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Viewing: popular culture - View all posts

Frequencies Episode 11: It's 2016! 

It’s 2016, and most of the people I know are currently watching a sports event that I don’t really care about, so I decided to record a podcast episode. 

Things I’m geeking out about: 

  • Colony 
  • Agent Carter 
  • DC’s Legends of Tomorrow 

Star Wars The Force Awakens 

  • Saw it 3 times and read the book 
  • Erased the stench of the prequels 
  • Start of a new trilogy with new characters 
  • It’s broken nearly all the box-office records at this point, so there’s not much more I can say about it 
  • I will say, though, that the biggest critique I have heard is that it has the same basic story points as “A New Hope.” This may be true, but I think it makes sense, given the fact that JJ Abrams needed to make a movie to bring in a new generation of Star Wars fans. My guess is that the next film in the new trilogy will go into new territory.


David Bowie 

  • My “Ashes To Ashes” cover: https://soundcloud.com/michaeljjohnson/ashes-to-ashes-a-tribute-to-david-bowie 
  • 1st Bowie tune I ever heard: Fame 
  • Scary Monsters era 
  • Bowie was the type of artist you rarely see anymore. He was constantly changing, and never stuck with the same sound or style for more than a few records.  
  • He didn’t really become a superstar until “Let’s Dance,” and that was just another phase of his career. 
  • At the height of his fame, he released a record with a band called Tin Machine, without giving himself star billing. 
  • Work with Trent Reznor  
  • Bowie/9 Inch Nails Tour 
  • “Afraid of Americans” 
  • Final album “Blackstar” was basically about his death. It was musically adventurous, yet it reached back into his past as well, incorporating styles from some of his earlier periods.  
  • He was an uncompromising artist until the day he died. 

X-Files 

  • New 6-episode miniseries tonight 
  • I’ve been a fan since the beginning 
  • The show basically created the template for the modern genre series, with an over-arching mythology that ran from beginning to end. Each season was a mix of mythology-heavy episodes and “Monster of the Week” episodes. 
  • Some people don’t necessarily like the mythology episodes, but I always did. 
  • At the same time, I had developed an interest in conspiracy theories, and it was fascinating to see them depicted in the show. 
  • This was the first show that got me interested in the showrunner as auteur
  • Some great writers came out of this room, including Vince Gilligan and Frank Spotnitz
  • Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny 
  • AD Skinner, The Cigarette Smoking Man, Alex Krychek, Max, the alien abductee from NICAP, the Lone Gunmen
  • X-Files nights at Miami 
  • In the last couple of seasons, since they had tied up so much of the mythology, I think they started running out of ideas. But I am a fan of Agents Doggett and Reyes, especially since I think both actors were far superior to Duchovny. 

My top 10 X-Files episodes, in chronological order: 

  1. S1, episode 2: "Deep Throat"
  2. S1, ep 17: "EBE"
  3. S2, ep 25: “Anasazi” 
  4. S3, ep 2: “Paper Clip” 
  5. S3, ep 20: “Jose Chung’s From Outer Space.” 
  6. S4 ep7: “Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man” 
  7. S5 ep 3: “Unusual Suspects” 
  8. S5 ep 12: “Bad Blood” - 
  9. S6, ep 4&5, “Dreamland, parts 1 and 2” 
  10. S6, ep 14: “Monday”

01/24/2016

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in Music, Musicians, podcast, popular culture, television, Star Wars, Science Fiction

Frequencies Episode 9: Listen To This You Must! 

In episode 9 of “Frequencies,” Michael J. Johnson briefly talks about the new season of the podcast “Serial,” followed by a rumination on his Star Wars fandom, the merits of the original trilogy, and the corresponding lack of merit in the prequels. how notes are available at http://michaeljjohnsonmusic.com/blog.

12/15/2015

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in podcast, popular culture, film, Star Wars, Science Fiction

Frequencies Episode 8: Failbook 

In episode 8 of “Frequencies,” Michael J. Johnson explains the details of his brief exile from Facebook. Then, he briefly talks about his frustration with delays in the last two issues of Marvel’s “Secret Wars.” Finally, in what he is currently “geeking out” about, he discusses “The Man in the High Castle” and the trailers for “Captain America: Civil War” and “Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice.” Show notes are available at http://michaeljjohnsonmusic.com/blog.

12/10/2015

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in popular culture, comics, television, film, Social Media

Frequencies Episode 7: Black Friday 

Episode 7 of “Frequencies” was recorded on Black Friday, the day Michael J. Johnson abstained from making any purchases whatsoever! In this episode, he discusses the just-released Documentary “Jaco,” David Bowie’s new single “Blackstar,” and the new Netflix series “Marvel’s Jessica Jones.” He begins with a spoiler-free review and concludes with a few minutes of spoilers with an advance warning. 

11/29/2015

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in Music, podcast, popular culture, comics, television, film, Bands

Frequencies Episode 5: Dreams 

In episode 5 of “Frequencies,” Michael J. Johnson talks about the new slate of fall TV shows, and Marc Maron’s interview with Keith Richards on the “WTF” podcast. He also gives a bit of a pep talk about following your dreams. Show notes are available at http://michaeljjohnsonmusic.com/blog.

Returning Fall TV Shows I'm looking forward to:
Dr. Who
Flash
Arrow
Agents of Shield
The Walking Dead
Sleepy Hollow
iZombie
The Blacklist

New TV Shows:
Supergirl
Heroes Reborn
Dr. Ken
The Muppets
Scream Queens
Limitless
Blind Spot
Minority Report
Quantico

Be sure to check out "WTF with Marc Maron episode 639: Keith Richards"

09/22/2015

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in Music, podcast, popular culture, television

Frequencies Episode 4: Straight Outta Boston 

In episode 4 of “Frequencies,” Michael J. Johnson ruminates on our current golden age of science fiction on television, and talks a bit more about some of the shows he is watching. He then does a spoiler-free review of the film “Straight Outta Compton.” Finally, he embarks on the first of what is to be many rants about creators rights.

SoundCloud link to the podcast episode

ITunes link to the podcast
Here are links for the items I discussed:

Mr. Robot

The Whispers

Fear The Walking Dead

Straight Outta Compton

The latest kerfuffle on creator's rights is the subject of my rant at the end. Here are some sources for you:

The original NYT piece

Salon's awesome rebuttal

The article I referenced on the musical 99%

Another excellent rebuttal

And here's another!

Bonus: "Sleeping Through A Revolution" - Something of a critique on digital utopianism




 

08/25/2015

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in Music, Musicians, podcast, popular culture, television, film

Frequencies Episode 1: "Ants!" Show Notes 

This is the first episode of my new podcast. I've been thinking about doing a podcast for several years, and I finally decided to just do it! Following are some of my notes I worked from. First, the blurb:

In this first episode of the “Frequencies” podcast, host Michael J. Johnson will discuss: Podcast intro; Must-see summer TV; Marvel “Secret Wars” event; Twitter; “Freedom” by Refused and “Compton: A Soundtrack” by Dr. Dre; “Love and Mercy” biopic about Brian Wilson; Spoilerific review of Marvel’s “Ant-Man.” Warning: Spoilers.


Here is the RSS feed link, for your podcast app or "pod catcher:" http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:138994/sounds.rss

If you would rather just hear it on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/michaeljjohnson/1-ants
 

Why a podcast?

  • Late to the game; 
  • Thinking about doing a podcast for a while, 
  • dabbled in radio a bit, did some blogging for a few years.
  • I’ve been listening to podcasts almost since the time they first came into existence

 

Topics I will talk about in the podcast: 

  • Pop culture news and opinions
  • TV, Film, comics, podcasts
  • Music, music industry, pro audio
  • Tech
  • Occasional guests and interviews
  • NO SPORTS
(Note: All bumper music composed and recorded by Michael J. Johnson. That's me, btw!)

Hope you enjoy it! If you have ideas of topics you would like me to discuss, leave it in the comments. Thanks.

 

08/05/2015

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in Music, podcast, popular culture, comics, television, film

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    Long Way Around 3:43
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    Alive (Apocalypse Mix) 3:37
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    This Is The End 3:55
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    Uncertainty Principle 3:58
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    Wanting 5:13
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    Rain 4:49
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    Only A Test (A Cappella Mix) 3:59
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    Ashes To Ashes 4:08
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