Episode 155 - Airborne: LIVE!

[joel_rosenbaum 1269]

For a guy who talks only about surfing, it's pretty impressive that Mitchell is a world-class rollerblader.

[mikemac 49]

 

 

Where is Devil's Backbone?

 

Delhi/Western Hills area. Cuts diagonally across Ebeneezer ends at Rapid Run. It's very twisty and hilly and woodsy. You'd pretty much never use it unless you were visiting someone that lived there. Buffalo Ridge might be even worse, but it doesn't have as cool of a name.

[Cakebug Tranch 6873]

To respond to Cameron H.'s challenge:

"Hey Mitchell, did you know that when he's not driving a Zamboni, my dad's a regional Playboy photographer? Yeah. Cool, huh? Not only that, you know Nikki from homeroom? She's actually 22 and engaged to a dwarf. Funny thing is, in her 1991 issue, my Dad shot her, it was weird."

 

Okay, fine, that's kind of gross and creepy, but it works as a segue to mention something curious about Brittney Powell (Nikki, a full-on adult during this movie) and her pre-'Airborne' appearances in Playboy magazine, which was mentioned in the podcast. I'm going to link to an image below which I will cover with a spoiler, and I hope no one is offended by its content - although rest assured it's not one of Ms. Powell's Playboy photos. No, it's actually the cover of the issue that she appears in, April 1991, and while the young woman on the cover is very much underdressed, the reason I'm linking to it is because of what she's wearing on her feet. Rest assured, this isn't exactly SFW, and Dan, if you feel the need to take this down, I get it.

 

Again, don't click there if you would prefer not to see it.

 

Anyway, I just thought this was a curious connection.

 

 

 

[mikemac 49]

Oddly, I found a couple of short videos of the road on the youtubes:

 

 

[Cameron H. 23786]

Basically, can someone please tell me what the rest of that anecdote was? The only rule is that there are no rules and it has to end with lines spoken in the movie.

 

"Yeah, my father has always been a zamboni driver, although I'm not sure why, he doesn't even seem to like hockey. But the crazy thing is he went to UCLA film school. He wanted to be a director. My Dad! Can you believe it? Anyway, he was always going on and on about making this movie about a man who falls in love with his Operating System. Then one day, about two years ago, he just up and disappeared. Proof! Gone. My Mom was freaking out. We thought he was dead. We had a funeral and everything. 6 months later, out of the blue, he just shows back up on our doorstep. He doesn't say a word. He just walks in, turns on the TV, and sits in his favorite chair like nothing happened. Turns out: my Dad shot Her. It was weird."

[Cakebug Tranch 6873]

"Yeah, my father has always been a zamboni driver, although I'm not sure why, he doesn't even seem to like hockey. But the crazy thing is he went to UCLA film school. He wanted to be a director. My Dad! Can you believe it? Anyway, he was always going on and on about making this movie about a man who falls in love with his Operating System. Then one day, about two years ago, he just up and disappeared. Proof! Gone. My Mom was freaking out. We thought he was dead. We had a funeral and everything. 6 months later, out of the blue, he just shows back up on our doorstep. He doesn't say a word. He just walks in, turns on the TV, and sits in his favorite chair like nothing happened. Turns out: he shot Her. It was weird."

Winner winner chicken dinner

[Cameron H. 23786]

To respond to Cameron H.'s challenge:

"Hey Mitchell, did you know that when he's not driving a Zamboni, my dad's a regional Playboy photographer? Yeah. Cool, huh? Not only that, you know Nikki from homeroom? She's actually 22 and engaged to a dwarf. Funny thing is, in her 1991 issue, my Dad shot her, it was weird."

 

 

I find it hilarious we both individually and simultaneously thought to use "What Wiley' s Dad Does when he's not driving a Zamboni" as a premise!

[joel_rosenbaum 1269]

Should we be feeling good about the fact that Mitchell helped his team win Rosie Ruiz-style?

[Cakebug Tranch 6873]

Should we be feeling good about the fact that Mitchell helped his team win Rosie Ruiz-style?

I thought Mitchell was legit and it was Wiley and the other bad-skating Prep that got a lift? And they didn't factor into the top three finishers, so no foul...

[joel_rosenbaum 1269]

I thought Mitchell was legit and it was Wiley and the other bad-skating Prep that got a lift? And they didn't factor into the top three finishers, so no foul...

I honestly can't watch the movie more than once, but he cut the course, right?

 

With all the amazing editing, I had no fucking idea who was leading at what point or for what reason.

[Cakebug Tranch 6873]

I honestly can't watch the movie more than once, but he cut the course, right?

 

With all the amazing editing, I had no fucking idea who was leading at what point or for what reason.

Oh right, when he jumped off the building roof and on to the truck tray instead of going the long way round? Or would that be considered smart direct racing?

[Cameron H. 23786]

I honestly can't watch the movie more than once, but he cut the course, right?

 

With all the amazing editing, I had no fucking idea who was leading at what point or for what reason.

Oh right, when he jumped off the building roof and on to the truck tray instead of going the long way round? Or would that be considered smart direct racing?

 

Since there were "no rules" I think Mitchell's decision to cut the course was open to anyone with the balls to try and do it (plus it allowed him to get airborne). Throughout the race, we see multiple skaters cutting through people's yards and whatnot. It's all about rollerblading skills. As long as you cross the finish line, you can do whatever crazy shit you need to to get there.

[joel_rosenbaum 1269]

While the movie is still fresh in my mind, lots of nineties tropes.

 

Did anyone else catch Mitchell's left earring?

[Cakebug Tranch 6873]

Since there were "no rules" I think Mitchell's decision to cut the course was open to anyone with the balls to try and do it (plus it allowed him to get airborne). Throughout the race, we see multiple skaters cutting through people's yards and whatnot. It's all about rollerblading skills. As long as you cross the finish line, you can do whatever crazy shit you need to to get there.

Which begs the question, why didn't they just Rosie Ruiz the whole race? Grab a cab at the top. There are no rules, after all.

[Cameron H. 23786]

While the movie is still fresh in my mind, lots of nineties tropes.

 

Did anyone else catch Mitchell's left earring?

 

And didn't they give him shit for that? I'm pretty sure they did because I noticed nobody had anything to say about Snake' s earring...

[mikemac 49]

Though the Cyclones may have lost the Jason Voorhees logo, the mascot redesign did allow for this:

 

[mikemac 49]

And then there's uh this:

 

[tomspanks 9039]

I honestly can't watch the movie more than once, but he cut the course, right?

 

With all the amazing editing, I had no fucking idea who was leading at what point or for what reason.

 

Everyone was wearing different colored clothes and were racing in packs, so I was able to follow the race easily.

 

Oh right, when he jumped off the building roof and on to the truck tray instead of going the long way round? Or would that be considered smart direct racing?

 

That part of the race course involved going up the ramp to the top of the parking lot and then racing down another ramp to street level. Mitchell got left behind and either he couldn't figure out how to get to street level or wasn't told (I have a feeling nobody went over the course map with him lol), so in desperation, he decided to go airborne lvl 10. I think that as long as you raced up the ramp, it doesn't really matter how you get down, since an uphill climb is the hard part.

[Cam Bert 8145]

My addition to the challenge.

 

"My dad wasn't always a Zamboni driver you know. He actually studied biology in college. He wanted to spin that off into a career as a vet or something, he doesn't like talking about it. See when he was in college he saw a position for an internship on a small tropical island. I mean, you'd have to be a fool to refuse living on a tropical island for free for a summer right? He couldn't say much because of some NDAs he had to sign but it was a internship at like a futuristic zoo of some kind. When he got there he wasn't as qualified as the others so he got a job in security. I mean he'd hang out in the labs and try to learn but he said they didn't like that. I still can't believe they trusted my dad with a gun. So, one night they're moving a very dangerous animal into a new pen when it went nuts and started attacking the guards. To this day my dad has nightmares about it. The head guy just kept screaming for somebody to shoot her. "Shoot her! Shoot her!" He's just this nerdy guy but what choice did he have? My dad shot her, it was weird."

[Cam Bert 8145]

So Seth Green's character is portrayed as this loser who nobody seems to know or care about. His mom says he's never been with a girl, but he claims it's the opposite. I think he might be right. In speech class when he's giving his speech we cut to a shot of a girl sitting behind Al Pacino's love slave playing with her hair and giving him a flirtatious wave. It really looks like this girl is into him. Is this a former flame of his? Does this girl have a crush on him and he's just unaware? Maybe he's right and he does get around the block and the shy nerd is just an act.

[DavidArroyo 6]

So Seth Green's character is portrayed as this loser who nobody seems to know or care about. His mom says he's never been with a girl, but he claims it's the opposite. I think he might be right. In speech class when he's giving his speech we cut to a shot of a girl sitting behind Al Pacino's love slave playing with her hair and giving him a flirtatious wave. It really looks like this girl is into him. Is this a former flame of his? Does this girl have a crush on him and he's just unaware? Maybe he's right and he does get around the block and the shy nerd is just an act.

 

I think she was just so impressed with his hair. I mean I kept wondering if it was a wig or something because I have never seen him ever again have such luscious locks. Uh....I think I have a problem with hair obsession.

[TopMoose 33]

I was going to make a few points about how my hometown is represented, but I'm happy to see that a few others got here first to do it. But I still want to chime in with a few details.

 

I've never heard of the PB&J burger and think it sounds gross. It's not a "Cincinnati" thing. However, we do put savory meat sauce on spaghetti ant top it with a mound of shredded cheese. Also, we have some of the best ice cream you've ever tasted.

 

Edie McClurg's accent is upper Midwest- you're more likely to hear a neutral accent or Kentucky twang.

 

There are no mountains in Cincinnati. We have some hills that we call "mountains" but in reality, the city sits in a valley, surrounded by high ground.

 

We have access to any and all media in southwest Ohio, so California culture, fashion and expressions like "stylin" aren't alien to us.

 

As was noted, Cincinnati isn't a big hockey town. We like baseball and football better and root for our two college basketball teams.

 

The restaurant scene was shot in a local restaurant called Pompilio's, just across the river in Covington, KY. It was more famously the restaurant where Dustin Hoffman counted the toothpicks in Rain Man. They make a really good meatball sub.

 

BTW, Other movies that shot in Cincinnati include The Ides of March, Little Man Tate, Carol and Traffic.

[Cakebug Tranch 6873]

Can we talk for two seconds about the ridiculous death-toll that should have resulted from that race? Some physicist or someone needs to get in here and talk about the potential velocity of those kids on rollerblades going down a hill that steep. At the time, I thought, "thank God they have a roadblock at the bottom of the hill, or else they'd... OH MY GOD THERE'S A CAR." Side-swiping each other into guardrails? It's ridiculous.

 

In the darkest timeline of this film, newspaper headlines cry out of a community's pain.

 

CINCINNATI MOURNS: FIFTEEN DEAD IN ROAD RACE DISASTER

Cincinnati, Saturday: The joy of a group of some hundred finish-line spectators turned to confusion and pain today when instead of celebrating the winners of the Centrals versus Preps downhill rollerblade race for cultural supremacy, word filtered down that each of the competitors died tragically as they ascended Devil's Backbone. "I can't believe they tried it," said Clem Salverson, local Devil's Backbone resident who watched the disaster unfold from his front porch. "The last guy to even try to walk down this hill was completely messed up. Don't they know it's a two-way street?" Each of the boys, ranging between sixteen and seventeen years, lost their lives one by one in a variety of manners, all stemming from catastrophic falls as they picked up unsustainable velocities on the needlessly complicated road course. "They just went right under my truck," said Michael Mathis, local tanker driver. "I couldn't stop." The father of Blaine Chilton, Prep school star and NHL hopeful, looked visibly devastated as he witnessed his son's bloated body pulled from the river, after an unexpected flip over the guard rail. "Blaine told me he was hoping to push some of their guys over when they were going at top speed, but I didn't expect to ever see it end this way," David Chilton grieved. Most confused were Irene and Louis Goosen, parents of Wiley Goosen, who didn't even know their son was competing. "Well, now, he played a game of hockey once, didn't he father? I didn't know he could skate." "I gave him a puck," added Louis, clearly rattled by the loss. The parents of Mitchell Goosen, seconded to Australia on important wombat-related business, could not be reached for comment.

With files from the Associated Press.

[IMAHUGEHDTGMFAN 1837]

also turns out this was the Icon logo when it started out.

 

I don't know where they got 'elf' from though, it hasn't got pointed ears.

 

Maybe Paul pictured a Legolas type elf when he spoke about the logo? (I'm loving all the commets from known and new forum members)

 

[Cameron H. 23786]

 

(I'm loving all the commets from known and new forum members)

 

 

Indeed!

 

To all the new people...