Aaron Pinto

I started watching this series a few years back, after my brother continually nagged me to. To appease him, I binge watched entire seasons while on breaks from school. I'm glad he didn't give up on getting me to watch-- It didn't take long for me to fall in love with it. Now I find myself in the position of nagging people to watch it, usually people who can't wrap their head around the idea of a CBS comedy being funny.

And I get that-- CBS is notorious for some of the worst sitcoms I've personally ever seen (The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, 2 Broke Girls). But it should be clear to any fan of comedy and good writing that How I Met Your Mother is different. To quote the AV Club article that's been making the internet rounds today,

It’s Friends with single-camera elements; it’s Arrested Development that panders to the masses; it’s Seinfeld with a premise; it’s Lost with studio-audience laughter. 

Indeed. How I Met Your Mother is not a casual comedy-- its complexities of plot, continuity, and character are overwhelming in the best way. Its blend of classic comedy with heart-wrenching sentimentality is unique and done better than any other show.

Whenever I defend That Thing You Do! as my favorite movie of all-time, I make the point that it has everything you want in a movie: first-rate comedy, great plot and storytelling, fun for everyone, romantic, sad, musically informed, full of life lessons. It's safe to say that How I Met Your Mother is the television equivalent of that.

Sure, there have been some less-than-stellar episodes, plot turns, and writing decisions made with this show over the past 9 years. But those don't take away from the series at large. At its best-- even at its most average-- How I Met Your Mother is a more fulfilling show than most and that's on multiple levels, not the least of which being its comedic value.

INKtober day 20! My theme: drawing the covers of my favorite records… today, a power-pop masterpiece:

Superdrag - Head Trip in Every Key - 1998

There’s two sad things here: one, younger kids today have never heard of (or heard) Superdrag, and two, even if you are aware of them (from their 1996 radio hit "Sucked Out", probably), chances are you may have never heard anything from this record, or subsequent records either. It’s a real shame, because Superdrag is a damn fine band!

Why didn’t you hear anything from this record? I have no idea. A band that leaned towards a retro sound didn’t fit in amongst bands like, you know, CREED. Why listen to something good when you can listen to “My Own Prison” a million times?

(To be fair, while I don’t like Creed, I can appreciate the fact that some people do.)

Anyway. This record is amazing. They took all the money their record company would give them and decided to make a very Beatles-esque record, which wasn’t a very popular idea at the time. And while the record was a flop and Elektra Records would eventually drop the band, we’re all the better for John Davis and company giving us these 13 fantastic songs.

Art note: I’m pretty happy with the pencil shading on her face… I like how the face is rendered by the rest of her is pretty stark. 

"She Loves You" is the best example of Ringo's impeccable, soul-stirring, big-beat backbeat. Other Beatles numbers move like that, but "She Loves You" has such exuberance.

There's also a lot of subtlety to what Ringo did. On "I Want To Hold Your Hand," the verses have the patented sound of his "sloshy" hi-hat, with its cymbals open just enough to get that sizzle. Then, for the bridge, he closes it; you hear it on the quarter notes, really solid. Even casual listeners notice it, though they may not understand why or how Ringo's doing it. But clearly, it makes such a difference to the landscape of that song!

And I love his playing on "Only A Northern Song"-- those great, fall-down-the-stairs drum fills that are his trademark. Ringo's really a lefty playing a righty kit, which is why a lot of his fills sound so unorthodox. But they're so effective and such a part of his personality.

One of Ringo's greatest gifts is that he helped aspiring drummers learn how to play a song. You realized that your job is to set up a chorus, stay out of the vocalist's way, and leave space for the other musicians-- the bass player in particular. Doing what's right for the tune and moving it along to the different areas where it needs to go, locking with Paul, fueling how the whole band grooves together: That's Ringo. And that's so magical.

--Dennis Diken

For a number of people, February 9th, 2014 was nothing special. It was an ordinary Sunday night in early February—spending the waning hours in fear of work’s return, cramming in last-minute assignments for the new semester, feeling emptiness due to the void left by football’s finale.

But for those paying attention, Sunday was an important anniversary—a crucial one. It was the commemoration of the night that America and the rest of the world changed forever. It marked the 50th anniversary of The Beatles’ American debut onThe Ed Sullivan Show.

The simple version—and the reason why wise people don’t dispute the anniversary’s importance—is this: The Beatles were featured on a TV show and swept the world’s most culturally powerful nation off its feet, catalyzing a craze that forced the band to expand to creative levels in music that were uncharted and unprecedented.If that performance didn’t change the world directly, then it did for this reason alone—it began many cultural shifts over a six-year period, a good deal of which saw The Beatles as flag carriers.

But the simple version doesn’t do the whole thing justice. It needs to be examined with a fine tooth comb and put into perspective. A newfound appreciation for Febuary 9th, 1964 needs to happen.

We hold that night in great reverence because of the event itself and what it accomplished, not just the 50 years thing. Some might argue that the one-year anniversary in 1965 was as important as the 50th. And while that is true—every year, no, everydaywe should appreciate The Beatles and their arrival—50 is unquestionably an important number. It’s half of a century. It’s a milestone to reach. And it’s really an “in your face” moment to all those old hags who said it wouldn’t last, all those curmudgeons who called pop music disposable. Here we are 50 years later, and not only are we still talking about it, we study it like the true art it always was, and we love it in more formats than ever. Plus, it’s catchier than celebrating the 49th anniversary.