From the Couch Hole: And I’m Gettin’ to Know Myself a Little Bit Better

Previously on FTCH, Kassa was drinking cherry sakura and killing faith. The undertone was that you and I and tu mama tambien were stuf. The week I’m finishing this up as I prepare to leave Texas for the first time since San Diego last July. I’m going to check out Massachusetts, which should be my new home at some point in 2026. I’ll have to watch the Final Four with my team playing away from my Couch Hole. That’s a little stressful. This week long story short but you have to keep pushin’ if you want to stand by me for eternity. The zodiac predicted the coming of the cantina chicken folded quesadilla. Remember, FTCH gets out stains others leave behind.

Pop Culture Ephemera

• Eternity (2025) (Directed by David Freyne): “Love isn’t just one happy moment, right? It’s a million.” – Joan. This film has a simple but interesting premise. You die, you are transported to a place where you have to do lots of administrative work regarding your previous life, and then make a decision on how you want to spend your eternity. Those are the rules, but the film has to gloss over the concept once established or there will be too many questions about the inconsistencies.
  
  Joan (Elizabeth Olsen) has to choose between her long-time husband, Larry (Miles Teller), who both have recently passed in old age, and her first husband, Luke (Callum Turner) who died in the Korean War. The rest of the film becomes a romantic comedy that could be set in San Francisco as well as Heaven. The relationship story isn’t unique or even very interesting. The humor of the film that makes it likable at all comes from the “angels,” Da’Vine Joy Randolph and John Early who are invested in Joan making a decision for their own candidate. This is a small, fun film that is an enjoyable watch, but I won’t remember many details about it three months from now. It’s already starting to fade.

• Long Story Short – “Yoshi’s Bar Mitzvah” (S.1 E.1) (Netflix) (2025): “My family doesn’t really do low-key.” – Avi Schwooper. The adult animation landscape is more crowded than at any other point in our television history. Every network and every streamer seem to have a least a couple animated series. This series from the creator of the awesome Bojack Horseman, debuts with an episode that hints at much higher storytelling aspirations than the normal, episodic animated comedy. This particular episode starts in 1996 at a family funeral, takes place mostly in 2004 at Yoshi’s Bar Mitzvah, and ends in 2022. The Schwooper family borders on being stereotypically Jewish (at their best moments they reminded me of The Royal Tenenbaums). The ability to switch between decades in animation gives this show lots of storytelling freedoms. The cultural references here are promising. I’m excited to hear that there’s a Second Season already on the way.

Buy BoJack Horseman: Seasons One & Two

• REO Speedwagon – “Keep Pushin'” (from R.E.O.) (1976): “Goin’ through all the changes I made so many mistakes, oh yes, I did / Tryin’ to leave behind the heartaches.” I don’t remember knowing this studio version of the song until the ’80s. I became a big fan of the song on the Live: You Get What You Play For album released the next year. It’s one of the reasons I still want to see REO Speedwagon in concert. Kevin Cronin returned to the band for the first time in six years, and he pushed them to new heights with an incredible run from here through the next nine years. Gary Richrath’s guitar on this song is what stands out even more than Cronin’s vocals. It’s an amazing mix of influences of prog rock, Southern rock, and pop. It’s fun to listen to the moments when you know a band has “figured it out.”

Buy REO Speedwagon – The Hits

• Zodiac (2007) (Directed by David Fincher): “I… I need to know who he is. I… I need to stand there, I need to look him in the eye, and I need to know that it’s him.” – Robert Graysmith. This is The New York Times‘ 19th best film of the century. It’s an embarrassing miss that I can check off my list now. I knew this would be a wonderfully filmed movie, and that David Fincher’s style would work well with the story of a serial killer. The film is an odd combination of two distinct investigative genres – the newspaper investigation and the detective investigation. Jake Gyllenhaal holds down the newspaper side as cartoonist, Robert Graysmith. Mark Ruffalo is our consistency in the detective arena as Inspector Toschi.
  
  It’s a long movie in length and long in scope. It’s a story that takes place over 13 years. That’s too long of a timeline for a more traditional procedural. Fincher does a great job of not getting bogged down with side stories and supporting characters like Chloe Sevigny that I wanted to see more of. The story is devoid of traditional car chases and shootouts. It relies on the uncovering of the mystery while not deviating from what has really happened. You have to be satisfied with Jake Gyllenhaal’s final scene in the hardware store to appreciate the journey. I can see why this film is loved, but I’m also surprised that I didn’t hear more frustrations with the lack of action from initial reviews.

Buy Zodiac

• Stand by Me (1986) (Directed by Rob Reiner): “I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12. Jesus, does anyone?” – The Writer. Gordie, Chris, Teddy, and Vern. Watching this through the lens of 40 years is interesting. I saw this at the West Main Mall theater as a 18-year-old. I wasn’t too far removed from the ages of the young men in this coming-of-age story. Now I’m 58 years old and older than the writer in the film telling us the story of young friendships. The most important observation is that we were robbed of decades of River Phoenix (Chris) films.
  
  I’ve claimed for a few years that Stand by Me set the table for IT. The “gang” is a Loser’s Club starter kit. They are looking for the body of Ray Brower while the Loser’s Club is terrorized by Henry Bowers. The groups of misfits include a boy who has lost a brother and his parent’s ignore him. There’s a fat kid, a boy viewed as a troublemaker, and a member with a troubled father. I’m more convinced that Reiner should have kept the current time of the narrator as having all three friends passed away. Gordie only losing Chris (another moment spoiled in the first moments that could have been revealed later in the film) while the other boys went on to live more mundane lives leaves some of the thematic importance these early adolescent relationships. It’s still one of the best films of the decade, and one of the better coming-of-age films ever made. Thank you and R.I.P., Rob Reiner.

Buy Stand by Me

Best of the Rest

• We lived in pretty awesome times in the mid- to late-’70s. A highlight of my week would be a new episode of The Midnight Special (NBC) on a Friday night. Before MTV, there were limited venues to see the bands you heard on the radio. It was this show on Friday night and flipping between American Bandstand and Soul Train on Saturday morning. This performance is great because they weren’t lip synching and well, Kevin Cronin’s hair is its own star.

• Found. I grew up with films that I read about and television shows that came up in conversation that I never figured I’d get to see. Starting in the ’90s, the Grails started to turn up piece by piece. Just this past month, two episodes of Doctor Who and the final lost KTMA episode of MST3K were found. The Doctor Who episodes are from Season Three and thought to have all been destroyed but were found in a cardboard box in a collector’s “ramshackle” stash. I have watched all but a few of the most recent episodes of MST3K. I had given up hope of ever seeing the third episode from their KTMA cable-access season (Star Force). If any group was going to find an episode, it was MST3K fans. Yet, it turned up in a garage sale from someone who had acquired tapes from the station at some point. I guess I won’t be surprised if a full version of London After Midnight (1927) before the year is out.

• If things feel heavy in 2026, remember that there’s going to be the release of Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom on September 18th. As much as it might be fun to go see Toy Story 5 (June 19), I think there’s more potential for outright laughs in September. Shaun has become Aardman’s most consistent property.

Sunday Morning Tuneage Flashback

• Sunday Morning Tuneage from 4/18/2010, it was a rainy weekend, so we had a break from baseball after embarrassing losses earlier in the week. I was enjoying Dhani Tackles the Globe (Travel) starting its second season. NBC Tuesdays with The Biggest Loser and Parenthood were becoming my most obsessive day of the week, with all apologies to Thursdays and Sundays. The list of the week is again one that I compiled back in January. I’m going to assess it again without looking at the January list to see if I’ve changed my mind in the past three months.
  
  My #67 Top TV Show of All-Time was The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends (ABC/NBC) (1959-1964): This is the “new” name for the Jay Ward-created variety show that included the serialized Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon and a number of other shorts including Fractured Fairy Tales and Dudley Do-Right among others. I knew it was a Sunday morning show called Rocky and Bullwinkle. I mentioned in 2010 that this was a show introduced to me by my father. His influence of Mad Magazine and Rocky and Bullwinkle shaped my sense of humor. I still watch episodes I have recorded and a few collections I have purchased. It’s a show way ahead of its time, and it has aged extremely well. This might be the rare show that I move up the list from this original ranking. Watch this and just revel in how it has influenced so many of the best animated comedies of our time.
  
• BEST ALBUMS OF 1975 (2010)
  • 10. Wings – Venus and Mars
  • 9. Jefferson Starship – Red Octopus
  • 8. Queen – A Night at the Opera
  • 7. Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here
  • 6. Elton John – Captain Fantastic and the Dirt Brown Cowboy
  • 5. Eagles – One of These Nights
  • 4. The Ohio Players – Honey
  • 3. Patti Smith – Horses
  • 2. Fleetwood Mac – Fleetwood Mac
  • 1. Paul Simon – Still Crazy After All of These Years
    
• BEST ALBUMS OF 1975 (2026)
  • 10. Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here: One thing that I confirmed last year when I listened to 365 albums released in 1975 is that it was definitely one of the best years of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Era. The Top Ten is relatively interchangeable for me from day to day. This album pushed prog rock into areas it never thought it would be. Start with “Shine On You Crazy Diamond.”
  • 9. Queen – A Night at the Opera: It isn’t their best album, and it might be slightly overrated. It is a huge step forward on their fourth album. This sets the blueprint for the best of Queen still to come. It’s theatrical and it rocks. Start with “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
  • 8. Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run: I don’t know why this wasn’t on the original list. The breakout album balanced solid rock with some amazing storytelling. Start with “Thunder Road.”
  • 7. Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti: This double album is their sixth. It seems like they were of a different generation than most of their contemporaries in 1975. This album showed that they could still rock with the best and maintain their blues influences. Start with “Trampled Under Foot.”
  • 6. David Bowie – Young Americans: Bowie leaves glam rock in the rearview mirror and embraces his influences of R&B and soul. He can’t leave behind his subtle political commentary and unique imagery in his lyrics. Start with “Young Americans.”
  • 5. Patti Smith – Horses: I wish I was more aware at the time to know how this album was perceived. It’s arty, poetic, punk, and it carries some of that Janis Joplin blues-rock influence. It’s amazing to listen to this in context of contemporaries. Start with “Redondo Beach.”
  • 4. Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks: Rarely has heartbreak and suffering produced such a masterpiece. His separation from wife Sara helped create an album that still captures the raw emotions. Start with “Tangled Up in Blue.”
  • 3. Willie Nelson – Red Headed Stranger: The concept album that helped define the outlaw country genre is so sparsely arranged that many of the songs lose the thread of the country sound. It’s the very definition of a crossover album that could be acoustic rock in parts and almost gospel in others. Start with “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain.”
  • 2. Neil Young – Tonight’s the Night: Bob Dylan brought us the grief of losing a love relationship. Neil turned the loss of Crazy Horse guitarist, Danny Whitten’s death from heroin overdose into an album that just drips with pain and detachment from the music industry. The country influence is interesting, because unlike Willie Nelson, Neil is showing that blues side of the genre. Start with “Tonight’s The Night.”
  • 1. Parliament – Mothership Connection: I called 1975 as the last year of the decade that would be dominated by rock albums. There are a fair share of country-influenced and blues-influenced albums in the best of the year. What no one knew was that George Clinton and friends were laying down funky tracks that would influence a whole generation of hip hop artists in the next 20 years to create the genre that would knock rock off of the charts. This album comes towards the end of a few years of amazing funk albums. The future of that genre would get swallowed up by disco very quickly. This album is a party favorite. “Ain’t nobody but me and the boys.” Start with “Mothership Connection.”

Buy Parliament – Mothership Connection

1976 in Review

• April – Batman #274 (DC Comics): Cover and interior art by Ernie Chan. Written by David Vern Reed. More of The Underworld Olympics. This issue introduces the Steel Claw (the leader of the Afro-Asian team). There’s a treasure hunt that leads from location to location in Gotham City until Batman and Steel Claw fight in the library. Steel Claw allows herself to lose so that her team can escape. The art is great, but they really didn’t have a ton of ideas how to execute the Olympics.
• April 1 – Apple Computers is founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. For 11 days, they will have a third partner, David Wayne, who smartly sold out his share foreseeing the failure of the brand.
• April 10 – Cover art by Jim Sharpe. Police Story (NBC) would run mostly on Tuesday nights from 1973-1977. In some ways, this Joseph Wambaugh-created show was at the height of its creativity in 1976. The show would win the Emmy for Best Drama in the Spring of 1976. The show broke the mold by rotating characters and notable guest stars. This was a story-driven show, and it didn’t shy away from as much realism as could be aired in these days. Not to be confused with the other quality ’80s show on NBC – Crime Story. Might be overdue to start this up from start to finish. This issue also mentions the debut of It’s Arbor Day, Charlie Brown.

What the Hell Did I Put in My Mouth?

“Well, it’s comin’ together, I finally feel like a man, oh yes, I do
I never thought that I’d be where I am, oh
Every day, I wake a little bit higher
Whoa-oh, I keep pushin’ on, oh yeah” – REO Speedwagon