Pheaturing Stig Joeraholmen From Peter and the Penguins

PHIRST OF

Hey there, welcome to the Phile, on a Tuesday. I have a lot to talk about before te interview, so let's get on with it. So, are you in the holiday spirit? I am. I have been listening to Christmas music on my iPod all week and cannot wait to decorate the house for Christmas, and put up the tree. Actually, I can't wait for my wife Jen to put up the tree, all 12 feet of it, and put on the 3000 lights and hundreds of decorations. And put up the lights outside the house. Google has announced that they’re going to give free Internet access in airports all across the country. It’s fantastic! Up until now, the only way to see something pornographic at an airport was to follow a senator into the bathroom. You can visit Shoe-Tappers.com. Former Miss California, Carrie Prejean, got into trouble for making a sex tape. She’s the only one in the tape. But I think this could be innocent too — last time for the racy photos, she said the wind blew her vest open... so maybe the wind blew her into some sexy positions and made her do some sexy gestures. She says it is not a sex tape because she’s the only one in it. It’s a solo sex tape. It’s the first female solo sex tape... she flies solo. She’s like the Amelia Earhart of the naked. She’s trying to downplay the incident. In pageant terms, it was a swim-suit competition minus the swim suit but with a lot of baton twirling. The movie 2012 is out. It’s based on the Mayan belief that the world will end in 2012. Keep in mind that the Mayans also believe the oceans would run dry and a jaguar would eat the sun. The Mayans also believed Jon and Kate would last forever.

The Mayans themselves actually ended much earlier: They were wiped out by the Spanish. They didn’t predict that, did they? Over the weekend, Liz Cheney hinted that her father might run for president. This news was greeted with cheers of hope and relief — especially from Democrats. Disney, the greatest company in the world to work for, has installed hand sanitizers all over the parks to combat swine flu. And I was thinking, “Disney — if you’re really serious about not spreading swine flu, get that Donald Duck to start wearing pants.” So, recently there's been talk that playing video games can make someone a killer, right. I don't believe that, I have been playing Snood on my iPhone for months and I haven't killed anybody. Well, Nintendo and Sony have got together to put out an ad to stop people from worrying, but I don't think they did the best job. Take a look at the ad.

Ever get one of those Wii-motes thrown at you? So, Logan has been into Lego's for years and is getting really good at them, so every chance we get we go to Toys R Us or Target and look for new sets that he doesn't have. I was amazed when I saw this set on the shelf.

And it's for 6 plus! What the hell? I am always trying to get more and more readers of the Phile, so I asked a friend at work what did he suggest I add to the blogs to get readers and he said that sex sells, so if I post a picture of a sexy model with big boobs that should work. So, here is this week's picture of a sexy woman with big boobs.

There. That should do it. Okay, from the home office in Port Jefferson, New York, here is this week's..

Top Ten Little-Known Facts About "Sesame Street".

10. 98% of its residents are taller than New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
9. Count von Count started career as an accountant for Bernie Madoff.
8. There's an adult book store in the basement of Mr. Hooper's store.
7. Elmo had brief stint in the 90s as that thing on Donald Trump's head.
6. Big Bird turned down as co-star on "The View".
5. Bert and Ernie modeled after Nixon and Kissinger.

4. Original Big Bird died from West Nile Virus in '98.

3. A lot of "CSI: New York" is filmed on that very same street.

2. Technically it's a cul-de-sac.

And the number one little-known fact about "Sesame Street"...

1. Kermit has dumped Miss Piggy due to Swine Flu concerns.

Carl Ballantine: Poof! He's gone!
John Allen Mohammed: Snipe this, scumbag.

1796
Empress Catherine the Great dies of a stroke while sitting on the commode.
1968
NBC preempts the final 1:05 from a very close Jets-Raiders NFL football game with "Heidi". Two touchdowns were scored during this missing time. Sports fans everywhere applaud and understand the network's decision.
1973
"People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I am not a crook".
1992
Scaremongering "journalists" at "Dateline" NBC falsify a demonstration involving a GM truck exploding on impact. In reality the trucks do not explode on impact, and smarmy reporters do not always tell the truth.
1997
In a three hour gun battle, Islamic militants in the ancient pharaonic city of Luxor indiscriminately slaughter 60 tourists. Six gunmen and two Egyptian policemen are also killed.

Okay, it's time for the announcement of the third book in the Peverett Phile Book Club.

From Publishers Weekly: The title comes from Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun's answer when asked how to make money with music: the way to get rich was to keep walking around until you bumped into a genius, as Goldberg paraphrases. Inside the industry for almost four decades, Goldberg now looks back at those he bumped into during his rise from rock writer to public relations to personal management, plus heading three major record companies (Atlantic, Mercury, Warner Bros.). As he puts it, The idea of this book is to give some impressionistic views, through my eyes, and through the examples of a handful of artists, of the rock and roll business from 1969 through 2004. He began at Billboard, where his rhapsodic review of the Woodstock festival established him as a rock journalist, and his opening chapter covers Paul Williams (Crawdaddy), Gloria Stavers (16 Magazine) and other editors and critics of the 1960s. Doing PR for Led Zeppelin was his introduction to the adrenaline of a big-time rock tour, and his backstage memories of those days are vivid and razor sharp, offering an intimate glimpse into PR strategies and tactics. The parade of personalities runs the gamut from Bonnie Raitt and Stevie Nicks to Kurt Cobain and Warren Zevon. Goldberg summons up some fascinating anecdotes as he writes about these performers with much honesty and compassion, bringing it all back home. The book is available on Amazon.com and in fine book shops everywhere. In a few weeks Danny Goldberg will be a guest on the Phile.

Today's guest is the bass player, yes, I know, another bass player, from the Norwegian band Peter and the Penguins, whose new album "How To Choose A Sweetheart" is available right now on iTunes and Amazon. Please welcome to the Phile... Stig Joeraholmen.

Me: God dag, and welcome to det Peverett Phile, guys. So, how are you? God dag is hello in Norwegian, right?

Stig: Thank you, yes god dag means hello, or actually good day.

Me: You are the second band from Norway that I know of. The first is of course a-Ha, who just recently broke up. Do you guys know them, or fans of them?

Stig: We don´t know them personally, but Rune and I met them at some music awards in Norway earlier. We also did a show with Paals band Savoy once. Fredrik is a fan of all boybands.

Me: a-Ha is known for those three songs "Take On Me", "Take On Me The Remix" and "Take On Me '92". What other hits have they had? They do get some cred for doing the theme to a James Bond movie.

Stig: Think they´ve got quite a few hits beside "Take On Me", which was their first single. Guess you should check their greatest hits collection or something.

Me: So, ever been on one of those Norwegian cruises?

Stig: Every Christmas we take our families on a cruise to the north of Norway, we like to spend new years with the other penguins.

Me: I know a little about Norway from working at Epcot for the last twenty plus years, Stig. They don't make ugly girls over there, do they?

Stig: No we don't. Rune dated an ugly girl once when he was twelve though. I think she was Danish.

Me: There's this tradition where guys go out by themselves on Monday nights and get drunk, right? What is that called? Do you guys follow that tradition?

Stig: A night without women? Never heard of that. What gay idea is that? A night without women?? I'll ask Fredrik if he knows about it.

Me: So, I love the album "How To Chose A Sweetheart" which I downloaded from iTunes. We'll get into that in a few minutes, but first, what a great sound you guys have. You are definitely fans of The Beatles, aren't you?

Stig: Some penguins are. Fredrik prefer boybands though.

Me: Did I read correctly you guys did a show in the famed Cavern Club? I bet that was very cool. Did you do any Beatles covers?

Stig: We've done several shows there over the recent years. I think we did a song ("Slow Down") the Beatles used to play once, but it´s not a Beatle original.

Me: What other bands are you guys into?

Stig: All good bands throughout the history of rock n roll wich starts with an B are welcome as an inspiration. The Band, Big Star, Byrds, Bend Folds, Beach boys, Brendan Benson, Blur, Beta Band, Blondie, Bright Eyes, Buddy Holly, Bruce S, Brinsley Schwarz, Beck, Bee Gees (early days), Billy Bragg, Bob Dylan, Bob Hund, Box Tops, Buffalo Tom, Buzzcocks, Bryan Ferry, Built to Spill, Beth Gibbons, Black Eyed Peas, BRM, BR5-49, Brainpool, Bread, Buffalo Springfield, just to mention a few. Fredrik is more dedicated to Backstreet Boys.

Me: I have to ask you about the band name, Peter & The Penguins. Who came up with it and what was the inspiration? You guys should tour with Hootie & The Blowfish.

Stig: It just felt natural for us. Our lead singer kinda looks like a king penguin. If Hootie asks we'll let them tour with us.

Me: Okay, let's talk about the album. Is that the first one of yours? When was it recorded and when did it come out?

Stig: It's the first album from Peter and the Penguins, but we´re already in progress recording our second. All band members have made prior records with other bands as well.

Me: There's a lot of catchy songs on it, guys. My personal favorite is "There Goes Pete Best". Has he heard your song, or has any of The Beatles heard your stuff?

Stig: Pete, or at least his management threatened to sue us after hearing the song. This was before the release of the album, we haven't heard from them afterwards. The song is played quite a lot on local Liverpool radio stations.

Me: "How To Choose A Sweetheart" is a pretty good name for an album. Where did that title come from? You should of called it "Hvor A Foretrekker EN Kjaereste". Did I get that right?

Stig: The title comes form an old fortune teller machine we spotted on the Southport pier during our UK tour a few years back. We should not have called it "Hvor A Foretrekker EN Kjaereste". But you should try a different translation program.

Me: Okay, any chance you guys would be coming to the US soon? You guys would do so good over here.

Stig: Some penguins does not fly. We´ll be in Australia right now if it wasn't for that. If demand grows really huge, we'll consider the swim.

Me: Thanks for taking part, guys. Is there anything else you wanna tell the readers of the Phile? Anything you wanna plug, like a website?

Stig: Sure; here is two cool sites for the fans: http://www.myspace.com/peterthepenguins http://jakemandell.com/tonedeaf/.

Me: I wish you a lot of luck, and congrats on being my first Norwegian band on det Phile. Thanks again.

Stig: You're welcome, looking forward to read your blog!

PHINALLY

There you go, another entry of the Phile. Thanks to Stig for a great interview and Wikipedia and Publisher's Weekly. The Phile will be back a week from today, next Tuesday as Monday is my birthday and after work that day I won't feel like updating the blog. Next week's guest will be Brad Loans from the band The Sundresses. So, until next week, spread the word, not the turd. Bye, love you, bye.