This is the new video by Cincinnati indie pop heroes Bad Veins, and it’s a great song called “Dancing on TV” with an outstanding video which is not just outstanding because it stars our own Chris Hardwick as the host of a 1970′s TV dance show, although that’s nice, too. Go watch it, then we’ll talk.

Okay, you saw it? Good. It’s just an accident of timing that it’s been released this week in the wake of the passing of Don Cornelius, since it’s an homage to the kind of TV dance show of which Soul Train was a leading example (especially with the evocation of the “Soul Train Line”), but it’s fitting. As a member of Teh Olds, I will admit to having watched cheesy local dance shows of the era back when they actually roamed the earth and I can vouch for the video’s depiction of those shows. In fact, they were even cheesier (oh, for the days of Dancin’ on Air on channel 17 in Philly, with big-haired kids from South Philly and the Great Northeast fighting for camera time). And Chris’ rhyming patter practically channels old Philly DJ and TV dance show host Jerry Blavat (“The Geator with the Heater, the Big Boss with the Hot Sauce”), which would be REALLY eerie if Jerry Blavat wasn’t still alive.

Anyway, this video is a taste of Bad Veins’ new album “The Mess We’ve Made,” which will come out on April 24th. They’ll be touring throughout the Midwest, South, and Northeast in support of the release, too, first with We Were Promised Jetpacks, then, after shows on their own in Philly, Annapolis, Boston (Allston), and New York, with Two Door Cinema Club; the schedule’s at this link at Consequence of Sound. And if you see the movie Chronicle, their song “Gold and Warm” is on the soundtrack, so pay attention.

Follow Jenna’s tweets @JennaElfman!

It’s all for you, Katniss.

HT: Claire Zulkey, WBEZ/Chicago

Follow @mutantseason on Twitter!

(When I visited Cardiff in 2008 I did stand on the stone hoping to get into Torchwood.  Sadly it did not happen.  Or did it?)

Since this is the official Doctor Who convention in the city where the show is filmed, this convention should be a fantastic opportunity to meet the people behind the creation of the show.  So far, Steven Moffat, Matt Smith and Arthur Darvill are scheduled to appear, plus an all-star line-up including Nick Briggs, Ian McNeice, Stuart Milligan, Mark Sheppard, and Simon Fisher-Becker.  How very cool is that?

As part of this adventure, I will be recording my experiences and sharing them with the Nerdist community.  This is my first convention.  Honestly, I’m a bit daunted by the whole experience.  If you could give me advice, questions, comments, quemments, etc. in the comments below,  I will do my best to make sure they get answered and post them here.

Thank you!

For more musings on life, the universe and everything, follow my twitter feed @dihard11

You like the FX? You like Emma Stone? You like Rhys Ifans? You like Denis Leary with his hair combed? You like “one guy in a unitard”? July 3rd, then.

HT: E! Online

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In the earlier cases I mentioned, the titles, no matter how literal, came as a result of the film itself. The original title for Alien was Star Beast, yet for a movie so blue collar and industrial, Alien better served the tone and could apply to both the creature and the crew of the Nostromo being foreign in outer space. To go a different way with a Ridley Scott movie, Blade Runner is based on the Philip K. Dick novel, “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?,” which is a little long for a marquee, so it was changed to Blade Runner. Problem is, “Blade Runner” was a book about illegal smuggling of medical supplies in Africa, but Scott liked the title and so optioned the book just to use it in something. Aside from a couple of throwaway lines added to tie it up, Blade Runner has nothing to do with running blades or running on blades or blades at all. If someone asked you to describe Blade Runner the words “blade” and “runner” would never appear anywhere in it, but that’s not the point. The important thing is that Blade Runner is a fucking fantastic title and one that sits in the minds of people forever.

Describe Man on a Ledge. It’s about a man… who’s on a ledge. Other stuff happens, sure, but essentially it’s a man who is out on a ledge. The sequel will probably be Man on a Limb, about a man who climbs a tree and refuses to come down, but I fear it’d be too deep for people. Too many titles nowadays are neither intriguing nor clever; they’re literally just the pitch or general conceit of the film. What’s the concept? It’s snakes on a plane. I know, let’s call it Viper Flight or Cobra Cruise or Venom at 50,000 Ft. No, idiot, we’re calling it Snakes on a Plane because that’s what it’s about. There was a movie a few years ago about fighting and it was just called Fighting. They’re not even trying anymore!  Tyler Perry, the billionaire behind all those movies you’ve never seen, is coming out with a movie called Good Deeds about a guy named Wesley Deeds who does good things. For fuck sake! “See, his name is Deeds and he does deeds, so it works in two ways.” No it doesn’t! It’s the same obvious way twice! What about the new Disney movie John Carter? I’m aware the book series and film are about a guy whose name is in fact John Carter, but he goes to fucking MARS and fights in a gladiator arena with giant monsters and shit. But no, John Carter, that’ll be good.

And it’s not even just that the titles are too obvious. Some of them have zero to do with the movie. Safe House takes place in a safe house, fine, but the movie Lock-Out, about a guy having to rescue the president’s daughter from a prison in outer space, is not about being locked out from anywhere. But, boy, it sure sounds like something they’d do in a prison. Make up your mind.

The following are famous, good-titled movies and what they probably would be titled if they came out today:

Star Wars – Spaceships

The Silence of the Lambs – Fat Women Get Skinned

A Clockwork Orange – A Violent Delinquent Gets Reformed, Kinda

Double Indemnity – Insurance Fraud

Back to the Future – Old Car Time Machine

Reservoir Dogs – Men in Ties

Die Hard – Nothing Lasts Forever (which is the actual title of the novel upon which the film is based)

The Great Escape – Most Of The People Die

So the point of all this is that I’m easily irritated. The End.

-Kanderson wants to remind everyone that not everything needs a point. Follow him on TWITTER

Are you doing anything tonight, Monday, February 6th? If Yes or No, continue reading.

Are you interested in seeing Chris Hardwick perform a full hour of comedy for absolutely free? The answer is Yes. There is no No.

Here’s the deal: You know that Chris is taping his Comedy Central special on February 17th (free tix here). And you know he wants to perform that material in front of live audiences beforehand. The result is that he’ll be doing the material that’ll be included in the special before a live audience at Nerdist Theater at Meltdown Comics in L.A. tonight, and you can be in the audience.

How can you take advantage of this special offer?

Show up.

That’s it. First-come, first-served. No RSVPs necessary. Just come to the venue and queue up. There may not be room for everyone, so come early. The show’s at 9:30 pm Pacific, tonight (Monday, 2/6), at 7522 W. Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles, California, United States of America, and if you can make it, you’ll surely have a good time and get a lot of laughs. That’s worth a lot more than free, right?

Nerdist-endorsed presidential candidate Marvin E. Quasniki has launched a series of fireside chats from his home in Tonopah, Nevada in which he will speak to you, the public, on the issues, provided that you not actually go to his home. He doesn’t want you tramping around the house and raiding the fridge. But you can ask him questions on his Facebook page, and he’ll answer them on future fireside chats, as long as they’re “not too dumb.” Plus, it’s a chance for you to witness how much he loves his dog Timmy. People like candidates who like dogs, right? From the looks of things, Timmy’s good at immobility. And whatever you do, don’t disturb Myrna when she’s watching Downton Abbey.

(Incidentally, in his home state of Nevada, Marvin finished fifth behind Romney, Gingrich, Paul, and Santorum, with zero percent of the vote. Just think, he did it at a fraction of the budget it cost those other guys to lose.

See the Quasniki campaign videos at the Nerdist Channel on YouTube and like him on Facebook, since that’s what it seems all the kids do when they’re not texting or rolling their eyes.