Big Mountain Fudgecake Forever
The Josh Wells Weekly, Episode 302
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Here’s a picture of a raccoon I met recently. It’s a jungle out there but I think we’re homies now.
Random Thought
There’s an election for NJ state governor coming up and I am being bombarded with all sorts of junk mail from all candidates. It feels like they’re all shouting for my attention and while I’m usually numb to this sorta thing and just sorta accept it as the way things are, there’s a part of me that’s taking it a little personal right now. Why are they all interrupting my life with these impersonal pieces of propaganda? When is it my turn? When do I get to interrupt their lives? When do I get to bombard them and scream, “hey, pay attention to me!”
I’ll vote for one of them because I feel like voting is the bare minimum thing I can do to participate in a democracy that feels less and less like a functioning democracy with the passing of time. Maybe I’m only voting anymore for the rush. For the rest of the year, the system feels like it’s trying to grind me down and find ways to punish me for the audacity of being alive in 2025.
All these candidates are yelling at me, trying to get my attention for one dumb day, the only day that feels democratic anymore. It’d maybe be worth trying to hear them all out if they ever showed concern for those 364 other days of the year where it feels like it’s me against the system.
Maybe the only true joy on election day this year will be knowing that there’s several candidates and since only one can win, there’ll be several losers. And just for a day, it’ll be nice to think how all these candidates who yelled at me for my attention just so they could be elected to participate in a system that pretty much ignores me the remainder of the year, will also know what it’s like to see the system not work for them.
But still, go vote. Even if things don’t seem great right now, voting is important, if only because it’s the line that prevents us from being ruled by kings or AI. A vote for any person at all is a vote against something worse than what we got right now, and it could always be worse.
I’m voting for Ras Baraka, the dude who was arrested for protesting an ICE detention center. Being arrested for standing up to the modern-day American Gestapo is the most convincing thing I’ve seen from any of the candidates so far.
Movie I Watched Recently
Pump Up the Volume
(Prime)
This movie has been a bit of a white whale for me. For whatever reason, I haven’t been able to find this movie on streaming services for years. Just recently I gave it another search and it came up, but it cost extra to rent. I figured fuck it and parted with a few bucks and gave it a go.
Did this movie invent the podcast? Or if there were podcasts back then, would this movie even be a thing? A young dude pirating a radio frequency seems like such a dated concept now. I really had to try and throw myself back into the late 80s/early 90s mentally. Current day me mostly ignores podcasts because there’s too many of them, where do I start? How many should I listen to? How much time do I really wanna devote to listening to people I don’t know speak their mind at me?
But what’s fun in this movie is it acts as a revolutionizing force for kids in a certain high school. They all gather at the football field at 10pm to listen together. There’s something special about that. You don’t really get that now. Our entertainment is served to us at our convenience. Back then, if you wanted to hear a show you enjoyed, you had to build your schedule around it and I like to think that made it a bigger deal.
Anyways… Mark, who runs the show under the alias ‘Hard Harry,’ is a shy teenager who opens up over the airwaves behind his alias and a voice distorter. Much like any teenager, he has an axe to grind with authority, specifically the authority figures at his own school. This starts to cause a scandal and the powers-that-be attempt to shut him down.
That’s pretty much the story. There’s also a love interest angle and also, Mark’s dad happens to be an authority figure in the local school system.
The soundtrack’s also pretty good.
Was this movie worth the wait? I don’t know. There are so many movies that came out when I was young that I missed at that time and then I watch them later in life and I feel like they’re good movies but they might’ve meant something more to me if I was a younger age similar to the characters in the movie. This movie can probably be added to that list.
But it was a fun, retro trip into the past. The game’s changed so much. It’s like if someone could pirate a radio frequency now, would young people even know it’s happening? Or would that be some Boomer type behavior at this point?
There’s an idea for a reboot of this movie. Have some Boomer/elder Gen-X’r pirate radio for people in his age group. I’d watch the fuck out of that movie.
If this movie came out today, it’d feature a 55-year-old Christian Slater on the poster hitting a vape.
TV show I’m currently watching
???
(???)
I’m not really watching any one thing. In the past week, I’ve probably watched a little Jeopardy, Seinfeld, Futurama, and the Daily Show. Outside of wrestling and sports, that’s about it. I suppose I’m on the search for the next binge, but I think I need to get through the Jeopardy Masters first, which I have ready to go on my DVR. I just haven’t had the opportunity to watch it yet.
As a big King of the Hill fan, I would like to use this space to pay homage to the recently deceased Jonathan Joss, who played the voice of John Redcorn. He’s done a bunch of other stuff, but in my world, he is a legend for that role.
He was brutally gunned down in what was probably a hate crime (I use the word “probably” because his husband’s account of it sure makes it sound like one, but I think authorities are hesitant to label it that). It’s a tragic story and no one deserves to have their life ended in that manner.
I always commended King of the Hill for casting an authentic Indigenous actor to play that voice role. I suppose you shouldn’t get bonus points for doing the right thing, but so much gets white-washed in entertainment, it tends to stick out a bit when a show resists that direction.
Rest in peace Jonathan Joss.
Rest in peace John Redcorn.
Rest in peace Big Mountain Fudgecake.
Big Mountain Fudgecake was John Redcorn’s band. John Redcorn was such a badass that he was the frontman of a band that also featured a dude who was voiced by Tom Petty.
Album of the Week
Let All That We Imagine Be the Light / Garbage
Garbage is back and I like Garbage I suppose. I wouldn’t say I love Garbage or I’m a huge fan. I’ve never bought an album or seen them live. But just knowing they’re there and have been for 30 years now is oddly comforting. It may not be my favorite thing, but the sound is undeniably something that could only be cooked up in the 90s. And the farther we get from the 90s, the more influential this band seems to become, especially to younger female rock/pop artists.
The new album is pretty good with some pretty good songs. The music is okay. I’m not a super huge fan of the sound, but it’s decent. I almost feel silly trying to describe what they sound like. If you’ve been around and paying attention, you know the sound.
What I do love about this band and this album is the Shirley Manson content. She is singing my songs. She is singing the songs of the 90s. She’s singing songs of despair and rebellion and attitude. She is aging in a defiant and cool manner which is what some of the songs on here are about.
If this album is any indication, we’re nowhere near the Garbage swan song. They probably got a lot left to give as a band. Nothing on this album felt stale or derivative of all their old stuff. This wasn’t a legacy band mailing it in. This felt fresh and sincere.
A huge highlight for me on this album is the song, ‘The Day That I Met God.’ Not being well versed in Garbage’s background story, I was concerned that this was gonna be some hippie-dippy attempt at expressing some great spiritual awakening. But what we get instead is a confessional about what I assume is/was Manson’s struggle with opiates. There’s no solutions or resolutions given. All we get is a song that encapsulates what must be the confusing mix of thrill and sadness that comes with addiction.
Trippy octopus. I don’t know why, but just roll with it.
Book I’m Currently Reading
Lollapalooza: The Uncensored Story of Alternative Rock's Wildest Festival / Richard Bienstock and Tom Beaujour
This was one of those books that when I was finished reading it, I suddenly couldn’t imagine having lived my life without reading it. This was essential Josh reading. Is it essential reading for others or you, the reader? I don’t know, man. But the history of Lollapalooza is my jam. It’s a story that runs parallel with my own young adulthood. It was a thrill to jump in and let this book act as some kind of time machine for me.
There are so many great stories that take place over the years. I wouldn’t even know where to begin but it’s a collection of stories that stand as a true triumph of the alternative music movement of the 90s (and even beyond a bit considering Lolla picks back in in 2003 and then again years later as a one-weekend destination festival).
They cover pretty much everything. They even run through a quick recap of how Lolla became what it is today. What it is today is nothing like what it once was. Another company came in and bought the Lolla branding but there’s people in the original Lolla brain trust who still offer input and ideas so that it’s not completely disconnected from what it once was.
One thing’s for certain, there’ll never be a time quite like the early-mid 90s ever again and the story of early Lollapalooza is a shining example of what was great and cool about those years and how something like that will never be truly replicated ever again.
Lollapalooza forever but also, I acknowledge that if I went to a Lollapalooza now, I’d probably be the same age as most of those young peoples’ dads.
Random sports thought of the week
A few random thoughts:
-I really don’t think the NY Knicks should’ve fired head coach Tom Thibodeau after losing to the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals. I realize this is a polarizing topic, especially in the NYC-metro area. A lot of fans are for it and that’s their right. I just don’t dig it. I’ve heard the criticisms. He grinds his players too hard. He doesn’t use the bench enough. This all might be true, but he still coached this franchise farther than it’s been in like 25 years or so. All I’m saying is if a dude helps to get you that close to the promised land, I feel like you owe him at least one more go at it.
That’s gonna be a pressure cooker for the next head coach who takes that position. It’s NYC and the team was really good this year. The expectations will be high, and the media will be all over it. It feels like it might be a “finals or bust” situation for whoever takes the gig. I just feel like if that’s gonna be the case, you might as well let that burden go to the guy who earned it, even if a burden seems like a funny thing to earn.
Also, now that the series has concluded and the dust has settled a bit, I feel like the Pacers were the better basketball team and there’s not much a coach can do about that.
-I’ve been saying the Thunder are gonna win the Finals all season long. I can’t back down from that now. The Pacers won Game 1 on the road in a shocking manner last night and with just one shot, I feel like the narrative of this entire series has changed. I think the Thunder are still the better team so they should win this series, but I suddenly don’t think it’ll be as one sided as I maybe thought it was gonna be before Game 1. The Pacers also give off a fun underdog vibe. I’m thinking this series could be a great one. Thunder in 7.
-Pretty bummed about the Caitlin Clark injury but hopefully it’s just gonna be for the two weeks that they estimated it to be when it first happened. Here’s hoping for the best.
But also… holy shit, how about the New York Liberty? 8-0 (as I write this on Friday). Easily the most dominant team in the WNBA right now and maybe potentially turning into one of the most dominant teams ever in the league. They remain the NYC-metro area’s best sports franchise.
This expression says it all for me. What the fuck, man??? Hopefully Thibs enjoys some well-deserved time off and lands on his feet elsewhere (coaching or media is usually how that goes).
Random pro wrestling thought of the week
Tell me these fuckers at WWE (or TKO or whatever) didn’t really release R-Truth? This is another big “what the fuck” moment for me. It may be a bigger “what the fuck” moment than the Thibodeau firing.
R-Truth is the best. If wrestling is sports entertainment, there are not very many individuals who are more entertaining than R-Truth. He’s a versatile performer that you can stick into any type of spot or segment. Late in his career, most of that veered towards comedy, but when given the chance, he still showed incredible athleticism in the ring. Dude is way more jacked than anyone in their 50s should be and he can still do a jumping split which is impressive at any age. Whatever WWE threw at R-Truth, he took it and knocked it out of the park. And after all this time, the fans still love him. He still gets a big pop from the crowd.
Some of his most recent work with the Judgement Day, which may have just looked like silly comedy from afar, I like to believe helped breathe life into that faction and helped them to be a relevant thing still after all this time.
He also seems like a genuine dude in any interviews or whenever he’s seen/heard elsewhere outside the confines of WWE. I feel like WWE messed up on this one. I’ve disliked a lot of WWE releases in the past, but this one really gets under my skin. It felt corporate and cold and disconnected from the fanbase.
There was a huge outpouring of love/support/and even dismay from fellow wrestlers over his release… even more than you usually see when WWE does releases. Crowds have even been chanting for R-Truth since it happened. It’ll be interesting to see if the crowd for this weekend's Money in the Bank PPV does the same.
Anyways, I don’t know what’s next for R-Truth, but I hope he finds what makes him happy and still finds a way to entertain fans. I imagine he’s in big demand in wrestling right now and if he’s into it, a ton of opportunities will become available to him.
R-Truth forever.
The cool thing about pro wrestling is you don’t have to win the top titles to become a legend. I’d argue that R-Truth’s run in WWE (and some of the stuff he’s done before WWE) is legendary. I wouldn’t be against putting him in any HOF wrestling has to offer.
Top 5 Rapping Wrestlers
1- John Cena
2- R-Truth
3- Max Caster
4-Macho Man Randy Savage
5- Bo-Rida (this one time, Flo Rida showed up on Raw and got into a rap battle with Bo Dallas and it was set up like Bo should’ve been embarrassed but I thought he actually did pretty well and Flo Rida kinda looked stupid.)
Weekly Quote
“I want to hear from the creature who isn't blessed with unbelievable good looks and incredible genes. I want to hear from the geek girl, the forgotten girl, the invisible girl and the miserable girl.”
-Shirley Manson
Thanks for reading!
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