That opening scene is absolutely brilliant. I loved the idea of starting with nearly nothing, and then building the concert and the music layer by layer. It's so simple that it's genius. I think David Byrne truly understood how to present music as theater, in a way that most other artists really never could. And those…

@avclub-981ec2327e01401e552164ed7314d4b0:disqus I'm no expert, but I sometimes hesitate to call what Leigh Bowery did "drag". There was so much more to it than that. He pretty much lived through what he wore, and it was straight up art, in my book. As you said, he was so abstract with it, and I don't really know how…

Two things - first, I do think kids' brains (human brains, really, not just kids' brains) are dealing with a lot more noise and action than they used to, even in the earliest years of development. They have baby toys that resemble PCs and cell phones, and the idea these days is that more stimulus is good for kids as…

Oh, man, if the Westboro Baptists just suddenly disappeared one day, that would be such a delightful miracle. It would almost make me want to go to a real church.

@zebbart:disqus I will qualify my statement: Most kids don't have the attention span for a show like Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. If they did, I don't think kid's shows would suck quite as much as many of them currently do. My own kid wouldn't sit through it when she was younger, and most of the children I know…

I remember a similar experience when he had Margaret Hamilton on his show as a guest. She played the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz, and he spoke to her about how some children might have been scared of her, but how she was actually just a really nice lady who was wearing a costume and playing dress-up.…

*jealous* I think she'd be incredible as a live act. Shit, I get goosebumps just watching the DVD of her show at the Royal Opera House in London. But the time/place/money never seems to be right for me to catch her. I'm hoping to catch a break one o' these days, because I have a feeling it'd be epic.

@avclub-5a36726cd1d9ea6f9e350c2e67a43f18:disqus I wish. I always wanted to make flapjacks the way he did, but using firearms in the kitchen is generally frowned upon.

Seeing Bjork in concert is on my bucket list. Also, I just love to say her name. BjorkBjorkBjorkBjorkBjork!

The clip of Fred Rogers speaking to Congress about funding is awesome, and has been linked to a lot already. But the part that blows me away about that clip isn't even the way he charms those politicians into supporting what he's doing. It's the way he recites the lyrics to the song, "What Do You Do With The Mad That…

That's sorta the whole beauty of Fred Rogers. He wasn't worried about talking to the adults, because he knew adults had plenty of other options if they wanted to be entertained. He wanted to be there for kids - little kids, in particular - who may have felt like their own ideas, interests and concerns were overlooked…

@avclub-383beaea4aa57dd8202dbff464fee3af:disqus Oh, wow, In The News! I had forgotten about that, but as soon as I read your comment I totally got the music and the intro graphic in my head. Yeah, imagine that - encouraging kids to pay attention to newsworthy events and be all involved in the world around them and…

One of the saddest realities of my lifetime is the fact that there is no room in modern America for a show like Mr. Roger's Neighboorhood. Kids don't have the attention span for it, and they see the gentle and steady nature of someone like Fred Rogers as something to be mocked rather than admired. What he did was so…

@avclub-981ec2327e01401e552164ed7314d4b0:disqus Not more than 5 minutes before I saw your comment about Leigh Bowery, I was YouTubing the Cruiser's Creek video - seeing that video on MTV when I was a young'un marked the first time I ever saw either The Fall or Leigh Bowery, and I was instantly curious about both. Led…

Jesus, what an unwelcome reminder of how old I am. And it's a wonder I didn't grow up to be a moron with the level of crap that I used to watch on Saturday mornings. I guess Schoolhouse Rock must've balanced it out enough to allow for some normal brain activity.

Tim Burton is only part of the problem. We're just in a place where his original point of view is no longer as oddball as it once seemed, because it's been assimilated into everyday life through fucking Hot Topic. I am pretty confident in saying that, before Tim Burton, it was nearly impossible to walk into a Target…

I've also caught a few comedic videos she made with Jenifer Lewis, and they are good for a few chuckles.

On the face, Dominic? Really? *shudders*

Hell, wallpaper is hard to work with as wallpaper, let alone as fabric, so all due respect to Lineysha. 

Whatever. Just so long as nobody tells me that all the roaches and cat feces on Hoarders: Buried Alive are fake, because THAT would just rip my heart out.