7 More Not Real Famous Bands

7 More Not Real but kind of Famous bands...

I once wrote an article about some very famous bands that became very famous under false pretenses. The reaction was mostly positive and it became my most viewed piece on that website. A few readers left some comments on other famous bands/musicians that I missed in my original list.

So, with the minimal amount of research that kept me interested enough to avoid other responsibilities, I decided to go back and do this 2nd row group of famous non-bands. While there have been a lot of ‘fake’ bands created in the interest of selling records, promoting movies and tv shows (there ain’t no party like an S Club party), I decided only to focus on bands that well, honestly, are ones that had some success in selling records and most importantly were sold to it’s audiences under false pretenses, unlike something like S Club 7, which sadly was what it was.

That said, in my original list, I excluded some ‘copy-cat’ groups for not being ‘famous enough’. Josie and the Pussycats were a direct result of the success of the Archies and the attempt at reviving them in the 2001 movie may have been the pinnacle of Tara Reid’s career (until Sharknado) but I don’t feel it hit the acclaim needed to be considered ‘famous’.

I also excluded some fictional groups that I didn't feel crossed over into the famous enough category to be able to actually perform in public or had no success to speak of in album sales, like the Oneders from ‘That Thing You Do’ or Stillwater from ‘Almost Famous’. And although Wyld Stallyns is the greatest band to ever exist (in the future), they have yet to release that album that will change the world.

So without further adieu, here is part deux;

The Interview Blackmailing

I've had a change of heart from my last blog in the last 24 hours, the one where I finally pay attention to the Sony Hack. This was mainly because of a CBC Current episode this AM where the host kept referring to North Korea as the Hermit Kingdom, a term I never heard before but seemed to reek of that classic 'branding' of a potential enemy/scapegoat with no to little cultural knowledge of the country in question. The question was 'Could North Korea really have done this?'

There's also this timeline of the Hack as gathered by someone that isn't CNN or NBC.

Then I started thinking of the Hack. It has all the classic bits of a typical blackmail that Hollywood itself could have written (if it was in the habit of reading original screenplays). Let's look at it closely.

The hackers are called Guardians of Peace, which is a pretty 'Americanized' sounding name.
The victims are a conglomeration of nameless Multi-Millionaires that have millions and millions at their disposal. There's some public shaming, then a scapegoat is suggested and finally, the demands...

And what are the demands? What do the hackers 'publicly' want?

On Recent Eventy things

The Interview gets Majorly Censored.

I don't really know what to label this on the WTF meter but at least it's kept us distracted from a few more important news items that should be of more relevance, such as that damning CIA torture report that (no surprise) the US of A was/is torturing 'enemies of the state' ever since 9/11 and that of those hours of misery and pain in the name of all that is Freedom pretty much amounted to nothing.

Then there is also the anniversary of the Sandy Hook Massacre, sponsored by the NRA. Remember how sad as fuck most of us were and then the NRA's response to Obama's somewhat sane plea to limit who can purchase automatic weapons? Fuck the NRA on that one.

But at least we can thank Seth Rogan and James Franco for helping us remember what Freedom and America is all about - movie critics. (click to continue reading)

draft 10 popculture awesome gifts for Dad (or me)

10 Practical and Inspired Gifts for Me

You say it’s your birthday or even better, Christmas.

Let’s face the selfish facts. Only you know what you truly want. Perhaps you are tired of getting another new ‘collectable action figure’ from a series you never cared for but someone thought you did because they guessed you were into The Avengers, because everyone else in the world is and they just went to the mall and found the most popular item on display and figured that was made for you.

But all you really want is something that rings of your unique personality, maybe something more than just a six pack of generic beer from your flatmates. And that special football jersey you got last year? The one of that team that you don’t care that much about? The one with the name of that player that now plays somewhere else? Let’s not talk about that.

Instead, why not just give them this list of some awesome gifts inspired by pop culture which are not actually useless? I’m not talking about all the cheap toys made in China, labelled ‘collector’s item’ and then marked up 1000%. I’m writing about those products that have broken the fifth wall of realism, props that were made real in a fictional universe then thanks to a ripple in space-time, became meta in this universe. Products that could be used in everyday life that non-fans might not glance twice at but those in the know will bow at your presence when you appear sporting one of these fine bits of retro pop culture history.

TL;DR; The Ultimate Guy Birthday or Christmas Wish List for gifts that are practical, somewhat subtle and unique. Nothing made of plastic or wasn't originally at first a prop on a movie/TV show before it was moved into mass productions because someone found out someone like you would buy it.

Re-branding Ogie...

So after another month of Nanowrimo and celebrating the upload of my 1st novel for the 2nd time to Amazon (obligatory promo post to follow soon) I've been reading up a little on how to be more pro-active in the self-marketing side of things so i can start preparing to be an isolated misunderstood genius once the masses discover me and find out Karmajuana is a thing, not just a plot device.

It's nearing time for me to let go of the safe cloak of anonymity that Ogie provides. As you can see I've started leaving a few clues around (like that big one to the right there). Now it's time to once again re-educate myself on blogging layouts and all that shit. Create an About Me page, more obvious links to the books, along with some complimentary reviews.

I will probably learn how to create pages so if you are interested in certain subjects that I write about, such as hockey or current events, you can just jump to that.

I'm guessing. I don't really know how that works yet.

I'd rather stick to the writing; I found my old journals and would love to mine those for any worthy gems that make me smile. But I guess as someone once said, it's best to look forward instead of back. I think that was Ricky Bobby...

My fan awaits...

Divide and Conquer - A venting of No Proportions...2 months later

(warning- this blog is not discussing hockey or fatherhood in any way, just a need to vent. If you prefer regular Ogie, perhaps ignore this one...)


"There's something wrong with the world today, I don't know what it is."
                                                    -Livin' On The Edge -Stephen Tyler/Aerosmith, 1993

First, that was over 20 fucking years ago and if Ogie ever invents a Time Machine, I'm going to head back to 1993, track down Stephen Tyler and re-introduce him to a certain Canadian band called BTO (or Bachman Turner Overdrive) who wrote the aptly named, 'You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet' which was also 20+ years (1974) before Livin' On the Edge, back in the time when Aerosmith was busy doing tons of heroin. I'd also tell Tyler to wear some fucking pants in this video and also in 20 years he will lose all credibility of anything he did in the past when he appears on American Idol looking like a creepy Lesbian cabaret singer.

I admit I don't know how to write a song, I'd make too much use of the nananananana's to have it ever go down in the history of 'literary song-writing' a la Leonard Cohen but still for a guy that sings 'Dude Looks Like A Lady, Tyler got it right. There's still something wrong with the world today.

But it's been wrong for a really, really long time. For those of you over 40, you are lucky enough to have been born in a time of social ignorance yet are hopefully old and wise enough now to see how you were socially manipulated into seeing not what is integrally right but what is socially important to agree is right and are teaching your kids it's okay to disagree with authority and in fact, in this day and age it should be expected. Authority isn't always right. It's a tool used by others who decide what is right and it's not for the common good. Occupy Wall Street is becoming a fading memory as other more important ideals and stories are deemed more vital for the public good as opposed to what OWS is about.