Mad Lettuce (Season 1) - Show Notes

The Lettuce Podcast is going back in time again! This time, Laura and Charlotte head to the NYC in the 1960's to hang out with everyone's favorite advertising agency. They chat about Season 1 of AMC's break-out drama, Mad Men. They also welcome guest Kurtis from the 3 Angry Nerds podcast to the show. Together the discuss the character arcs of the 4 leads, Don Draper's many relationships, social issues in the 1960's, and the difference between life today and 50 years prior. Laura gushes about her favorite character, Joan, but also explains why she didn't really like the character at first. Charlotte shares why she feels connected to Peggy's character. Kurtis points out the unbelievably strange relationship between Betty and 10-year-old Glen Bishop. They all attempt to explain what makes Don such a likeable character despite his many bad qualities. Is Roger Sterling's morality-free character what helps the audience see Don as a hero? How close to women's liberation are the main female characters in the show? Is Pete Campbell literally the worst person ever? All these topics and more are discussed in this week's episode of The Lettuce Podcast! 

The rating section brings another high showing for TLP: an average of 4.25 Chards was awarded to S1 of Mad Men. The Fun & Games segment features the return of Kill, Marry, Pity Date (a favorite game of both TLP and 3 Angry Nerds!). Laura, Charlotte, and Kurtis also take a stab at Alphabet Sentence, the one-word-at-a-time story telling game. This episode's result might be the most ridiculous sentence constructed to date!

 The Lettuce Heads enjoyed 2 Mad Men themed podtails this for episode! Charlotte mixed up a Mai Tai inspired by Rachel Menken's drink order in the premier episode "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes". Laura enjoyed Betty Draper's drink of choice: a lime gimlet. 


The Lettuce Podcast is available on iTunes, Stitcher, Satchel, and Podcast Addict. If you like what you hear and want to be part of the conversation, feel free to leave a comment on this or any blog post. You can also help us reach a wider audience by rating and reviewing The Lettuce Podcast on iTunes or Stitcher. Thanks for listening and for your support! 

Don't forget to check out Kurtis' podcast 3 Angry Nerds! You can look to his excellent podcast for entertainment news, love advice ("Nerds In Love"), and nerd culture through the years ("Back in Time"). 

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Join us next week for another installment of The Lettuce Beets where Laura and Charlotte chat about their lives and current entertainment interests. 

The next topic episode of The Lettuce Podcast will focus on The Twilight Saga. Charlotte and Laura will cover the entire 5 movie series. Get ready for some sparkly vampire action, Lettuce Heads!

Until then,
Arugalater! 

Field Mix - Rubber Soul

Album: Rubber Soul
Artist: The Beatles
Release Date: December 3rd, 1965
RS Greatest Albums of All Time Ranking: #5
Songs You'll Know: Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown), In My Life
Songs You May Have Missed: Run For Your Life, I'm Looking Through You

A Little History/Why This Album Is Famous: Anyone with even a little knowledge on The Beatles' history will know that they started as pop heartthrobs and ended as experimental rockers. You can thank a ferocious desire to be seen as genuine musicians, and drugs, for that. Rubber Soul is the turning point between the two sides of the Beatles. This is the album where the Fab Four moved away from the 2-3 minute pop songs to longer form (but still relatively short by today's standards) songs with more texture and depth. It is only their second album to contain all original music (A Hard Day's Night was the first) and the first that was intended as an artistic work. This album is also famous for its cover art: the iconic stretched photograph that was originally a slide projection mishap. It is also the first album cover which does not have "The Beatles" printed on it.

Comments: In my opinion, this is the first album where we as listeners start to get to know the Beatles both as a group and individually. As a group, we hear their actual intentions as musicians: they want to combine styles, stretch the bounds of popular music, and explore possibilities. They want to write about more than girls and love (though there's plenty of that). They want to write about politics, free thinking, and peace. John wants us to know he's got jealousy issues: turn to "Norwegian Wood" and "Run for Your Life" for that. George wants to promote individuality: the somewhat oxy-moronic "Think For Yourself". Paul is still kinda stuck on love songs: "Michelle" and "You Won't See Me". And this is probably the first time we start to realize that Ringo feels overlooked: "What Goes On". Ringo didn't write it, but they're his vocals and I don't buy that the lyrics are coincidental.

This album is full of really great songs. Everything referenced in the previous paragraph could easily get stuck in your head or become a "I've got to listen to this 10 times in a row" type of song. That being said, there are a couple clunkers. In my opinion, "Girl" is a little sleepy, though that might have something to do with the amount of literal sighs in the song. Give it a listen; you'll know what I'm talking about. I also find "The Word" and "If I Needed Someone" to be skip-able on occasion. If you listened to our recent The Lettuce Podcast episode about Charlotte's favorite music, you'll know that I don't have much taste for when an artist is "preachy" with their life philosophy. In the context of the episode, I was talking about Jason Mraz, but these same feelings apply to the Beatles' "The Word". I'm wholly supportive of perpetuating peace and love, but I can't handle the presentation of this ideal in "The Word". My criticism of "If I Needed Someone" is that I've heard this song minimum 20 times and would not be able to sing the chorus to you right now. So, there's that.

As with most of the albums in the top 10 slots on Rolling Stone's list, this is kind of essential for a popular music historian. It is not only a mark of the style change for the Beatles, but the style change for music in general. All of the protest songs, folk music, psychedelic/experimental rock, etc start around this time. I'm not saying Rubber Soul is the cause for all of that, I'm saying Rubber Soul is an essential part of that period of music. And even if it wasn't a mark for a generation, it's full of seriously great tunes. You can skip a couple here and there, but the bulk of this album is really fantastic. And of course, it's all up to personal taste- you might love every single track or you might hate it. Whichever way the wind blows, I think anyone who hasn't listened to Rubber Soul all the way through should do it ASAP. And get back to me with you thoughts!

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It's been a while since I've blogged about this project and if you're new to TLP blog, you might not quite know what's going on here. I, Laura, am on a mission. That mission is to listen to and critique all of the albums on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. I am not the first to do this. I assume I will not be the last. I just love music and love talking/writing about it. Come along with me, Lettuce Heads, and learn about music! Join me next time as I explore the #6 album Marvin Gaye's What's Going On. 

Until then,
Argualater! 

The Martian - Show Notes

Things get extra-terrestrial on this week's episode of The Lettuce Podcast where the topic is Andy Weir's break-out novel The Martian. Laura and Charlotte welcome Tori back to the Lettuce Pod to help them deconstruct this science fiction phenomenon. The character study segment spotlights Mark Watney, but also champions his ARES 3 crew mates and the higher-ups at NASA. The girls also chat about Weir's unique writing style, what makes the science digestible for all readers, their favorite scenes from the book, and examine the movie adaptation. Charlotte admits that she finds Watney to be an almost perfect character - except for his potty-mouth. Laura compares the characterization of nerd culture in Watney and NASA scientist Rich Purnell. Tori explains why she sympathized with Teddy Sanders' moral code, but didn't necessarily like his decisions. All three praised the romantic story line between ARES 3 crew members Johannsen and Beck for its subtly, but expressed a desire for more context for the relationship. How believable is the science in The Martian? Is Mark Watney really a nerd with no game or unable to see his charm? Is Commander Lewis' affinity for 70's pop culture a balance to her stone cold leadership? All these questions and more are up for discussion on this week's episode of The Lettuce Podcast. 

The ratings segment delivers one of the highest average scores for The Lettuce Podcast: 4.54 Chards! The Fun & Games segment has Laura, Charlotte, and Tori discovering their fate on Mars with the quiz Would You Survive On Mars?. Tori's return to the show means a TLP favorite: Madlibs! Using the back-of-the-book summary as a template, the Lettuce Heads use random words and phrases to create a hilarious description of The Martian. 

This week's podtail was a collaborative effort by Laura and Tori: a homemade concoction deemed Mark Watney's Martian Martini. To make your own combine 2 oz potato vodka, 1 oz sweet vermouth, and cranberry juice. Stir and enjoy!

The Lettuce Podcast is available on iTunes, Stitcher, Satchel, and Podcast Addict. If you like what you hear and want to be part of the conversation, feel free to leave a comment on this or any blog post. You can also help us reach a wider audience by rating and reviewing The Lettuce Podcast on iTunes or Stitcher. Thanks for listening and for your support!

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Don't forget to join us next week for The Lettuce Beets!

The next topic episode of The Lettuce Podcast will be able Season 1 of Mad Men and will feature Kurtis from the 3 Angry Nerds podcast. We're excited to welcome a new guest to the show and to begin this Emmy Award winning series! Until then...

Arugalater! 

The Lettuce Beets: Dandelions With The Stars - Show Notes

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This week on The Lettuce Beets, Charlotte and Laura provide a glimpse into their professional lives by chatting about their individual processes for Band Instrument Repair. Charlotte also considers embarking on a Whole30 diet and taking the plunge on becoming a redhead. Laura shares her thoughts about the novel Go Set A Watchman and Comedy Central's Broad City. The girls also chat about the new season of Dancing With The Stars and Ariana Grande's song "Dangerous Woman". To close, Charlotte and Laura take a quiz to find their Spirit Animals.

The Lettuce Podcast is available on iTunes, Stitcher, Satchel, and Podcast Addict. If you like what you hear and want to be part of the conversation, feel free to leave a comment on this or any blog post. You can also help us reach a wider audience by rating and reviewing The Lettuce Podcast on iTunes or Stitcher. Thanks for listening and for your support!

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The next topic episode of The Lettuce Podcast will be about the book and movie The Martian. Join Charlotte and Laura as they welcome Tori back to the show to chat about 2015's biggest book and movie sensation! Until then...

Arugalater!