THE UNDERGROUND — ISSUE #117
Everything you need to know about in this weekly series: A GTA 5 mod that will excite every Rick and Morty fan, Hans Zimmer performs at Coachella and steals the show, get the songs to the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 soundtrack, and why CNN and other networks are turning segments into manufactured drama.
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. Grand Theft Auto 5 gets the Rick and Morty treatment. I really respect people who take the time to mod games. I have no idea how to do any of it because there are nerds out there way more talented, but I appreciate it.
A genius decided to combine the greatness of GTA with Rick and Morty. What we get is a hilarious and impressive look at if we actually got a Rick and Morty game. They even managed to get Rick’s spaceship right.
This is why people choose to play games on PC versus playing them on console. There are so many games I own for PS4 that have been modded that I feel I’ve made a huge mistake buying the system. Then again, I already spend enough time on my laptop, so if I bought these, you’d hear on the news about a guy dying after playing video games for a week straight.
Check out the mod below for GTA 5. If you don’t know what Rick and Morty is, well, get your life together.
2. Hans Zimmer stole the show at Coachella 2017. Hans Zimmer is a living musical legend. He has done the music for some of the best movies ever made. One movie he did music for was the brilliant Inception from 2010. Not only was the movie good, but the music for it was amazing and should’ve won best music at the Academy Awards. It didn’t, but the Academy Awards are stupid anyway. Millionaires receiving golden idols for playing pretend? Pfft, whatever.
With bands like Radiohead headlining, it’s hard to know how Hans Zimmer would compete with that. Radiohead is my favorite band, but Hans Zimmer stole the entire festival by playing some of his best compositions. There are many more that this video will link to, but this one was my favorite. He manages to mix in the entire score of this film into a little over 9 minutes. You don’t even need to be high to enjoy this at a festival, although you probably are anyway.
Enjoy Hans Zimmer crushing it at Coachella below. Get the soundtrack for the film, too. I must admit that I would go running while listening to this music. It pumps you up.
3. The setlist for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 has been released. One of the best things about the first film was that it wouldn’t be as good without that amazing soundtrack. What’s even better about it is that it’s essential to the plot. It’s not just some random action movie where they throw in music for the hell of it, no, it’s Peter Quill’s only thing he has from his mother before he was taken off of Earth (no explanation how he build a cassette deck into his spaceship though).
From what I’ve heard from those who have seen the film already, the Awesome Mix Vol. 2 really delivers like the first one did. The hidden joy of the films using older music is that all the younger people will get their first experience with some classic music: Fleetwood Mac, Electric Light Orchestra, George Harrison… and David Hasselhoff? Okay, maybe there might be a few hits or misses, but I’m sure they know what they’re doing in this film.
Get these songs from the usual places, blare them in your car on your way to the movie theater, and prepare for a fun movie.
4. CNN and other 24/7 news are brain poison. Lately, when you watch the news, it seems like every single day is full of stories that would take up a whole news cycle. Not anymore since everyday is surpassed by the day after it. The problem is that CNN and other channels report stories like that politics are sports.
Having a panel of 9 people yelling over each other does nothing to further any important conversation. In fact, it probably makes the viewer even more uninformed since the same stuff is spouted over and over again. There are so many things going on in the world that get ignored because so much time is pent trying to create “manufactured drama” to keep people watching.
Think about it. Go to your Twitter or Facebook trending feed right now. Do you see any reactionary stuff about a pundit saying something stupid on-air? Why is someone saying something stupid on-air more important than what they should be talking about? Do become the news; report the news. When you report the news; give the facts. If there is bound to be opinion or editorial, then state that. The blur between news and opinion is pathetic.
Watch this VOX piece about how CNN and others create drama to get people watching. Thankfully baseball is on. I’d rather listen to a boring pitcher’s duel than hear a white guy talk about civil rights.
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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