for their “reception” of Trump. There’s a reason he rarely ventures out into the public in the D.C. area…
4) It’s Almost Halloween so… The Music Video for “Let’s Go Out Tonight” is back in season!
"Let's Go Out Tonight" by Bradley Wik and the Charlatans
From the album "In My Youth, I'm Getting Old..."
Written and Directed by Kevin Pietila
Starring Alysse Fozmark with Gina McCammon and Jade Swim as the friends/zombie dancers
Thanks to: Jon Fickes, David Solomon and Sara Morris for backing me up on stage
Man, that was fun to make. I know, the Michael Jackson references may seem weird these days, but we shot this just before the new doc came out. I’m not trying to state my preference one way or another, just trying to honor one of my favorite artists and their impact on me as an artist. That aside, my favorite memories of this video shoot:
How excited I was when the amazing director/writer Kevin Pietila came up with this zombie theme for a song about two people trying to figure it out in a relationship. I was an immediate “yes” and so excited to do something I could have never thought of myself.
Digging the grave (my own grave, as it were) was way fucking harder than it should have been due to the stupid clay/rocky soil in the Northwest. It was fun though and I don’t think a Coors ever tasted so good than after 4-5 hours of digging/picking that damn ground.
2+ hours into and over an hour to get out of the makeup wasn’t my favorite but it was fun to watch the awesome makeup artists do their art on me and the others. I love to watch passionate people do their thing and I got an up close and personal view of that during this process.
I felt I did a pretty fucking good zombie in this video, raising the number of my acting skills to 3: looking sad/confused/bereft of emotion (aka my picture face. Check out the intro to the “LOOKIN’ AT LUCKEY” MUSIC VIDEO when “Luckey” walks in to see what I’m referring to), leading an unplugged/pretend band in videos (though we actually did finally play a show together last year) and being a zombie.
How people generously let us use their house and land to film all through the night. I’m sure people had other things to do from 6pm-7am but we’re so grateful for their awesomeness and support.
Finally, how when I finally crawled into the grave, had the dirt shoveled on top of me, was literally buried underground and got ready to shoot the coming out of the grave scene, of course, the generator went down; so no lights, smoke, etc. Because it looked good, we decided I should stay underground to save time so we didn’t have to restage it. Unfortunately, it took what I thought was an hour (probably more like 15 minutes) to get everything back ready to shoot. But, worth it.
Anyways, I have other things to do, so I’ll leave it there.
(dictated but not read)
Kevin and I digging my grave. Turns out the Northwest has super shitty soil, unless you’re trying to grow grapes to make wine.