From the Couch Hole: Cool As the Water Melting from the Winter Snows

Previously on FTCH, there was a body in the library and it was a sleeping murder of my lagan love from boyhood. The trigger was brookie ice cream. This week we transition out of college basketball and into NHL Stanley Cup playoffs (watching the last few games of the season to prep is the way to go). I’ve said for years that the Stanley Cup is such a competitive drain, that it’s the hardest trophy in professional sports to win. This week the killer spent five nights that felt like a life on the Mississippi. In the lightning, such brave girls sat with their Mike’s Hot Honey almonds. Remember, FTCH is just like you like it.

Pop Culture Ephemera

• Mark Twain – Life on the Mississippi (1883) (Published by James R. Osgood & Co.): “Now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates.” A few years ago I read Old Times on the Mississippi (1876). I was initially under the impression that these two were the same. It turns out that Life on the Mississippi is one third that title and two thirds new stories and observations. The best part of the book is that initial third that retells Twain’s experiences of his youth working on steamboats going between St. Louis and New Orleans. The rest of the title is a collection of stories (including a lengthy excerpt from his upcoming Adventures of Huck Finn) that resemble some of the ramblings in Roughing It (1872). I would suggest just sticking to the original version, this one goes on at least a hundred pages too long. There are a few interesting observations, including some hilarious post-Civil War observations about Vicksburg, but those are too few and far between.

Buy Life on the Mississippi paperback

• Such Brave Girls – “Happy Girls” (S.1 E.1) (BBC Three) (2023): “Pudding’s canceled.” – Josie. When I think of “single mother raising children” cringe comedies, the American one that I comes to mind is Better Things (FX). This British comedy changes the mold by being driven by the daughters and not the adventures of the mother. This series is created by Kat Sadler who plays Josie and she’s cast her own real-life sister, Lizzie Davidson, as her sister, Billie. The mother, Deb, is played by Louise Brealey. The first episode sets the tone perfectly with a few truly cringe moments, all of them couched in pathos underneath the jokes. I was not surprised to find this episode directed by Simon Bird (The Inbetweeners) who understands how to run that fine line of unlikable characters that the audience doesn’t get sick of or cheer against. I’ve been waiting for a good comedy like this to come along (obviously someone should have said something to me three years ago), and I’ll probably binge through the two seasons of this in a few weeks.

Buy The Essential REO Speedwagon

• REO Speedwagon – “Lightning'” (from R.E.O.) (1976): “Another wind will dry me and the sun will make me warm / But to me my life will always be the calm before the storm.” This is the closing track on their amazing 1976 album. For me, this is the perfect illustration of how they work best. Gary Richrath’s guitar work here shows off the blues’ influence that I miss in some of their ’80s releases. There’s a heavy depth to that guitar sound that perfectly compliments Kevin Cronin’s vocals. They may have rode the storm out, but I prefer this song where Kevin is trying to be heard above the thunder and lightning. It’s a head-nodder of a song. Listening again, I’d even back off the rest of the instruments and let that guitar soar. This is a perfect illustration of why this band was one of my first rock ‘n’ roll loves.

• Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 (2025) (Directed by Emma Tammi): “It’s so easy to become blinded by ambition. Even with the best of intentions, you don’t see the devil sitting right beside you.” – Henry. My first shock was that this had a $51 million budget. My second reaction was how they didn’t spend any of that budget on a script. I found the first entry to be mostly entertaining. It balanced nostalgic humor with some good scares. There was no doubt that they would run it back again for a sequel. This one brings back the three survivors from the original: Abby, her brother Mike, and Vanessa. The dialogue brings the movie to a stop in every scene. It’s like the script acknowledges that they were in the previous film, but the words could come out of any other generic film. Like the horror sequels of the ’80s and ’90s, Act One is just the way to get to releasing the monsters again. The film picks up a bit when the robots are going crazy again, and the film spends more time living in the craziness of the pizza parlor (with a water ride!). To my chagrin, there might be a third entry in our future. The producers probably don’t have the guts to make it Five Nights at Fab Five Freddy’s, but if they do, my script is ready to go.

Buy Five Nights at Freddy’s 2

• The Killer (1989) (Directed by John Woo): “He doesn’t look like a killer. He comes across so calm… acts like he has a dream… eyes full of passion.” – Insp. Lee. I find it ironic that John Woo dedicates this film to Martin Scorsese. The first 20 minutes of The Killer would have been two hours in a Scorsese version of the film. I love Scorsese films, but he wouldn’t have made this story the relationship/love story that Woo envisions. This is more Butch and Sundance than Goodfellas (1990).
  
  I think it’s easier to see this as the middle entry in his Hong Kong version of Man with No Name trilogy. The A Better Tomorrow (1986), The Killer (1989) and Hard Boiled (1992) trilogy set the stage for the Hong Kong film explosion of the ’90s. The makes this the equivalent of For a Few Dollars More (1965) which is a much more appropriate comparison. The gun ballet aspects of the film feel more Leone Western than any American gangster film. The scene with Ah Jong (Chow Yun-Fat) playing a haunting harmonica theme helps solidify that Leone connection. It was great to see it on the big screen, although it was closer to a 2K transfer, and the excesses of bullets and slow motion deaths are that much more impactful in the theater. I might still value Hard Boiled (1992) as the film that unlocks all of the creative minds that would still be making films today, but it’s easy to see why this film is on so many Favorite of All-Time lists.

Buy The Killer

Best of the Rest

• “A culinary creation that baffles the human mind. A 12,000 calorie salad.” I have been away from the ad game for the past few months. I want to circle back to the end of the last century with one of the most consistently funny ad campaigns, “Real Men of Genius” from Bud Light. I don’t know that any of their ads has supplanted this as my favorites of the TV spots.

• In 2008, Bud Light created what I might call the first viral commercial. In the early days of the YouTube world, this ad never actually aired on television to my knowledge, but it was one of the first I can remember sharing among all my friends. It’s still pretty f***ing funny.

• “It couldn’t look phonier if it had a chin strap.” I was going to go down the Dilly Dilly rabbit hole, but I can’t stop giggling about the “Real Men of Genius” ads over two decades later.

• Speaking of ads, if you were watching March Madness, you couldn’t avoid the 30-second version of the Iliza Shlesinger Jeep ads. They really neutered what is a great two-minute commercial.

Sunday Morning Tuneage Flashback

• Sunday Morning Tuneage from 5/2/2010, I miss these days because of nostalgia, but I think it would kill me today. The Saturday before I left home at 8am for a doubleheader for Caleb, back to Little Elm for a doubleheader for Christianm and then to Frisco for two basketball games for Christian. Home again a little after 9pm with a sunburned neck and knees. I was high on Community (NBC), Fringe (Fox), and wondering what blackmail was happening behind the scenes that Rules of Engagement (CBS) was still on even though I didn’t know anyone who watched it. The list of the week is interesting. Since 2010, I’ve gone from casual CCR fan to heavy-rotation CCR fan. I think my sense of their work as a whole has changed my opinion of my favorites.
  
  My #65 Top TV Show of All-Time was Little House on the Prairie (NBC) (1974-1983): This ranking was obviously influenced by my watching Season One with Dee at the time. This was a show that I watched often but not religiously when it aired. The first two seasons aired on Wednesday nights. In my mind it’s the Monday-night staple that it became from Season Three forward. I have still been working through some episodes. It’s definitely one of the best family shows ever. There’s a ton of love between the family members, but life is still challenging. I didn’t know many classmates who didn’t want to spend a month in Walnut Grove. I would probably move it back some spots, but in the scheme of things, this is a high quality show.
  
• BEST OF CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL (2010)
  • 10. “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” (from Cosmo’s Factory) (1970)
  • 9. “Proud Mary” (from Bayou Country) (1969)
  • 8. “Bad Moon Rising” (from Green River) (1969)
  • 7. “Lodi” (from Green River) (1969)
  • 6. “Up Around the Bend” (from Cosmo’s Factory) (1970)
  • 5. “Fortunate Son” (from Willy and the Poor Boys) (1969)
  • 4. “Lookin’ Out My Back Door” (from Cosmo’s Factory) (1970)
  • 3. “Who’ll Stop the Rain” (from Cosmo’s Factory) (1970)
  • 2. “Suzi Q” (from Creedence Clearwater Revival) (1968)
  • 1. “The Midnight Special” (from Willy and the Poor Boys) (1969)
    
• BEST OF CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL (2026)
  • 10. “Up Around the Bend” (from Cosmo’s Factory) (1970): “Leave the sinkin’ ship behind.” A song about Nixon’s terrible war policies still resonates today as a “get away from your stressful life” song.
  • 9. “Suzi Q” (from Creedence Clearwater Revival) (1968): This cover of the Dale Hawkins song was their first hit, and it established their unique blues-influenced, swamp rock sound.
  • 8. “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” (from Pendulum) (1970): This was their last big hit featuring Tom Fogerty. It’s ironically about Tom’s dissatisfaction with being in the band as much as another commentary on the Vietnam War.
  • 7. “Lookin’ Out My Back Door” (from Cosmo’s Factory) (1970): This features CCR’s country influences. John Fogerty wrote this inspired by his son’s copy of Dr Seuss’ And To Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street.
  • 6. “Down on the Corner” (from Willy and the Poor Boys) (1969): As if the band needed to show off any other mastery of their influences, the funky little number feels like a bunch of dudes hanging out on their porch with beers, cigarettes, their instruments, and a cowbell.
  • 5. “Who’ll Stop the Rain” (from Cosmo’s Factory) (1970): Another political song from the era where there wasn’t much else to sing about. There isn’t much happy about this song because sometimes the loss of life in war is very heavy.
  • 4. “Travelin’ Band” (from Cosmo’s Factory) (1970): It’s off of their best and most complete album. It took listening to it again after years of ignoring it to hear all of the early rock influences including Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard.
  • 3. “Born on the Bayou” (from Bayou Country) (1969): They opened Woodstock with this rocker. In interviews, this often comes up as the band’s favorite song to perform live. It’s a song best heard at loud volumes.
  • 2. “Run Through the Jungle” (from Cosmo’s Factory) (1970): Can you make a film set in Vietnam during the war and not include this song? The band could do lighthearted and dark songs on the same album with great success. I think that’s part of why I’m a big fan. This anti-war song puts you in the boots of the soldiers as well as any song of the era.
  • 1. “Fortunate Son” (from Willy and the Poor Boys) (1969): I’d venture that even casual CCR fans can name this tune with the first four seconds of that drum count to start the song. John was drafted and this song came out in a reported 20 minutes. They wrote all kinds of anti-war and protest songs, but this one, full of outright anger, has become the one that gets covered the most. Put this on at your favorite dive bar jukebox and watch how many people start to sing along.

1976 in Review

• April – Thor #246 (Marvel Comics): Cover by Rich Buckler. Written by Len Wein. Art by John Buscema. It’s another entry in the “If Asgard Should Perish” storyline. Thor and Jane Foster travel to Costa Verde to help end a rebellion there. They find Firelord under the spell of the Gypsy. The issue ends with Thor also looking like he’s turned by the power of the Gypsy. In Asgard, Odin continues to look like he’s losing his sanity (a story repeated how many times over the years?).
• April 11 – Raymond Floyd would lead the Masters tournament from start to finish. His -17 (271) finish would beat Jack Nicklaus’ record from 1965. It would stand until Tiger Woods eclipsed it in 1997. Ben Crenshaw finished a distant second and Jack Nicklaus in third place.
• April 3-9 – TV Guide cover art by Bill Charmatz. The clever cover had explosions coming out of the ’76 logo to represent the upcoming Bicentennial celebrations. The article inside by Melvin Durslag detailed the huge changes in baseball for the season since the “reserve clause” was overturned in 1975. That caused a lockout of the players during Spring Training in 1976 while the two sides figured out how to deal with the new economics of Free Agency. The magazine also contained a short piece on Alfred Hitchcock’s final film, Family Plot (1976).

What the Hell Did I Put in My Mouth?

“You are the island I’ve been looking for
I don’t know where you come from but I can feel you comin’ on
You’re a storm inside my soul that’s ragin’ out of control” – REO Speedwagon