Yes I Remember Spin Art

Just in case there were any lingering worries about me being somehow attractive to the opposite sex, let me step away from all this social commentary and get my nerd on for a moment.
     Venture Brothers Season 2?
          ..Worst DVD Commentary Ever.
There are probably very few things in this world that do more damage to your Q score (you know -- outside of knowing what a "q score" is) than actually attempting to listen to the commentaries that creators/directors/actors provide when they re-master a film or TV show for home sales -- but when I make the leap to purchasing a DVD set instead of just renting it from the netflix (especially an entire series of something that I really like) this feature is something I actually really look forward to.

Unfortunately, most DVD commentary tracks are crap. Normally it's two or three people sitting in some sound booth in front of some plasma screen display of their film who have been asked to "come up with something interesting to say" about it. The results range from the out and out boring "We must have spent months in specially modified helicopters flying around scouting locations, in fact -- I remember once telling Martin Scorsese at a benefit party that there are really few things in this life worse than helicopter seats in December.." to the almost too common occurrence of star actors who apparently have never seen the finished product of the film that they worked on for however many months talking to the director and saying things like "wow, that's cool -- how'd you guys do that?"

But when you get to things that are labors of love -- like animation, your expectations tend to rise a little. Especially when it's something so utterly overflowing with obscure references and in-jokes the way The Venture Brothers tends to be -- which is probably why I love it so much.

So you click the audio button on the remote to the right track to see what the creators and writers were thinking when they were coming up with all of this, or even discover one or two in-jokes you didn't pick up on the first time you saw the show -- only to find a what sounds like 2 guys in separate phone booths talking about how gassy they always are.

One of them you can hear, while the other one is like, I don't know 3 states away or something -- which would be a problem if he actually had something to say about the show, but it's almost as if creators Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick decided beforehand that the fans already know too much about the show as it is, so giving them any information themselves would actually be some sort of disservice or something -- so nearly the entire commentary consists of the two of them arguing about God knows what.
The odd thing is that when you read Publick's blog you get all sorts of interesting facts and information, which is probably why it was so frustrating to get almost nothing out of the actual DVD commentary other than two guys talking over each other so badly that even if it was relevant you can barely make out what they are saying in the first place.

It actually got to a point where I sort of forgot I was watching the commentary at all and actually said something to the effect of
"Would you two shut up, I'm trying to watch this!"
Of course the real issue behind all this is the way that people like to attach themselves to things that they're passionate about. I think in general it's more of a guy thing -- possibly because we value our diversions and hobbies on such personal levels.

I'm not really sure why it is, but you've seen it before -- that one gearhead who feels the need to name every car he buys, or the way all guys require time to mourn whenever our favorite sports teams screw something up really bad (I still wince whenever I hear Bob Costas talk about the Denver Broncos).

Women don't seem to do that as much. Sure women are passionate about things -- but I guess they simply have a better understanding of the difference between reality and things that just accessories to your life. For example, it's not uncommon at all to hear a chick fawn over a pair of shoes she really wants to buy, but once she's bought them and worn them once or twice -- all you hear is complaints about how bad they pinch, or how nothing she has really matches with them the right way.
Or to put it another way, I've yet to meet the girl who's named her favorite pair of pumps.
It's a subtle difference, but perhaps a telling one. I know lots of women who love football, but very few who are interested in watching football-related talk shows on ESPN five months after the season has ended (and two months before the next one is about to start). Women obsess over different kinds of things -- which is part of what makes them so mysterious and interesting (except on Sundays, Monday nights, some Thursdays, and all during March Madness).

None of which helps to explain at all the crush I have on Venture Brother's character Doctor Girlfriend, who talks like a man and is made out of ink
..but is still welcome to arch my super scientist anytime she wants, knammsayin?

[Listening to:    Peeping Tom"Sucker" ]

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