11/30/2004
Exploring the Great White North
Great White North, eh? 
Okay, if you're not from Canada, or didn't grow up near the Canadian border, you have utterly no idea who these two are.
That's Bob (Rick Moranis) and Doug (Dave Thomas) McKenzie, two recurring characters from the old CBC teevee show, SCTV. They were the epitome of stereo-typical Canucks (and I say that with every ounce of endearment I can muster; I'm an American Canuck at heart), repleat with Scottish-derived accents, dount-based dietary supplements, backbacon on the Coleman, and beer in stubbies (short bottles before long-necks became the rage).
When I was in high school, their album, the Great White North, was released, sometime in the early 80s. Their hit single Take Off was our battle cry, even featuring Geddy Lee of Rush (another Canadian import band) on vocals. They followed the album with a silly little movie called Strange Brew, based -- oddly enough -- upon Shakespeare's Macbeth.
I never got the album. Never could find it. And by the time I was old enough to drive to Canada by myself to buy the damn thing, it was so out of circulation, it had become the stuff of legends.
Once again, thank God for online contacts.
During another creators' chat, we were talking about recent animation. And Disney's Brother Bear had just been released on DVD. The movie (quite good, by the way) features two characters giving their comments, talking utter nonsense and completely destroying the flick.
Causing nothing short of full hysterics in myself and the Things.
And which two characters do I speak of? Why, two moose called Rutt and Tuke, based on none other than the McKenzie brothers.
Anyway, when mentioning this, someone chimed in that they had the original album, and were more than happy to make me a copy on CD.
Which I now have. And have been playing non-stop for weeks.
And why do I mention this? Simply because I've created two new characters based (read as "swiped") on Bob and Doug. And their first appearance will be in a holiday wallpaper I'm now working on.
So stay tooned as I work these guys into my regular series. Yet more insights into the creative mind.
And to think others take drugs to get like this.
Doc "Hosehead" Absurd
0 comments
Okay, if you're not from Canada, or didn't grow up near the Canadian border, you have utterly no idea who these two are.
That's Bob (Rick Moranis) and Doug (Dave Thomas) McKenzie, two recurring characters from the old CBC teevee show, SCTV. They were the epitome of stereo-typical Canucks (and I say that with every ounce of endearment I can muster; I'm an American Canuck at heart), repleat with Scottish-derived accents, dount-based dietary supplements, backbacon on the Coleman, and beer in stubbies (short bottles before long-necks became the rage).
When I was in high school, their album, the Great White North, was released, sometime in the early 80s. Their hit single Take Off was our battle cry, even featuring Geddy Lee of Rush (another Canadian import band) on vocals. They followed the album with a silly little movie called Strange Brew, based -- oddly enough -- upon Shakespeare's Macbeth.
I never got the album. Never could find it. And by the time I was old enough to drive to Canada by myself to buy the damn thing, it was so out of circulation, it had become the stuff of legends.
Once again, thank God for online contacts.
During another creators' chat, we were talking about recent animation. And Disney's Brother Bear had just been released on DVD. The movie (quite good, by the way) features two characters giving their comments, talking utter nonsense and completely destroying the flick.
Causing nothing short of full hysterics in myself and the Things.
And which two characters do I speak of? Why, two moose called Rutt and Tuke, based on none other than the McKenzie brothers.
Anyway, when mentioning this, someone chimed in that they had the original album, and were more than happy to make me a copy on CD.
Which I now have. And have been playing non-stop for weeks.
And why do I mention this? Simply because I've created two new characters based (read as "swiped") on Bob and Doug. And their first appearance will be in a holiday wallpaper I'm now working on.
So stay tooned as I work these guys into my regular series. Yet more insights into the creative mind.
And to think others take drugs to get like this.
Doc "Hosehead" Absurd
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