This week: Rap iconoclast Kid Cudi comes in for a check-up… An Alabama woman gets star-struck… And Sarah Palin slays a reindeer. Plus, a joke/hallucination from Bob Odenkirk, and a classic track from Thin Lizzy.
Icebreaker: Bob Odenkirk
Bob Odenkirk — a regular on TV’s “Breaking Bad” and co-creator of the legendary “Mr. Show” — magically shoehorns a joke into our show. (You’ll find the same sensibility in his contributions to the how-to humor book Comedy By Numbers.)
Small Talk: Palin Kills Reindeer
Jacob Weisberg, editor-in-chief of Slate.com and producer of its Culture Gabfest, assesses the damages from Sarah Palin’s reality-TV slay ride through the Alaska wilderness.
A History Lesson With Booze: Star-Struck and “The Extinction Level Event”
This week back in 1954, Alabama housewife Annie Hodges became the first person in recorded history to get hit by a meteorite. But the space rock didn’t do nearly as much damage as the fame that followed. Hear Annie’s story, then toast her memory with a devastating drink:
“Extinction Level Event,” as created for the DPD by Robert Bagwell, bartender at Bottletree in Birmingham, AL.
In a shot glass add:
- ½ oz. Half-and-half cream
- ½ oz. Kahlua liqueur
- ½ oz. Jagermeister
- ½ oz. Buttershot butterscotch liqueur
Drop the shot, meteor-like, into a glass half-filled with Earth-esque Guinness beer. Sip. Pray humanity survives.
Guest of Honor: Kid Cudi
Kid Cudi (nee Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi) hails from Cleveland, but he put himself on the map in Brooklyn, NY with his 2008 mixtape “A Kid Named Cudi.” It won him a lot of fans, including a guy named Kanye West, who signed Cudi to his label (and still cites him as his favorite artist). Since then Cudi has produced two critically acclaimed albums – including last month’s Man on the Moon 2: The Legend of Mr. Rager – and contributed to several Kanye tracks. Despite his rap-world celebrity, Cudi is a self-proclaimed “art kid” — along with rappers Drake and Wale, he’s considered one of a new breed of rappers who focus more on everyday middle-class life than gangster fantasies. He talks to Brendan about his problem with modern hip hop… and with his teeth.
One For The Road: Thin Lizzy – “Dancing in the Moonlight”
With this 1977 hit, Irish superstars Thin Lizzy took all the classic-rock cliches — wailing sax riffs, suggestive lyrics (“I always get chocolate stains on my pants”) and twin guitar solos — and forged ‘em into an almost touchingly sincere ode to teenage nightlife. It’s called “Dancing in the Moonlight,” and it’s best listened to while doing exactly that.
Music On This Week’s Show:
Sea & Cake – “The Argument”
Aphex Twin – “Boy/Girl Song”
Tipsy – “Liquordelic”
Surfaris – “A Dream at Dusk”
Air – “Kelly Watch the Stars”
Astro Can Caravan – Meteor Shower Geel
Kid Cudi – “Day N Nite”
Kid Cudi – “Pursuit of Happiness”
Thin Lizzy – “Dancing in the Moonlight”
