35th Anniversary of The Completion Backward Principle

The Tubes formed in San Francisco in the early 70's and released their debut album in 1975. Throughout the remainder of the 70's the band released some good songs like What Do You Want From Life and had a cult following but seemed a bit more on the performance artsy side when playing live.

If you look closely, that's not your imagination hanging from that outfit.

In 1979 in what can be called as an attempt to go a little more mainstream by releasing Remote Control. A concept album about an idiot savant who watches too much television. The album was produced by Todd Rundgren but critics didn't like it too much and it was quickly forgotten. There are a few good songs on the for sure but it's not that memorable. Listen for yourself...

 

After Remote Control, The Tubes were dropped by A & M Records and signed by Capitol Records. Then in April of 1981, The Tubes released their masterpiece, The Completion Backward Principal. If my memory serves me correctly, my uncle bought me this record when I was in the 6th grade in 1982. To say my mind wasn't quite open to music is an understatement (which is why I spend a lot of time catching upon all the great bands/songs/albums from 1979-1985). Luckily I had a friend who was a year younger than me who knew what a great album this was and urged me to listen to it and listen to it often (I'm not sure how he knew about the The Tubes during that time, we lived in Marlborough, CT which is not a hot bed for cutting edge music. No cable, MTV still in it's infancy and no progressive rock or college radio stations on the dial). When I gave it a chance I was hooked. This album was what Remote Control wasn't. It had a lot of mainstream pop/rock tracks but they just worked more than there previous attempt. The end result was masterful.

After the opening, the album grabs you and pulls you in with "Talk To Ya Later" and keep you around for all 10 tracks (CDs weren't invented yet so I had it on vinyl). There really isn't a bad song o the album. While I am not a big fan of "I Don't Want to Wait," it was the 2nd highest charting song after "Talk To Ya Later." My personal favorites are "Sushi Girl"" and 'Mr. Hate."

Vinyl Track Listing:

• Side one
• "Talk to Ya Later" (Best overall song on the album)
• "Sushi Girl" (One of my personal favorites)
• "Amnesia" (Really good song)
• "Mr. Hate" (Another personal favorite)
• "Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman" (Silly but a good song none the less. There's a lyric that clearly refers toFee Waybill having sex with the 50 foot woman and it went over my head. It went over my head until I was about 20 years old)
• Side two
• "Think About Me" (Good song, not as good as "Amnesia" in my opinion)
• "A Matter of Pride" (Good song)
• "Don't Want To Wait Anymore" (Not a big fan of this song. 80's drivel)
• "Power Tools" (Good song)
• "Let's Make Some Noise" (Not a bad song, better than "Don't Want To Wait Anymore" but sounds very similar to "Prime Time" off Remote Control)

History has more or less forgotten the gem. It (criminally) didn't make Rolling Stone's Top 100 Albums of the 80's (there's a lot of glaring omissions) but it's a great album and deserves recognition. If you get a chance, sit back and listen to it. You won't regret it.

The Deal That Helped Doom the Hartford Whalers: The 25th Anniversary of the Ron Francis Trade

Before I begin, checkout Jeremiah Rufini's recent article entitled "Exile on Trumbull Street." It's an 8 part in-depth investigation about the history of the Hartford Whalers and their eminent demise. It's really fantastic and informative. A must read for any Whaler fan.

On March 4th 1991, Whalers General Manager Ed Johnston decided to trade the face of the Whalers, captain Ron Francis.

Hockey pants. The NHL's dark embarrassing secret. This happened. We let it happen

Johnston packaged defenseman Ulf Samuelsson and Grant Jennings along with Francis and traded them to the Pittsburgh Penguins for forwards John Cullen, Jeff Parker and defenseman Zarley Zapaski. Francis was coming off his best season as a pro, he played all 80 games, posted 101 points (32 goals and 69 assists) in during the 1989-90 season. In 65 games as a Whaler in the 1990-91 season Francis tallied 76 points (21 g, 55 a) prior to the trade. It's pretty obvious what Francis brought to table. No one really knows what Ed Johnston was thinking when he pulled the trigger. Cullen had his best year as a pro in 1989-90, registering 92 points (32 g, 60 a) in 72 games. Zalapski and Samulesson were both quality defenseman so maybe Johnston thought he was getting even value. Jennings and Parker were more or less throw ins. Parker played 4 games in Hartford and that would be his last in the NHL. Over a forgettable 10 year career, Jennings played 389 games with Hartford, Pittsburgh, Toronto and Buffalo. He was a part of the Pittsburgh championship seasons.

While teamed up with the likes of Lemieux, a very young Jaromir Jagr, Paul Coffey and Kevin Stevens (if it wasn't for Steven's suffering a brutal concussion in the 1993 playoffs, that group would ALL be in the Hall of Fame), Francis and the Penguins would win back to back Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992. This team was really fun to watch. Francis put up incredible numbers playing alongside that kind of talent. The Whalers were bounced in the first round of the playoffs in 1991 and again in 1992 (with the exception of the 1985-86 season, that was their usual playoff fate). After the '92 season the Whalers would ever make the playoffs again while playing in Hartford.

In his first full season with the Whalers in the 1991-92 season, Cullen played 77 games, tallied 77 points and was named to the All-Star team. Zalapski enjoyed 2 solid season during the '91-'92 and '92-'93 campaigns until being traded after 56 games into the '93-'94 season. GM Ed Johnston was fired after the '91-'92 season ended and was replaced with Brian Burke. After Cullen's 1st full season with the Whale Burke traded him away to Toronto for a 2nd round pick after only 19 games. After the trade to Calgary, Zalapski would only play two more full seasons before injuries ended his NHL career in 2000. Cullen wasn't quite the same player with Toronto and had a series of injuries before being diagnosed with cancer after the 1997 season.

So if you're keeping score, here's the breakdown (to the best of my ability and desire) of the transactions stemming from the Francis trade:

• March 4, 1991: Francis is traded to Pittsburgh by Hartford with Grant Jennings and Ulf Samuelsson for John Cullen, Jeff Parker and Zarley Zalapski.
• November 24, 1992: Cullen is traded to Toronto by Hartford for Toronto's 2nd round choice (later traded to San Jose - San Jose selected Vlastimil Kroupa) in 1993 Entry Draft (as far as I could find, the Whalers got zilch for this).
• March 10, 1994: Zalapski is traded to Calgary by Hartford with James Patrick and Michael Nylander for Gary Suter, Paul Ranheim and Ted Drury. (Ranheim plays 6+ seasons with Hartford/Carolina and Drury played 50 games for the Whale before being picked up by the Senators in the 1994 waiver draft).
• March 11, 1994:  Suter (the next f*cking day!) is traded to Chicago by Hartford with Randy Cunneyworth and Hartford's 3rd round choice (later traded to Vancouver - Vancouver selected Larry Courville) in 1995 Entry Draft for Frantisek Kucera and Jocelyn Lemieux (Kucera played 94 games in Hartford.
• December 19, 1995: Kucera is traded to Vancouver by Hartford with Jim Dowd and Hartford's 2nd round choice (Ryan Bonni) in 1997 Entry Draft for Jeff Brown and Vancouver's 3rd round choice (later traded to Calgary - Calgary selected Paul Manning) in 1998 Entry Draft (Brown plays 81 games with Hartford/Carolina and is traded for draft picks in 1998).
• December 19, 1995: Jocelyn Lemieux is traded to New Jersey by Hartford with Hartford/Carolina's 2nd round choice (later traded to Dallas - Dallas selected John Erskine) in 1998 Entry Draft for Jim Dowd and New Jersey's 2nd round choice (later traded to Calgary - Calgary selected Dmitri Kokorev) in 1997 Entry Draft (Lemieux played 86 games for the Whalers).

So that's it. this is what Ron Francis gave the Whalers from 1981-91; 714 games played, 797 points (240 goals and 557 assists), advancing to the 2nd round of the playoffs in 1986 and 1 Regular Season Adams Division Championship. Here's what the Whalers got in return from the 8 players that resulted from the initial trade that actually suited up from 1991-1997; 823 games played and 427 points (139 goals and 288 assists). The team never got back to the playoff after the 1992 season whereas with Francis they had 5 appearances (6 if you count 1991). The organization gave up on a potential star in Cullen and traded him away after 109 games. They got rid of a solid blue liner in Zalapski after 229 games. Hell. Gary Suter was an All-Star (I actually met him at an All-Star Game festivity in 1986 when Hartford hosted the game), Calder Cup winner and he never suited up for the team (though to be fair I do not the details of the trade that brought him in and shipped him right back out, it's possible that the organization had no intention of keeping him around).

Francis went on to an illustrious career that got him 3 Lady Byng Awards (Most Gentlemanly Player) and a Selke Award (Best Defensive Forward), 2 Stanley Cups and induction to the Hall of Fame. It's easy to say that being traded from Hartford was the best thing for his career.

2016 Film Preview: March

So we've got 2 months in the bag and we'll start to see some interesting stuff opening this month as we inch closer to May when things will get turn up a notch. Here's what we have:

March 4th

• London has Fallen: Gerard Butler, his abs and the rest of the gang are back from Olympus Has Fallen. This time the President and other world leaders are in London for a head of state funeral when terrorists attack. According to the trailer this is the "most secure event" ever. So of course terrorists crash the party. Judging by the names of some of the characters (the main villain's name is Barkawi), the filmmakers are riding the current wave of Islamophobia to make Islam the bad guys. Luckily for the free world, King Leonidas and his abs won't let that happen. There's not going to be much difference between the original and the sequel accept for the venue change. London landmarks blow-up, Morgan Freeman is in a room surrounded by other political types and military men and Butler kills a bunch of guys. Enough.

• Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: Based on the memoir of Kim Barker,  The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Tina Fey plays the author as she's sent to Afghanistan to cover the war. This film has a solid cast but I just don't know. The trailer just didn't interest me at all. Tina Fey is funny and talented but i don't think her films are all that great. he meets Margot Robbie when she gets to Afghanistan, there's a lot of party by the press corp and eventually things get serious. It is a war zone after all. It's possible that I see this film in a different format that the big screen. 

• Zootopia: Disney's latest animated feature that's for kids given but there are some good jokes in the trailer. 

• Knight of Cups: This film boasts an all-star cast and is written and directed by the legendary Terrence Malick. That said, who the f*ck knows what's going on in this film. Christian Bale plays a successful guy who seems to be unfulfilled with his life. Mind you he appears to be married to Cate Blanchette, is having an affair with Natalie Portman, parties a lot and has a huge home. Life is so hard for some people. Malick is known for having tremendous vision and putting together elaborate shots. It's Malick so I may see this.

• The Other Side of the Door: A family suffers the loss of their young son and the mother has a real hard time coming to grips with the tragedy. Seeking help, an creepy Indian woman tells her how to get closer but she better not open the door! The door gets opened and bad things happen. Imagine that. 

• Trapped: Documentary about Texas' war on women's reproductive rights and white male politicians fear of vaginas. I watch this trailer and was appalled on how little regard Texas politicians, and politicians (especially white male ones) in general, have for woman (mostly women of color and not affluent). My personal opinion is that a woman should have the right to choose. That's mainly because I am a male that will never have to go through the chemical and physiological changes that a pregnancy brings on nor the pains of childbirth. Because of that I don't think I should have a say. That's just me. 

March 11th

• 10 Cloverfield Lane: Girl gets in car accident. Wakes up with in a bunker who informs her that he saved her life but she's kind of a prisoner. She escapes outside the bunker. Bad idea. Since the film was made under Bad Robot Productions, it turned into a pseudo sequel to Cloverfield. This could be an interesting film, as Cloverfield was pretty decent. 

• The Brothers Grimsby: Mark Strong is an assassin for the British government. Sacha Baron Cohen is a regular guy with 9 kids who loves his wife and futball. What do these guys have in common? Why they're long lost brothers of course. Separated from an orphanage, the two had been apart for 28 years. The premise of the film is far from original but the humor is primarily British. Cohen also wrote the film so you'll probably get some interesting jokes. Mark Strong is a really good actor who just doesn't seem to get consistently good roles. Too bad. Taking a pass on this. 

• The Young Messiah: The 2nd film about Jesus within the span of a month. This film deals with Jesus as a pre-teen. The Roman soldier hunting him down in this film is Sean Bean. I get the feeling that Risen and The Young Messiah both started out as the same film but one had to change after losing a bet. 

• The Lobster: Lonely guy Colin Farrell (his wife left him) goes to a hotel where he either finds a romantic interest or turns into an animal. Those are the breaks I guess. The trailer makes it feel like this is a quirky comedy (Farrell befriends John C. Reilly who has a goofy lisp) but I think it goes a little darker than that (you turn into an animal). A black comedy maybe? I suspect that this picture won't see a wide release so it maybe hard to find at the cineplex. I don't really know what to make of this film.

• Eye in the Sky: Thriller about the morality of drone warfare. Helen Mirren has the goods on a known terrorist who's about to launch an operation. The original purpose of the drone usage was surveillance, now they want to assassinate the terrorist. When the drone pilot (Aaron Paul) spots a young girl paying near the house he refuses to attack until he gets the ok on the collateral damage. The trailer is very tense and the film has a solid cast. I'm very interested in seeing this film.

• Perfect Match: Serial dater and commit-a-phobe Charlie (Terrence Jenkins) takes a bet from his pals (Robert C. Riley & Dr. Turk) that if he were to stay with a woman for a month he just might find love. Charlie thinks he's in the clear until he meets up with Eva (Cassie Ventura). Wild guess here but he loses the bet. I feel as if this premise has been done within the last few years. The 1st film that comes to mind is Deliver Us From Eva. Maybe not then, I think that's more like Taming of the Shrew. Boomerang is more like this film. At least that's what I can remember but I'm sure there's more. No thanks.

March 18th

• The Divergent Series: Allegiant: Oh thank god another installment of the Divergent series. Is this the 3rd film? There's another slated for release in 2017 as well. Shailene Woodley is a talented actress and she's 25 years old, tell your agent to get you more adult roles. J-Law can't take them all! Not my demographic. Next.

• Midnight Special: Not sure what exactly is going on here. Michael Shannon's son has weird powers and he needs to get him to an open field. There's a lot of ominous sounding music, there's a good cast and it's written and directed by Jeff Nichols. The only problem is that when I watch the trailer, Mercury Rising comes to mind. That film stunk.

• The Bronze: A former bronze medal gymnast who fell on hard times after the Olympics is put in a position to train an up and coming gymnast. It seems weird to me that the up and coming gymnast is anywhere between 16-20 years old. In order to have a shot at the Olympics the up and comer would need to be 12-14 years old. There's a lot of foul mouthed humor. The trailer didn't grab me so I'll take a pass. 

• The Program: Based on the book, Seven Deadly Sins: My Pursuit of Lance_ Armstrong. The film follows the investigation into Lance Armstrong's blood doping. Directed by Stephen Frears and starring Ben Foster as Armstrong, this looks good.

• Too Late: John Hawkes is a seedy private eye. That's about what you get from the trailer. He gets involved with a stripper and he's looking for someone. Maybe? There's a lot of cigarette smoking and Hawkes eventually goes to kill someone. Not going to lie, I will probably see this film. Looks gritty and dark. Sold.

• The Confirmation: Clive Owen is an absentee father who has to spend the weekend with his young son while his ex-wife and husband go away for the weekend. Suffice to say that things don't go well but Clive gives it the old college try and least shows his son that he loves and cares about him despite his faults. The son recognizes that his dad is flawed but he's trying. This looks like a slow moving drama.

March 25th

• Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice: This picture will be the big hitter until May when Marvel Studios starts their run. We've all seen the trailers for this film and it's widely anticipated but I've grown a little cold on it for some reason. When the latest trailer came out during the Super Bowl my 1st thought was, "oh there's Batman man beating up a gang of criminals again. Seen it." Make no mistake, I'll see the film but the anticipation for a Justice League motion picture has been building up for years and if this film falls short (expectations are very high) it could be a major setback for the DCU. On a side note, we get to see Wonder Woman who will get her own stand alone film eventually. Making hers the 1st female superhero film. Nice work. 

• My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2: It's been 14 years since Toula & Ian tied the knot and they've got a daughter. The teenage daughter naturally feels suffocated by her loving family (as I suspect a lot of teenage girls do). Toula's family seems to show up at inappropriate moments and say things that make Paris cringe. I never jumped on the bandwagon of the 1st film that had an incredible run at the box office. This looks like a standard goofy family comedy that I usually don't bother with. 

• I Saw the Light: The very British Tom Hiddleston play iconic country crooner Hank Williams. Hank pretty much cast the mold for hard drinking womanizing singers, be it country or rock. The film focuses on his rise and sudden death at 29. I didn't get into Walk the Line so I'll probably sit this one out as well.
• Born to be Blue: Ehtan Hawke plays legendary jazz musician Chet Baker an a film that traces his life from his 1st performance at iconic Jazz Club Birdland to his the near ending of his career after an assault that left him unable to play the trumpet to his triumphant return. I'm not into jazz music so I'll pass on this.
• Identicals: Sci-fi film where a person get can get a life upgrade by the better life donor (?). For one participant things go awry and he's forced to take on the Brand New U corporation. Not sure what exactly is going on in this film except that the protagonists girlfriend is abducted from their home and he goes to find her. That's what I got from the trailer. The film appears dark and I like that but I may wait to see this picture when it hits OnDemand or iTunes.

• Get a Job: 30 year old Anna Kendrick plays the very 22 year old Jillian as she sets off on life after college. She nags her boyfriend about finding work until the tables are turned when she gets fired and he gets a good gig. There ares some stoner jokes and a lot couple of Caucasian millennials griping about their lives like most college grads. No thanks!