Penguins to Pink Floyd

NOTE: Today’s blog is presented Larry King-style, with bolded names and entries that have no connection to each other.

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OK, I have a confession to make.

I went to the movie “Surf’s Up” over the weekend on the premise that I thought our 3-year-old daughter would like it. But in reality I just really wanted to see it myself.

And wow. How fun. If you’re a fan of surfing or “The Big Lebowski” — or even if you’re one of those weird, into-penguins people — you’ll get a huge kick out of this.

I’ve seen quite a few surf movies, and I have to say “Surf’s Up” is better than many. First of all, it has a story. And secondly, believe it or not, I think it captures the surfing experience far better than, say, “Blue Crush.” (Don’t laugh – it was work-related!) You really sense this as Cody — a surfing penguin — barely paddles over his first big wave in the “Big Z Memorial” contest. But beyond that it captures the vibe so well, the writers have to be surfers themselves.

Maybe I’ll look it up sometime. But not now.

Also noteworthy was Jeff Bridges, whose character is basically The Dude from “Big Lebowski” — that is, if the Dude was a big fat penguin who can charge giant waves like Laird Hamilton, except that he doesn’t have the nice tan Laird has.

I wasn’t surprised to see lots of kids in the crowd. But I figured there’d be more surfers. The film features several nods to popular surf movies like “Step Into Liquid” and “Riding Giants.” And it’s definitely not all kid humor.

Besides, that surfing chicken? HILARIOUS!

And, yeah — my daughter liked it, too.

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Speaking of my daughter, getting a 3-year-old ready for a musical is quite a challenge. On Sunday, Sunny performed in “Peter Pan,” put on by the Pacific Dance Center, at the Spanos Theater. It was a small part, of course — she’s only three — but I think it’s important for her to experience being in front of a crowd. And I want to support the studio.

The problem is, the play started around 3 p.m., which is pretty much smack in the middle of Sunny’s nap time. In fact, it’s pretty much smack in the middle of every 3-year-old’s nap time, which is why you don’t want to be in a dressing room full of 3-year-olds at 3 p.m. By the time they went on stage, I was ready for a nap.

But they pulled it off. And, unlike in last winter’s “A Nightmare Before Christmas,” Sunny didn’t hit anyone in the head with a shoe this time.

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The new album by Wilco is pretty great, by the way. Jeff Tweedy’s voice often sounds like John Lennon’s on this one, and there are some terrific, but not overdone guitar solos. This is a mellow album with insightful lyrics. That it was atop the Billboard charts recently restores a little faith in the music industry, even though I still think it’s awful.
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I was happy to see in our recent online poll that no one thought The Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band” was “vastly overrated” or “the worst album ever.” (55% thought it was the best ever.)

Granted, 40 responses doesn’t exactly meet Gallup Poll standards. Still, I would’ve been discouraged if anyone didn’t like this Beatles masterpiece.

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If you want to talk about overrated albums, though, I’d like to nominate Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon.” I mean, I dig the concept, and I can appreciate innovation in sound. But the album just . . . bores me.

In fact, rumor has it that if you play the film “Wizard of Oz” to “Dark Side of the Moon,” the album still really sucks.

Yet, classic rock stations just can‘t get enough Floyd.

So, at the risk of upsetting stoners with Floyd flags hanging from their ceiling, I’d like to propose a 5-year radio moratorium on Pink Floyd.

And as soon as it comes out on DVD, I’m going to recommend you play “Surf’s Up” to the Beach Boys’s “Pet Sounds.” Now that’s trippy.

— Pat P.

Tags: Jeff Bridges, penguins, Surf's Up, surfing