ChrisCFavourite and Failed Finals…
February 28th 2008 13:28
Film, music, nature. Sport, tele, media.
We recently hosted our final ever Funky and The Jazzman radio show, and a few cheers and tears (not to mention the beers) flowed in the studio.
In the spirit of a final show, we started to reflect on, amongst other things, great and grim finals the world over…and a few things the world has taught us since we first jumped behind the desk and in front of the mic. So, in a few-part series, we would like to present the best and the worst and whatever else in between from our final show.
In this first final Funky and The Jazzman blog we skim the surface, and invite you all to contribute to…
The great finals.
Sport
To appease The Jazzman and our Newcastle readers, I have to start by mentioning the Jets. A grand final win that rocked the east coast and put the Knights on notice. To those on the Northern Line between Central and Morisset – bad luck, and to those at the Brooklyn Rugby Club- cheers, love your work, and see you again.
To summarise some other great sporting finals, we gave honourable mentions to the Knights of ’97, Steve Bradbury for the impossible, Greg Norman for the drama, Chicka for the try, the Limeys for the choke, McGrath/Warney/Langer for their farewell test and the Diva for the dollars.
But the winner, a unanimous victor (except maybe in The Jazzman’s opinion) goes to none other than Darren ‘Boof’ Lehmann, for his historic double act this season in scoring massive match-winning centuries in his last appearances for the Redbacks in the one-day and the long-days formats.
Music
The first of the two great finals is The Final Countdown. Come on, if you were old enough to know what music was in the mid-80’s, then you would know that Europe produced a classic song here. Sure, they came up empty forever-after, but how could they top the perfect hair-band track?
And the other great music final? The Cat Empire’s album Two Shoes. Sure, it wasn’t their final album - they’ve released a few since, but, and here’s the important bit: it was the final album of theirs that either of us have ever bought. And that’s great for all concerned because – well, we’re not going to say the others aren’t good – but, well, you know…
Film.
Return of the Jedi was the final (in numerical order, anyway) of the Star Wars bi-trilogy – and how good was it? Very. From the emotional rescue of Han to the emotional death of Yoda to the emotional lightsaber duel between Vader and Luke: who didn’t bawl their eyes out for the entire movie? And then that final Ewok party song – the emotion!
The other great final film that came to mind was not because it was the final, but for its final scenes. Remember the Titans – the lads rose against the odds, learnt a few good lessons and put in a great final performance, leaving them better people and us with a big happy smile on our dial. Or was that Jerry Maguire? Or Mystery Alaska? Rocky? Days of Thunder? The Coolangatta Gold, anyone? And, I still swear, if you look closely at Titans you can see The Jazzman in a crowd shot.
And final tragics…
From a sporting point of view, we couldn’t go past the following runner-ups:
Kostya Tszyu’s last fight, Muhammad Ali’s last fight (in fact pretty much any boxer seems to finish their career staring at the ceiling), Ben Johnson’s last race, Kim Hughes’ last season, the England Cricket team's last couple of decades ('05 aside), the Limeys, and the guys who were in the speedskating race that Steve Bradbury won.
However, our top two favourite final tragedies are (in no particular order) – Anna Kournikova – for never winning one, and ‘Lay down’ Sally Robbins – for pulling out the Homer Simpson “too hard, don’t try.” card during the 2004 Olympics. 'Was that a final' do I hear you ask? Well, I don't actually know if it was an Olympic final, but Sally certainly ensured it was her team's final event at those Olympics.
Music
Final tragedies that we had to note were John Farnham – for having so many final, farewell tours, and his fans who keep getting suckered into buying his farewell tickets, and Boom Crash Opera, who played their final note and called it a day. (A long time ago, sure, but come on – who didn’t like their old stuff?)
And Crowded House for not calling it a day when they first split up. (Come on – who did like their new stuff?)
Film
Probably the easiest medium to find final tragedies, so to keep it short…
* Revenge of the Sith – tragic because it was the final Star Wars film.
* Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – tragic finish - that’s gotta hurt.
* The Wedding Crasher – cause when this film finished I realised that there was not going to be anything funny in this so-called comedy, and I had just wasted both my time and my 12 bucks.
* The second Matrix film – cause it stank after the first brilliant one, and we knew that there was going to be another one. (Look up the phrase “milking a cow” in a dictionary).
* The Never Ending Story – cause it failed to live up to its promise.
* Gone With the Wind - cause it stuck around.
And so, we turn it over to you, the reader, to let us know what your memorable final moments, of anything, are.
While you’re thinking, please, please remember to stay alert, but not alarmed, and,
Chow4now.
F&TJ
We recently hosted our final ever Funky and The Jazzman radio show, and a few cheers and tears (not to mention the beers) flowed in the studio.
In the spirit of a final show, we started to reflect on, amongst other things, great and grim finals the world over…and a few things the world has taught us since we first jumped behind the desk and in front of the mic. So, in a few-part series, we would like to present the best and the worst and whatever else in between from our final show.
In this first final Funky and The Jazzman blog we skim the surface, and invite you all to contribute to…
The great finals.
Sport
To appease The Jazzman and our Newcastle readers, I have to start by mentioning the Jets. A grand final win that rocked the east coast and put the Knights on notice. To those on the Northern Line between Central and Morisset – bad luck, and to those at the Brooklyn Rugby Club- cheers, love your work, and see you again.
To summarise some other great sporting finals, we gave honourable mentions to the Knights of ’97, Steve Bradbury for the impossible, Greg Norman for the drama, Chicka for the try, the Limeys for the choke, McGrath/Warney/Langer for their farewell test and the Diva for the dollars.
But the winner, a unanimous victor (except maybe in The Jazzman’s opinion) goes to none other than Darren ‘Boof’ Lehmann, for his historic double act this season in scoring massive match-winning centuries in his last appearances for the Redbacks in the one-day and the long-days formats.
Music
The first of the two great finals is The Final Countdown. Come on, if you were old enough to know what music was in the mid-80’s, then you would know that Europe produced a classic song here. Sure, they came up empty forever-after, but how could they top the perfect hair-band track?
And the other great music final? The Cat Empire’s album Two Shoes. Sure, it wasn’t their final album - they’ve released a few since, but, and here’s the important bit: it was the final album of theirs that either of us have ever bought. And that’s great for all concerned because – well, we’re not going to say the others aren’t good – but, well, you know…
Film.
Return of the Jedi was the final (in numerical order, anyway) of the Star Wars bi-trilogy – and how good was it? Very. From the emotional rescue of Han to the emotional death of Yoda to the emotional lightsaber duel between Vader and Luke: who didn’t bawl their eyes out for the entire movie? And then that final Ewok party song – the emotion!
The other great final film that came to mind was not because it was the final, but for its final scenes. Remember the Titans – the lads rose against the odds, learnt a few good lessons and put in a great final performance, leaving them better people and us with a big happy smile on our dial. Or was that Jerry Maguire? Or Mystery Alaska? Rocky? Days of Thunder? The Coolangatta Gold, anyone? And, I still swear, if you look closely at Titans you can see The Jazzman in a crowd shot.
And final tragics…
From a sporting point of view, we couldn’t go past the following runner-ups:
Kostya Tszyu’s last fight, Muhammad Ali’s last fight (in fact pretty much any boxer seems to finish their career staring at the ceiling), Ben Johnson’s last race, Kim Hughes’ last season, the England Cricket team's last couple of decades ('05 aside), the Limeys, and the guys who were in the speedskating race that Steve Bradbury won.
However, our top two favourite final tragedies are (in no particular order) – Anna Kournikova – for never winning one, and ‘Lay down’ Sally Robbins – for pulling out the Homer Simpson “too hard, don’t try.” card during the 2004 Olympics. 'Was that a final' do I hear you ask? Well, I don't actually know if it was an Olympic final, but Sally certainly ensured it was her team's final event at those Olympics.
Music
Final tragedies that we had to note were John Farnham – for having so many final, farewell tours, and his fans who keep getting suckered into buying his farewell tickets, and Boom Crash Opera, who played their final note and called it a day. (A long time ago, sure, but come on – who didn’t like their old stuff?)
And Crowded House for not calling it a day when they first split up. (Come on – who did like their new stuff?)
Film
Probably the easiest medium to find final tragedies, so to keep it short…
* Revenge of the Sith – tragic because it was the final Star Wars film.
* Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – tragic finish - that’s gotta hurt.
* The Wedding Crasher – cause when this film finished I realised that there was not going to be anything funny in this so-called comedy, and I had just wasted both my time and my 12 bucks.
* The second Matrix film – cause it stank after the first brilliant one, and we knew that there was going to be another one. (Look up the phrase “milking a cow” in a dictionary).
* The Never Ending Story – cause it failed to live up to its promise.
* Gone With the Wind - cause it stuck around.
And so, we turn it over to you, the reader, to let us know what your memorable final moments, of anything, are.
While you’re thinking, please, please remember to stay alert, but not alarmed, and,
Chow4now.
F&TJ
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Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
The second series, then, became a full story arc, with fleshed out characters and intensely human moments.
But after the Christmas special... that was perhaps one of the finest moments in television history. A perfect, unpredictable end.