Maybe this will jog someone's memory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3ljBmttLGw

Still wondering who made this. I know who made the video. Posted in honor of the great Brian Wilson.

(oh hell, I screwed up) (back later)

I made a Smile CD in 2002 that begins with a nine-minute, almost-all instrumental track that someone called "The Elements". It's these pieces strung together:

0:00  Look
2:10  Holidays
4:33  Fire
6:44  I Love To Say Da Da (Water)
7:36  I Wanna Be Around / Workshop

Anyone know who put this together, like which homemade Smile it came from? (It sure wasn't me and I haven't been able to find it online) Thanks.

Anyone who says "no big deal" is ignoring the fact that nobody wants to perform for Trump because Trump is uniquely terrible. There weren't any boycotts of the Reagan or Bush inaugurations. Nobody would be making a big deal if a more normal Republican had won the Electoral College. But Trump isn't even a Republican. He is a cancer unto himself. The fact that he is in office due to the weirdness of our Constitution and help from the FBI doesn't hide the fact that he stands alone in American history.

The band should stick to their schedule and simply say they're otherwise engaged. 

I enjoyed the album a lot when it came out but put it aside for the past few months. Not sure why. But I played it in the car a couple times this week and still think it's excellent. (Ok, I usually skip the one with Peter Hollens and also "Sail Away", which sounded too familiar the first time I heard it, and I don't like Brian's "In the Back of My Mind" at all).

Listening to "Don't Worry" today, when Brian sings "I'm going out of my way to live in the now and not yesterday", I had a thought regarding the album as a whole. Brian says he only listens to oldies radio, not the latest stuff. So maybe he thinks the elements of the album that sound like adult contemporary or smooth jazz from a few decades ago are actually "in the now and not yesterday"? I offer this thought only semi-seriously and repeat that I really enjoy the album.

On a related note: According to the first lyrics site I looked at today (lyricsmania.com), the opening lines of "Don't Worry" are:

Well, it's been building up inside of me
For oh, I don't know how long...

I got to see all the extras on the DVD this week. The commentary from the director and the screenwriter, as well as the two little featurettes about making the movie, all made me appreciate the artistry involved in the whole project even more. For example, the person responsible for the costumes explained how he wanted to create the look of the different periods without making it distracting by overdoing it, and how he costumed the Carl and Dennis characters with their particular styles and personalities in mind.

I've never listened to all the commentary on a DVD before, because it usually seems like a waste of time, but Bill Pohlad and Oren Moverman do a great job explaining what they were trying to do. It's all very thoughtful and held my interest for the whole two hours.

I just listened to the new Beach House album "Depression Cherry". It's gorgeous. This is the last track: "Days of Candy"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhJpXouayE4

Plus those hats are ugly and pointless. Bald can be beautiful! 

Thanks. It worked here in the US. I wonder where the presenter got the idea the movie is based on a book by Melinda. Simply because she's portrayed in a very positive way?

<deleted>

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jul/06/love-and-mercy-brian-wilson

The Guardian printed a review in September too. Also 3 stars out of 5.

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/sep/08/love-and-mercy-review-brian-wilson-biopic

Both reviewers express some qualms, but seem to have appreciated enough aspects of the movie to give it 4 out of 5. Just 3 stars seems rather stingy.

Well, it is entirely possible that they may not have been bowled over like so many have. It's not a mandate to hail it as a masterpiece.

I wish I could say I adored it, honestly--I wish I could be one of those who walked around the day after a screening feeling "changed". Alas, it didn't happen. Hopefully some repeat views on cable will warm me up to it.

It affected me less the second time I saw it, but I still think it's extremely well-made. Granted that not everyone loves it, but my (small) point about the Guardian was that the text of the reviews seemed more positive than the 3 stars (it was definitely a small point).

For me, 3 out of 5 means ok, enjoyable, pretty good, nothing special, what I expected. So it makes sense they gave 3 to Ted 2 based on their review. I demand one more star!!!

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jul/06/love-and-mercy-brian-wilson

The Guardian printed a review in September too. Also 3 stars out of 5.

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/sep/08/love-and-mercy-review-brian-wilson-biopic

Both reviewers express some qualms, but seem to have appreciated enough aspects of the movie to give it 4 out of 5. Just 3 stars seems rather stingy.

I'm hoping the 12 to 14 guests was Brian being funny. Taken that way, it's actually a pretty good joke.

PS -- In fact, in the light of day, I'm guessing it was a joke.

Odd. We'll have to see if this is actually a plan or just one of Brian's peculiar brainwaves -- see Pleasure Island.

Right. I've always thought this was just an easy way for him to give an answer to "what are you going to do next?". But he may surprise us again.

What do you want to do next?

I want to do a tribute album to the rock ’n’ roll greats, like Berry, Little Richard, Paul McCartney and Barry Gibb—cover versions of their songs. We’re going to do it in about three or four months. By that time I’ll have all the guest artists—12-14— I want or need. It’s going to be a rough recording trip, but I think I can do it.

http://vegasseven.com/2015/06/30/seven-questions-brian-wilson/

(1) Which of those four names doesn't belong?

(2) So the idea would be to have one guest artist per track. If he's really planning this, he must have especially enjoyed working with the guests on NPP.

WFMU is a free-form FM station in Jersey City, NJ. Last week Irwin Chusid did a whole show ("Brian Science") in honor of Brian's birthday. The guest host was Dennis Diken of the Smithereens.

The first song is "Ballad of a Beach Boys Geek".

It's playable here:

http://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/61225

Very nicely done. It's brilliantly edited. I was totally with you up until the end, and then: Maybe you'd consider not adding what sounds like whales at 43:08 when "Surf's Up" is finishing? The extra sounds seemed intrusive. Since I've never liked "George Fell Into His French Horn", maybe the whales would make a fitting coda after "Surf's Up" fades out. Just my two cents.

There's a page from the new Becoming the Beach Boys book that has a paragraph about it (near the top of the page):

https://books.google.com/books?id=273eCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA404&lpg=PA404&dq=abc+radio+california+saga&source=bl&ots=PCENZ1VkKu&sig=y4Z7vgkkpOCZpkarB-WWLxJocUI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=k5eEVYuXFcTVmAWoyoDYCA&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=abc%20radio%20california%20saga&f=false

In Amusement Parks USA, after "she wiggles on her belly like a reptile", Hal Blaine says "she's got the biggest ass ....". Does anyone know what he says after that? On early versions (before they added "let's go see her" to the track), like the one on Made In California, it sounds like "lady I don't know". But there's more.

"She's got the biggest asp in town"

"Looks like a fake to me"

"Asp"! That's rather sophisticated. Although all I can get is "she's got the biggest asp <inaudible> lady I don't know". 

In Amusement Parks USA, after "she wiggles on her belly like a reptile", Hal Blaine says "she's got the biggest ass ....". Does anyone know what he says after that? On early versions (before they added "let's go see her" to the track), like the one on Made In California, it sounds like "lady I don't know". But there's more.

(Is this question insignificant enough for this thread?)

What is the origin of the term Surf Nazi and its association with Landy and his crew? I've often heard it referred to when discussing Landy's "body guards" and assistants. Was it a term Landy himself called them or a negative term by fans of the public?

Kevin Leslie and Evan Landy used to wear tshirts with the slogan "Surf Nazi" and "Surf  Nazi (training)". The phrase itself dates from the fifties and originally meant someone totally devoted to surfing. As surfing gained popularity and the beaches filled with grennies, the original surfers grew aggressively territorial, hence the term gained a secondary, derogatory meaning. The application to Landy's goons requires no further explanation.

That's "gremmies", Andrew. But you were close! 

If this movie does well financially, as it seems likely to do, maybe that will encourage someone to resuscitate the Dennis Wilson movie, "The Drummer". Just a thought.

Surprised you hadn't heard what happened with the director that was shepherding "The Drummer":

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-midnight-rider20150309-story.html#page=1

and here's an article about what happened when the project originally went south, before Randall's problems:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/beach-boys-estate-pulls-planned-665205

Thanks for the links. I'd read that the project was canceled and why it was, but never say never, I guess. Maybe someone will reconsider or see an opportunity now, since it's Hollywood?

I don't remember hearing about the death on the Midnight Rider film, or the director being punished, but that story may have received more coverage in LA and the entertainment press than it did other places.

The interesting thing to read is on Evan Landy. He is Landy’s son and spent years with Brian in a very intimate way. He has a whole different perspective of Landy and his motivation. Was he [Dr. Landy] overreaching? Probably. OF COURSE. Did he cost a lot of money? Hell yeah. Did he want to be producer and the writer and stuff with Brian? Yes, he did. Did he go beyond the bounds of therapy? Probably. OF COURSE. But, guess what? He also saved his life. So to read Evan Landy’s dissertation on it is very, very interesting because you get an intimate look at someone who was with Brian everyday for a few years. So it’s a whole different story that came out on MAY HAVE BEEN PORTRAYED IN Love and Mercy, WHICH I HAVEN'T SEEN YET. BUT THIS ISN'T RASHOMON. THE FACT THAT LANDY'S SON HAS A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE DOESN'T CHANGE THE FACT THAT LANDY BEHAVED VERY BADLY, AS I'VE SAID BEFORE.

Mike -- See the difference? This will go over a lot better with the public. Words matter. They have meanings. That's a fact, not an opinion. And this language has the benefit of being true. That's a plus, even in public relations!

If this movie does well financially, as it seems likely to do, maybe that will encourage someone to resuscitate the Dennis Wilson movie, "The Drummer". Just a thought.

Why there aren't 10 pages devoted to discussion about that? That's a hell of a lot more interesting than people flying into hysterics and dissecting how and why Mike used the word "probably" in a sentence.

Recipe for generating a thread with more than 10 pages:

(1) Find a public figure who said something like "The Americans probably landed on the moon", "Lionel Messi is probably better than anyone who plays for Scunthorpe United" or "Dr. Landy probably went beyond the bounds of therapy".  

(2) Keep defending or trying to explain away that use of "probably".

Nothing to it, except for step (1). Oh, wait.