Completely Conspicuous 349: When I Get Old

Part 2 of the latest installment of Driving with Kumar as I share some thoughts while driving to my 25th college reunion. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- No regrets about college years
- Could have graduated a semester early, but chose to stay for full year
- Got a job before I graduated
- Worked first few months at newspaper while also working weekends at supermarket
- Moved to Massachusetts after a few months
- Lived in 10 different places in a decade
- One apartment I shared with three women; a year later, it was all guys
- Nearly got married in mid-20s
- Went to Homecoming in '93 and passed on a party to go home and watch World Series
- Toronto won Series on Joe Carter HR that night
- Went up to UNH a lot the first few years after college
- On drive home
- Lots of drunken kids when I arrived at 2:30
- Wandered around through a mass of partying young people
- Eventually found class of '89 tent and my old roommate
- Saw some folks I hadn't seen in many years
- Only saw a little of the football game
- Overwhelming feeling of oldness, but had fun

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

Music:
Ty Segall - Feel
Wormburner - Somewhere Else to Be
The Pharmacy - Masten Lake Lagoon

The Ty Segall song is on the album Manipulator on Drag City. Download the song for free at KEXP.
The Wormburner song is on the album Pleasant Living in Planned Communities on Dive Records. Download the song for free at KEXP.

The Pharmacy song is on the album Spells on Old Flame Records. Download the song for free at KEXP.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 339: Reeling in the Years, 1989 (Part 3)

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1989. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic
- Jay's #3
- Neil Young rebounds from a long, strange decade
- Led to a fruitful stretch of albums
- Jay's #2
- Bob Mould moves beyond Husker Du
- Inspired new direction and sound
- Our picks for #1 are the same
- Pixies at their peak
- Doolittle covers all facets of the band's sound
- Brian saw them several times when they toured behind Doolittle in the last decade
- Brian: Latest live incarnation of Pixies is more energized
- Bad choice for first single with "Bagboy"
- Frank Black was prolific, but he can't keep up with Bob Pollard
- Next up: 1996
- Popular music was shifting again

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

Music:
Ty Segall - Susie Thumb
Spoon - Rent I Pay
J. Mascis - Every Morning

The Ty Segall song is on the album Manipulator on Drag City Records. Download the song for free at KEXP.
The Spoon song is on the album They Want My Soul on Loma Vista Recordings. Download the song for free at KEXP.
The J. Mascis song is on the album Tied to a Star on Sub Pop. Download the song for free at KEXP.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 272: I Me Mine

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion about our narcissistic society. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Narcissism is on the rise
- Recent study looks at the Internet "narcissism epidemic"
- We are part of the problem
- We're more likely to take photos of injustice than actually help out
- Matt works from home, posts on Facebook to get social interaction
- Some people need to post status updates of their every move
- Gay marriage debate has been ubiquitous on social media
- Linked In endorsements: What's the point?
- Matt's creepy clown photo
- Creating a false impression through upbeat self-promotion
- Selfies are everywhere
- People will do anything to get on TV
- Reality TV has never been more popular
- MySpace was a mess
- Googling yourself is a common activity
- Matt's IMDB page
- To be continued
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
JEFF the Brotherhood - Shredder
Le Butcherettes - Henry Don't Got Love
Sleater-Kinney - Jumpers
Ty Segall - You're the Doctor

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The JEFF the Brotherhood song is on the album We Are the Champions on Infinity Cat Recordings/Warner Music. Download the song for free at Epitonic.
The Le Butcherettes song is on the album Sin Sin Sin on Rodriguez Lopez Productions. Download the song for free at Epitonic.
The Sleater-Kinney song is on the album The Woods on Sub Pop. Download the song for free at Epitonic.
The Ty Segall song is on the album Twins on Drag City. Download the song for free at Epitonic.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 249: The Sound and the Fury

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss movie soundtracks. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded at Chez Breitling
- Breitling: The Rocky soundtrack was big in his childhood in Philly
- Soundtracks went from simple scores to multiple artists
- Hulk Hogan's sex tape nearly ruined the Internet
- "Rock Around the Clock" made its mark
- Elvis, Beatles both used soundtracks well
- Having kids forces you to listen to children's movie soundtracks
- Kenny Loggins built his career around soundtrack hits
- The '80s saw numerous videos for soundtrack songs featuring clips from movie
- Journey contributed to the Tron soundtrack
- Heavy Metal soundtrack featured two different songs called "Heavy Metal"
- Soundtracks were a way for artists to keep their name out there between albums
- Breitling: Fond memories of the Xanadu soundtrack
- Kumar: Remember digging Frankie Valli's title track of the Grease soundtrack
- Rap and rock met in the Judgment Night soundtrack
- Jon Cafferty and Beaver Brown became big thanks to the movie Eddie and Cruisers
- Elliott Smith's contributions to Good Will Hunting made him a household name
- Rock artists like Mark Mothersbaugh and Danny Elfman became film composers

- To be continued

 Music:
Ty Segall - Femme Fatale
Spider Bags - Friday Night
METZ - Headache
Mission of Burma - 2wice

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Ty Segall song is on the compilation The Velvet Underground & Nico by Castle Face and Friends on Castle Face Records. Download it for free at Stereogum.
The Spider Bags song is on the album Shake My Head. Download the song for free at Bandcamp.
The METZ song is on the band's self-titled debut on Sub Pop. Download the song for free from Sub Pop.
The Mission of Burma song is on the album The Obliterati on Matador Records. Download the song for free from Epitonic.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site PodGeek.

Completely Conspicuous 177: Doomsday Scenario

This week on the podcast, I take a look at why we’re so fascinated with the end of the world. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



The show notes...

- Saturday, May 21 was supposed to be the Rapture

- Harold Camping financed ad campaign proclaiming the end of the world

- Nothing happened

- Many others have predicted doomsday in the past

- In 1954, Dorothy Martin predicted world would end via flood

- In 1800s, Mariana Andrada made similar predictions

- Some take warnings seriously

- California woman tried to kill her daughters and herself last week to avoid the end of the world

- Next up: Mayans predicted doom in 2012

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

Joel Plaskett - When I Go

Ty Segall - You Make the Sun Fry

The Smashing Pumpkins - Quiet (live)

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at Eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at Eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at Footlocker.com.

The Joel Plaskett song is on the album Emergencys, false alarms, shipwrecks, castaways, fragile creatures, special features, demons and demonstrations on New Scotland Records. Download the song for free at Pigeon Row.

The Ty Segall song is on the album Goodbye Bread on Drag City Records, where you can download the song for free.

The Smashing Pumpkins song was recorded live at BBC Studios on Sept. 12, 1993. Download the song for free at Archive.org.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blogs Clicky Clicky and Keeping Some Dark Secrets. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at his blog. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his new site PodGeek.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.