Chipmunk Punk

I remember this record back when I was a kid. They had a pretty extensive marketing campaign for it with lots of commercials on TV. "Chipmunk Punk," for those punters out there who had a hankering to hear some late '70s-early '80s Top 40 tunes recorded with annoying, speeded-up vocals. I guess that's what a chipmunk might sound like. Sounds more like a methhead on helium. How they figured that covering songs by Billy Joel, Queen, Tom Petty and two -- count 'em -- two The Knack tracks qualified as "punk" I'll never understand. Maybe something to do with the mainstream tastes back then identifying all new music as punk rock -- sorta the way people called anything with a guitar "alternative" back in the '90s. If you're genuinely curious you can log on to eBay and bid on a copy. Not available on CD.

Tracklist

• Let's Go
• Good Girls Don't
• How Do I Make you
• Refugee
• Frustrated
• Call Me
• You May Be Right
• Crazy Little Thing Called Love
• My Sharona

Sweet!

Zero Hour!, the inspiration for the Zucker Brothers' Airplane!, is coming out for the first time on home video in June. Now it looks like two, hard-to-find classics from the twisted mind of Serbian director Dušan Makavejev are coming out on DVD the same month. 1971's "WR: Mysteries of the Organism" -- an international film studies staple -- will see it's first official North American DVD release as well as Makavejev's monumental "Sweet Movie" -- one movie that I thought I'd never see released through mainstream channels. Both Criterion DVDs will feature new, digital transfers, interviews with the director, critical essays and improved subtitles among other cool stuff. "Sweet Movie" is one of the most uncompromising films I've ever seen -- not for prudes or the faint of heart! But the classic score by Manos Hadjidakis is a must-hear. Look for John Vernon (Dean Wormer from "Animal House") in the role of "Mr. Dollars." Ground-breaking '70s cinema.

Zero Hour!

Finally, fans of the film Airplane! will be able to see the true origins of the '80s comedy classic when Zero Hour hits stores this June. The 1957 film, starring Dana Andrews as "Ted Stryker" has never been released on home video so this DVD, part of Warner Brother's "Camp Classics" collection, will be a real treat. My prediction: unintentional laughs galore as first time viewers hear Sterling Hayden say, "I guess I picked the wrong week to quit smoking." The Digital Bits reports that the film, along with a bunch of other b-movies, including Attack of the 50 Ft Woman and Colossus of Rhodes (Sergio Leone's directorial debut), will be released on June 26th.

Scuba Doo

Greetings, Earthlings. I've been pretty busy the past month. I've spent the past three weekends scuba diving...actually, I just got certified last weekend in San Marcos at the former Aquarena Springs. I know, it's weird...scuba diving in the winter. I thought I'd get a jump on the summer mayhem but a bunch of other people felt the same way. Our class was packed. I did my first official dive this weekend out at the chilly Clear Springs Scuba Park in Terrell, TX. The water was a brisk 50 degrees but that didn't stop this polar bear. What stopped me was my buoyant 7mm wetsuit. I didn't have enough weights to keep me under the water till about 10 feet. After a few false starts, I finally got under and the water pressure compressed the suit. But coming up, I experienced an uncontrolled ascent and shot to the top like a missile. If we had actually been deep diving that would've been it...but I cheated death to dive another day! Hopefully my mother is not reading this. Don't worry I'll get better...the combination of cold water and all new equipment configuration was a potent and confusing brew -- something that I'm going to have to adjust to. Unfortunately I won't get a chance to get wet for another couple of weeks. I'm already formulating my evil plans.