Things That Matter To People Who Matter

Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! | Balki Bartokomous | Playing vinyl | Refurbishing a drum kit

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Published: Apr 29, 2008

Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!

I wouldn't consider myself a TV person by any means, but without a doubt the most excellent thing I've done lately is become an avid watcher of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! on Cartoon Network. The episodes are like these 12-minute shotgun blasts of total insanity, and I swear that neither Tim nor Eric — both of whom hail from Philly — have any sort of filter between what they're thinking and what you're watching. From week to week, from sketch to sketch, I have absolutely no idea what's going to happen next. That's so rare these days with, well, anything. This show rules! Watch it!

Balki Bartokomous

Before we had Borat, there was Balki Bartokomous. Hailing from the fictional Mediterranean island of Mypos, Balki won our hearts on the hit sitcom Perfect Strangers airing on ABC from 1986 to 1993. Bronson Pinchot played this character with a fake accent, and we all adored his idiosyncratic interpretations of American popular culture. Check out the Balki B Dance video on YouTube.

Playing vinyl

I recently discovered that my dear mom had saved hundreds of albums I had collected many years ago. Just perusing through these records convinced me to purchase a used record player. On the day I added this device to my stereo, there was no way I could have anticipated the frenetic and self-gratifying experience of playing vinyl again as I drifted from The White Album, to my 45s of the Teen Idles and the Germs, to my standbys such as Patsy Cline's Sentimentally Yours and Thelonious Monk's Straight No Chaser. I now look forward to reclining in front of my speakers in a blissful state of audio pleasure every day.

Refurbishing a drum kit

I love the new blue double-oil skins on my floor tom. I'm refurbishing my first drum kit; it's an old Japanese drum kit, I've been told. I've never had to refurbish a drum kit before, so it's a bit ... in pieces. But I'm working on adding new skins and wooden rings for the bass drum, which is missing everything on the front and looks like an old lady showing her gums! I've been given advice to shellac the inside to get rid of any spaces —to insulate it — before I add new hardware and a front skin to it. Who knew?

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