The Underground — Issue #90
Everything you need to know about in this weekly series: One of the best directors in the world explains where he gets his ideas, The Black Keys explain their incredible beginning, 16 misconceptions about football, and how a parking lot at LAX has become a make-shift home for airline workers.
At Social Underground we go beyond the mainstream stuff and see what’s underneath the surface. What should we get into, listen to, read, eat or watch? If there is something in our culture that needs attention that’s our job: Show you the underground things that you need to know about: Books, music, television, movies, comedians, art, and whatever else we can find to get you into something you never knew about. That’s The Underground.
1. David Lynch explains where ideas come from. David Lynch has made some incredible films and TV shows. I remember being in a film class in high school and having and eccentric teacher. We literally watched Twin Peaks from beginning to end every day. Not only did that mean I had 2 hours a day to watch and episode of TV in school every day, we also spent the other hours discussing all things David Lynch. The show was really something beyond anything I have really witnessed before. The death of one girl brought an FBI agent to a small town, strange things start to happen, and then it goes off into a huge mind-trip at the end. It’s one of the only things I haven’t blocked out in those 4 years.
Below, Lynch explains where and how his ideas come to him. They’re similar to mine, only I jot them down as a memo in my phone. Song idea? I record the guitar or piano sound into my phone very crudely so I can remember it later. Lynch is sort of the same, except he’s a genius. Watch him explain his process and use it in your life.
2. The Black Keys explain their unlikely start into the music scene. The Black Keys are one of the biggest bands in the world, but they had very humble beginnings: Two strangers that lived a few houses away from each other that met through friends and started jamming. They recorded a 4-song demo, sent it to 10-15 labels, then got a record deal. They’ve never played a single show together, but they got a record deal. Soon, they recorded a 12-song record titled The Big Come Up, and people began to flock to their shows. 500 albums turned into 200,000 albums sold. Soon they were playing with Radiohead.
I heard a few songs here and there, but I never really checked to see who they actually were until their album El Camino came out. I was hooked after that. However, this show on HBO called Hung had an interesting theme song that played before the show. The guitar was gritty, drums booming, recording was slightly amateur, but then his voice started singing. It sounded familiar, but there was no way. Sure enough, it was The Black Keys. It was a song from their very first album. From that point on, I bought all of their albums. They’re all so different, but all so good.
Check out the Rolling Stone doc about their first album and beginnings below. I had no idea how they managed to get so lucky so fast. Probably because their music is so damn good.
3. 16 misconceptions about football really teaches you about football, obviously. I love football. Well, I love college football. I really don’t care that much about the NFL because of the horrible criminal stuff, the advertising, the managers, the using of public funds to build new stadiums, and also THE LIONS. Plus, it’s really hard to explain American Football to people who have no idea. Explaining the downs, plays, rules, and everything else is annoying.
The video explains the misconceptions people have about football. There is one part where he explains that the half-time shows used to be really bad. I will disagree with that since they’ve always been awful. Katy Perry? Britney Spears? There’s never really any rock bands that play that weren’t popular in the ’60s. I’d rather see, well, The Black Keys go up there for 4 songs and get me pumped for the second half instead of Katy Perry and some dancing sharks.
Either way, the video below does really inform you about things you might have wrong about football. Concussions? No, they still screw up entire brains and families of the players. We can’t forget about that.
4. An airport parking lot in Los Angeles has become an improvised city for airplane workers. When you work in the aviation industry, you tend to travel A LOT. I’ve known people who have expensive apartments in the city they’re from, but they are barely home at all, have to pay the bills for a place they are barely at, and then continue their trips around the world. Imagine having that plus a leased car or a family. You never get to see them, and it can break up families since you’re never there.
Many of the people in the aviation industry have set up an improvised city in the parking lot of A Los Angeles airport. Why? Look at what I wrote above. Imagine you’re a flight attendant who has just traveled like 40 hours to various locations, get back to your home base, have to be back in 7 hours where you’re going to various cities for the next two weeks. Would you rather go to your apartment that’s 3 hours away from the airport because of traffic, not get any sleep at home for the hour you’re there, then drive back in that same traffic? OR would you rather just walk to the parking lot to your motor home and get some sleep before you head back out? That’s essentially what these flight attendants, mechanics, and other people who work at the airport deals with. It makes perfect sense.
Watch this documentary on the subject from The New York Times below. Makes me tired just watching what they go through.
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Jeff Sorensen is an author, writer and occasional comedian living in Detroit, Michigan. You can look for more of his work on The Huffington Post, UPROXX, BGR and by just looking up his name.
Contact: jeff@socialunderground.com