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There’s this queasy feeling my body triggers whenever it wants to reign in my brain’s constant jones for music/pop/trash-culture. It’s this sudden ache in my flanks, an I’m-going-to-wake-up-with-a-fever tomorrow sideswipe that gets more pronounced the more I look at whatever’s causing it this time around. And right now, I’m getting it from Tenacious D.
It’s not the D’s fault, actually. I really don’t have any control over which recording artist, actor, television show, movie, historical event, make of car, or local advertisement makes me get the quease (that’s what I call it.) Seriously — my body does it, not my brain. And I think it’s just the un-luck of the draw, that band or personality or story that happens to break just as the cultural bell curve as I perceive it settles at its lowest point. When this happens, my body makes a decision for me. “You’ve had too much chocolate cake, my friend,” it says in a stern voice, but not so many words. “Your brain is already overflowing with ridiculous information, some of it that you’ll need and a lot of it that you won’t; it’s time to prioritize, and there’s just no room in the inn for this latest thing.”
The latest thing? The promo blitz currently hitting for The Pick of Destiny, Tenacious D’s new movie/CD package.
The last time I got a significant quease was with Lost, season one. I watched a few episodes, curious like everyone else; I think it aired after or at least near Alias at the time, though maybe I’m just projecting that because of the JJ Abrams connection. I had always been an Alias guy, but Lost lost me right away, because I could immediately tell that it was going to require more of an investment than I was willing to give. Hours spent trolling Eko-devoted message boards; hatch schematics drawn up on deli paper; a bust of Terry O’Quinn fashioned from polyethylene. No thanks! It was just too much work, and my body new it. The quease.
And it’s the same with the D. Now, I’m a fan of Jack Black. I defended him after he reached the zenith of his mania at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, when he became an irritable cross between his character from Envy and an annoyed version of himself. I’m also a fan of Kage, too, as well as a fan of pretty much everything else about Tenacious D. The metal. The triumphant pick slides. The Meat Loaf cameos.
And yet, the quease.
It can just get to be too much, you know? I’m just tired of that tiny child version of Jack Black playing his Micro Jammer at the beginning of the TV ad for Pick of Destiny. He looks too much like Chucky from Child’s Play. But I think mostly I’m tired of the quease happening more often than it should. It’s supposed be a bell curve, after all — that means there should be high points, too. But lately it seems that nothing can be released without its accompanying scream of arrival. I’m really surprised that my body didn't make my brain turn its back on Borat, but his number might still be up. Check back with me in a week if his movie stays at no. 1.
As for Tenacious D, don’t hate me for hating, because I’m really not hating. That would take brain power, and my noggin’s still trying to figure out if the Cheerleader's dad is a bad guy or not. (I think he is.)
JTL
*Photo courtesy of http://www.myspace.com/tenaciousd
