Dinner and a Movie and a Pearl Jam (and a Beer)

I never really cared all that much for Pearl Jam. I'm not really sure why. Don't get me wrong, some of their songs are pretty good. I like Yellow Ledbetter even though the lyrics are a bunch of gobbledygook and it is kind of a Little Wing rip off.



I particularly enjoy the misheard lyrics version of the song (seen above). It's hard to not enjoy it.

You see, in the early 1990s, I was a teenager full of vim and verve and sometimes vertigo and other words starting with the letter V. It was during this time that I got a gig as a camera man for a local Rhode Island band called Mindscream. It didn't pay much. In fact it didn't pay anything other than the opportunity to consume large amounts of Doritos and Crystal Pepsi.

I enjoyed the benefits of this 'job' quite a lot and compiled hours of footage of the band.



About 20% of the footage was of the band performing the song 'Alive' by Pearl Jam. This was partly because of the number of times they played the song and partly because this song is so damn long.

While I never really cared much for the group I do enjoy the Pearl Jam Bootleg Members Only. I acquired this through a guy at work sometime in early 1999. We used to listen to it all the time in the kitchen and it really grew on me. It's a very interesting album in that it features a lot of audio of the band talking and joking around and there is a strange Christmas theme to the album. Interspersed with all the audio are clips of Christmas-themed discussion and Christmas songs, one even performed by Pearl Jam.

I guess the thing I never really liked about Pearl Jam was that they always seemed to take themselves so seriously. This bootleg shows a side of them I had never really seen before. Admittedly this could be because I just didn't really know all that much about the group. At any rate this bootleg showcases the band messing around during Christmas time, doing cover songs, threatening their audience, doing an Elvis impersonations, and just generally being interesting and fun.

After doing an extensive Google Search I can't find any record of this bootleg existing even on pearljambootlegs.org. Even though I own this I have found enough evidence online to prove that it doesn't actually exist.



Last year was the twentieth anniversary of the album Ten. I didn't really care about this milestone as I wasn't a big fan of the album. However, when you are lying around on your back with ice packs all day you have a lot of time to think. I got to thinking that I should really give the band and the album another shot.



I decided to watch the movie Twenty, a documentary, pardon me -- a rockumentary -- about the band. Previously all I really knew about Pearl Jam's history something about Mother Love Bone and a Stardog Champion. Whatever that meant.

Here are some new facts I learned about the band after watching the movie.

• It's pronounced "AY-ment" not "Ah-ment."
  
• They hate the word grunge.
  
• Eddie Vedder can climb just like a monkey.
  
• Their Spanish is less than perfect.
  
• Neil Young thinks Eddie Vedder is hilarious.
  
• Ticketmaster thinks they are a bunch of petulant children.
  
• Eddie Vedder has a sense of humor.
  
• Stone Gossard hates the Grammys as much as I do.
  
• In the late 90s Eddie Vedder modeled his hairdo after Ian Gillan in the mid 70s.
  
• Jeff Ament is from the same town in Montana as my favorite senator: Jon Tester!
  
• One of the drummers from Pearl Jam was in a silent movie about a sea monster.
  
• Pete Townshend waited his whole life to meet Eddie Vedder.

To go along with the movie I heated up a generous slice of torciere from the freezer leftover from our Christmas feast. On a cold night, with a snow storm on the way, this was a nice hearty meal was a welcome friend.

But what does this have to do with Pearl Jam? Well, there's another fact that I forgot to mention:

• Mike McCready loves French-Canadian meat pies.

And, of course, since I was watching this movie I decided to try one of the latest releases from Dogfish Head: their Pearl Jam Twenty Faithfull Ale.

Okay, I'll be honest, I would never have watched this movie if it weren't for the fact that I already had this beer in the fridge. I also would never have watched it if it weren't for the fact that I'm lying around all day with nothing I can do other than watch things.

I was excited to taste this beer until I saw the review on Beer Geek Nation. After that I was not looking forward to that much. He was not a fan.

I must admit this was not my favorite of the Dogfish Head offerings. While it was decent, it wasn't quite what I'd expected. It actually reminded me a lot of Corona with lime. After checking out Sam's video on the Dofish Head site he says that the band told him they enjoyed drinking Mexican lager so that explains that.

And now that this episode is over and it's not even 7:30 PM I guess I have to find something to occupy the rest of my night. Maybe I'll watch another movie that I've never wanted to see.

I hear those Twilight films are delightful!