Paul McCartney & Members of Nirvana: “Cut Me Some Slack”

The big story leading up the the 12-12-12 Concert for Sandy Relief last night was the news that Paul McCartney was going to play with the surviving members of Nirvana — Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear.  Although it might have first seemed like an odd pairing, remember that McCartney and the Beatles recorded songs like “Helter Skelter.”  Anyway, if you missed the performance, here the group plays a new song, “Cut Me Some Slack.”

In addition to appearing on the concert’s soundtrack, “Cut Me Some Slack” will appear in Grohl’s upcoming film, Sound City Movie.

What do you think of the performance?  Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Pop Culture Roundup for December 2012

    Travolta Newton-John Christmas Amazon In case you were too busy getting ready for the holidays or trying to avoid a fiscal cliff the last few weeks, here are some of the pop culture stories you might have missed.

    — Movies —

    The Atlantic featured production storyboards from 15 beloved films.

    What if there were an animated series called “Clockwork Orange Babies“? Here’s what the promo posters would look like.

    The “Honest Trailer” for The Dark Knight Rises was released. Even though I liked the movie, the “Honest Trailer” is funny and captures a number of plot issues. (Thanks @PopcornJunkies.)

    Dan Aykroyd on Ghostbusters 3 in Esquire. (Thanks @ravenval.)

    Clerks III will be Kevin Smith’s last movie.

    — Music —

    The 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees are Albert King, Donna Summer, Heart, Public Enemy, Randy Newman, and Rush.

    E Online wrote about the 5 Biggest Snubs and Surprises of the 2013 Grammy Nominations.

    Eddie Van Halen remembered how he came to work on Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It.’

    Q&A: Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham Revealed Lingering Tensions in Fleetwood Mac.

    Radiohead’s Thom Yorke will release his new album February 25.

    A new book tells the story of the band the Smiths.

    Popdose chose its Best Pop And Rock Albums of 2012

    Read about the Monkee Magic of Micky Dolenz at Popdose.

    Actor James Franco has released a music video.

    Watch a video of Moses vs. Santa, Featuring Snoop Dogg.

    A couple broke up and then decided to sing about it.

    Kinky Friedman on Folk Music, Politics, Mass Murder, and His Bipolar Tour. (from No Depression)

    Beck is trying to revive the days of singing ‘round the piano.

    The A.V. Club wrote about how Townes Van Zandt’s song “Lungs” veers from platonic epistemology to magical realism. I can’t explain what that means. You’ll have to read the article.

    And then there is the strange new John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John holiday song video.

    Here is a list of the best (and best-worst) of new Christmas music.

    Batmobile Amazon — Television —

    Check out an interview with Martin Short about his upcoming return to Saturday Night Live as host.

    The original 1966 Batmobile is going up for auction.

    The Walking Dead took top honors at the Spike VGAs.

    David Chase talked about The Sopranos and that maddening finale.

    By chance, Newt Gingrich happened into a guest appearance on Parks and Recreation.

    Vanity Fair features an oral history of the awesome one-season series Freaks & Geeks.

    — Other Pop Culture News —

    Stephen Colbert is not going to be appointed to the Senate. But actress Ashley Judd may run for the U.S. Senate.

    Star Trek‘s George Takei is coming to Riverdale in Archie Comics’ Kevin Keller books.

    The Pope (@pontifex) is joining Twitter.

    Finally, the “IKEA Monkey” — a little monkey in a coat found outside an IKEA — became in Internet sensation and started a meme.

    What is your favorite recent pop culture story? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • This Week in Pop Culture Roundup (Nov. 5, 2011)
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    Full “Man of Steel” Trailer

    The new full trailer for Man of Steel (2013) has been released. From the trailer, you can see that the latest Superman movie takes us back to the origin story. Some have compared the look of the trailer to Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life (2011), but the music with the images make me think of Gladiator (2000), which starred Russell Crowe who just happens to play Jor-El in Man of Steel. Check it out.

    Man of Steel is directed by Zack Snider and stars Henry Cavill as Superman and Clark Kent. Others in the movie include Amy Adams as Lois Lane and Kevin Kostner as Jonathan Kent. General Zod from Superman II (1980) returns in this film and is played by Michael Shannon. Man of Steel is scheduled to be released on June 14, 2013, so you only have six months to wait for yet another reboot of a film about a classic superhero.

    Will you see Man of Steel? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Can You Catch Frank William Abagnale Jr.?

    to tell the truth abagnale Many know of Frank William Abagnale, Jr. because he was played by Leonardo DiCaprio in Director Steven Spielberg’s movie Catch Me If You Can (2002), which also starred Tom Hanks, Amy Adams, and Christopher Walken. As portrayed in the film, Abagnale was on the run from the FBI in the 1960s, after he started as a young man passing bad checks and impersonating people around the country. Later, Abagnale went on to work for the FBI.

    You can see what the real person looked like, as well as test yourself on whether you can spot him, by watching this 1977 episode of To Tell the Truth. For those who do not remember the television show, the premise is that someone of note appears on the show with two imposters. A panel of celebrities ask the three people questions and then try to determine who is the real person.

    The twist with Abagnale’s episode was that he was an imposter who was playing himself for once. Can you figure out which one is him?

    How long did it take you to figure out which man was Frank William Abagnale Jr.? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Buy from Amazon

    Remembering John Lennon: Watching the Wheels

    Not long after Lennon’s death, the single “Watching the Wheels” was released.

    On December 8, 1980 at around 10:50 p.m., John Lennon was shot outside his New York City apartment building, The Dakota. After being rushed to the hospital, he was pronounced dead on his arrival.  In a world where everything is a commodity, the album Lennon had signed earlier in the day for his killer went up for sale in 2012.

    In the last few months of his life, Lennon was making a comeback with his Double Fantasy album and had songs in constant rotation on the radio and MTV. My favorite single from the album was released as a single not long after his death: “Watching the Wheels.”

    Unfortunately, the song also makes me think of his death, but his death also gives deeper meaning to this song.  Lennon wrote “Watching the Wheels” about his years of retirement from music before returning to it.

    Through my years of watching shadows on the wall since then, I have missed the music he would have continued making, but I appreciate the joy in the music he did give us.

    Every year, there are various events remembering Lennon. For example, The Beatles Story museum in Liverpool remembers the anniversary by holding their annual John Lennon peace vigil.

    What is your favorite John Lennon song or performance? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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