Emanuel Lundgren From I'm From Barcelona

Hello, good evening and welcome back to the Phile, kids. I have to say sorry your upcoming vacation destination was featured on Shark Week. Man, everyone is so crazy for Shark Week. Your enthusiasm for Shark Week scares me more than sharks.  Here's a disgusting story to get your week off to a depressing start. A Michigan oncologist will be sentenced this week in what U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade called "the most egregious case of health care fraud I have ever seen." Over a ten-year period, Dr. Farid Fata misdiagnosed hundreds of patients with cancer in order to defraud both them and the Medicare system. In the process, he made millions of dollars and hurt many families, growing his practice from a one-doctor office to a statewide medical empire of evil. That practice, by the way, currently has a generous 1.2 star rating on Google Plus. Fata pushed intense chemotherapy and radiation programs onto healthy patients, causing severe side effects. Some patients lost their teeth or limbs. Some even died. Meanwhile, Fata used aggressive and manipulative tactics to ensure they would keep paying him. Prosecutors say as many as 553 patients received unnecessary treatment, many of whom chose to attend his trial. In cases where the patient died, their families came in their place. Their interest is to see him meet justice, not recoup losses... although Fata may have billed Medicare alone for $91 million, it's unclear if his victims will ever see any of that money. A number of civil lawsuits against him and his practice are still unresolved. Fata faces sentencing today. Prosecutors are seeking a 175-year sentence for him. It just goes to show: you should always get a second opinion. You never know if your doctor is a Salk or a Mengele.  We all know that Oreo has no shame when it comes to inventing new products. This time, however, their cookie scientists decided to turn things down a notch and focus on fundamentals. As opposed to tweaking regular Oreos, they created an entirely new type of Oreo, which has been christened the Oreo Thin.
Here's the add for it...

Why does this feel like it's a phone commercial? Even though it seems like a health initiative, Oreo has stated that it's more about making Oreo a "grown-up treat" that you can eat with a cup of tea or serve at a fancy dinner party. Instead of giving the regular Oreo a monocle or teaching it to speak in a British accent, they've slimmed it down to look more elegant but have also ensured that it has the same "creme to cookie ratio." Is this a new era for Oreo? Or is this going to be a failed attempt at marketing a children's products for adults? I feel like the Mitch Hedberg quote, "Fettuccine alfredo is macaroni and cheese for adults" applies here. Oreo also has way too much faith in that idea that adults are afraid to buy regular Oreos. Or maybe that's just me...  It turns out that Donald Trump is more than just a racist, narcissistic blowhard with terrible hair. He's also a fickle retweeter. He'll retweet something on the spur of the moment because it appeals to his base desires, then take it down hours later when he realizes it can damage his nonexistent credibility. On July 4th, Trump quoted a tweet from user @RobHeilbron...

Heilbron was referring to Bush's wife Columbia, a legal immigrant from Mexico. Let me stress that part: LEGAL. Not that a distinction like that ever bothered Trump... he's still bugging Obama about being an illegal immigrant. I think he doesn't realize Hawaii is a state. Trump kept the quoted tweet up for 24 hours before he deleted it. Of course, that was more than enough time for it to be screenshotted and preserved for all time. Will this glaring example of a racist double standard finally bring the tinsel-topped tycoon down? No. He's already done a million things more embarrassing than this, and he's still in second place among Republican candidates. The only person beating him is Jeb Bush, probably because his legal immigrant wife is so charming.  Katy Perry may be the highest-paid female celebrity in the world, but that doesn't mean she automatically gets everything she wants. Sometimes, she has to appeal to a higher power. The singer is currently embroiled in a property battle with a handful of elderly nuns, an archbishop, and a powerful real estate developer. The pope may even get involved. It sounds like a joke, except they all didn't walk into a bar. The property in question is a gorgeous hillside estate in Los Angeles with a fish-shaped pool and a view of the mountains. The complex is a former convent, but the nuns haven't lived there since 2011, and everyone agrees they should sell. The question is: to whom? Perry offered $14.5 million for it, while the developer, who wants to turn it into a hotel, offered $15.5 million. The archbishop wants to sell it to Perry (he must be a big fan), while the nuns want to sell to the developer. Perry even tried to sway the nuns with a visit and a private performance, which backfired magnificently.  If you saw the Terminator: Genisys trailer and thought the Terminator franchise had finally jumped the shark, you're wrong. It did that in 2003. But now, the series may finally have been crushed in a hydraulic press for good, because the latest film tanked at the box office. The new film, which stars Old Schwarzenegger and Daenerys Targaryen, grossed a disappointing $28.7 million domestically in its first weekend. It failed to beat Jurassic World or Pixar's Inside Out, which are both older releases. It did, however, beat Magic Mike XXL, which was also in its opening weekend. That, at least, should be some comfort for Arnold. He may not be able to beat dinosaurs or cartoons, but he can still take down musclemen half his age. Good for you, Governor.  Okay, so, just for he record, I want to make one thing clear... this isn't me.

Haha. Really. It isn't.  So, with the kinda success Magic Mike XXL has, Disney, the greatest company to work for ever, has decided to rerelease doe of its classic animated movies with stripper scenes. Check it out...

I think that is Hercules and Meg... I am not sure.  Hey, it's Shark Week and I am sure you wanna see sharks here, right? Okay, here we go...

I am such as ass. Hahaha.  Well, if you go to the beach this summer you might see some unusual new bathing suits or bikinis such as this one...

She's thinking, "If anyone else tries to float in my pool I shall tear them to shreds." That's just craziness. Well it's Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, and here on the Phile I have my own shark... Feargal the Shark. He is pretty popular so I thought I'd bring him back again this year. So, please welcome back to the Phile...

Me: Hey, Feargal, welcome back to the Phile. How are you?

Feargal: Ummm... I smelled you from across the too, and I was wondering... can I maybe have you for dinner... I mean, have you over for dinner?

Me: No, Feargal, that's not a good idea. I see you already ate someone.

Feargal: I smelt blood from an injured human in the water and tried to apply pressure to the wound with my jaws to stop the bleeding.

Me: Suuurrrreee. So, Feargal, do you have any jokes for us?

Feargal: What is a sharks favorite kinda sandwich?

Me: Fish?

Feargal: Close. Peanut butter and jellyfish!

Me: That's dumb.

Feargal: Okay, how did the crazy shark become normal again?

Me: I have no idea.

Feargal: Electro shark therapy.

Me: Ha. That's a little better.

Feargal: Why did the street sharks get arrested?

Me: I have no idea. Why?

Feargal: Dorsal profiling.

Me: Not bad. Alright, give us one more, Feargal. And make it good.

Feargal: What did the street shark say when something radical happened?

Me: I don't know.

Feargal: JAWESOME! Haha.

Me: That was bad. Thanks for coming, Feargal, now get back to the ocean.

Feargal: I will. Bye, I'm fin-ished.

Me: Feargal the Shark, everyone.

Hahaha. That's brilliant! I bet they did that on purpose. If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. Okay, so, something happened up in Jersey that's kinda crazy and a friend of the Phile wants to tell us about it. He's a singer, patriot and renaissance man. You know what time it is.

An Englewood Cliffs man laid down in the road pretending to be choking, carjacked a woman's Mercedes when she got out to see if he was okay, fought with New Jersey police when cornered, stole the police cruiser he was being placed into... then led police on a slow speed chase through SEVEN towns before crashing and finally being taken into custody. A. I had no idea that Robert Downey Jr. fell off the wagon, again. B. This is what happens when Moe, Larry & Curly fill in for vacationing officers. Annnnnnd.... C. I wanna party with THIS dude.

Fitbit
A Fitbit is how people who used to wear "Livestrong" bracelets are looking stupid in 2015.

Today's pheatured guest is the lead singer of the great Swedish band I'm From Barcelona whose latest CD "Growing Up is For Trees" is available now on iTunes featuring the single "Violins." Please welcome to the Phile... Emanual Lundgren.

Me: Hola, Emanuel, welcome to the Phile. How are you?

Emanuel: Hi, I'm fine thanks!

Me: Okay, I am confused, your band name is I'm From Barcelona, you have a Spanish sounding name and your band is based in Sweden. Where are you from, and is the rest of the band from Barcelona?

Emanuel: Yeah okay, I admit, we're from Sweden. But the band name is actually a quote from the old TV series "Fawlty Towers." There's a guy called Manuel who is from Barcelona. My name is Emanuel... there you go!

Me: I loved that show. What is the origin of the band name? My new band should be called I'm From Balham or I'm From London.

Emanuel: I already told you.

Me: Good point. Whereabouts in Sweden is the band based? I don't know much about Sweden. You must talk in Swiss, right? Is that the language there?

Emanuel: Swiss is in Switzerland, Swedish in Sweden.

Me: Haha. You're right. I am an idiot. There's a shit load of people in your band, Emanuel. How many people altogether? I betcha can't name them all. Haha.

Emanuel: I'm pretty good at their names, because they are my friends. I bet you know the names of your friends, right?

Me: Ummm... some of them. So, how many are in the band?

Emanuel: There's a bunch of us. Twenty-seven if you want a number. Or maybe 28.

Me: I was happy when I found out you have a kazoo player in the band. I play kazoo! In fact, it's the only instrument I can play. So, if you ever need a new kazoo player... Anyway, how did you end up hiring almost 30 people?

Emanuel: I just wanted to do some recordings on my vacation. I also wanted to meet my friends. So I tried to combine it and just asked people I like to be a part of the recordings. It wasn't very planned at all.

Me: You are the main songwriter and lead singer in the band, right, Emanuel? Do you get the other kids opinion's on your songs?

Emanuel: Yes, all the time. I use to email them demos of the songs. If they like them, they stay in the game, if they don't I move on.

Me: Let's talk about your new album "Growing Up is for Trees" which I really love, and which I downloaded from iTunes.

Emanuel: Thank you.

Me: One of my favorite videos ever is the one you guys did for the song "Get in Line" from the "Forveer Today" album. Who did that video?

Emanuel: We have a friend called Mats Udd who held the camera then I put it together. You can check it out here: youtube.com/watch?v=aCPvRLrzp5U&feature=related.

Me: I am a big can of the band so I have to ask you about the song "Charlie Parker," which opens "Forever Today". Are you a fan of Parker? What about Graham Parker?

Emanuel: I'm a fan of all birds.

Me: Who else are you a fan of, Emanuel?

Emanuel: Prince. Soon I have a complete vinyl collection.

Me: Your music has been on a few TV shows, which is cool, like "How I Met Your Mother" and "Gray's Anatomy," but what I think is really freakin' cool for some reason you guys were on "Yo Gabba Gabba." How was that experience?

Emanuel: We had an amazing time over at "Yo Gabba Gabba"! It was like being on the "Muppet Show," and everybody was fighting over the different costumes... Some of the characters joined us on stage later that evening on a gig in L.A.

Me: I have a picture of you and DJ Lance Rock I have to show...

Me: So, you meet those character things? I was watching the show one night late years ago and I saw you guys on it. That's how I first heard about you kids. Is the show filmed in California?

Emanuel: Yes, in L.A. I met some of the characters. And saw the head of Brobee on a shelf. Kinda creepy.

Me: You guys looked like you had a lot of fun making that video for the show. Does your band normally dress that colorful? I do have to give you props, Emanuel, you have some fine looking women in your band. Well done!

Emanuel: We're colorful, but usually we don't dress up as grapes or pirates.

Me: You guys not only played on "Yo Gabba Gabba," but you've done a few festivals as well such as Lollapalooza and Coachella, and I am sure some festivals overseas. Do you like to play festivals or inside more intimate shows better?

Emanuel: Festivals are fun because you reach a lot of people that maybe hear you for the first time. But I love small clubs the most, because you get close to the audience. And also I don't like the sun very much.

Me: Ever played in Orlando, Florida? You have to let me know if you come here.

Emanuel: No, we haven't. I hope we can come back to the states and do some gigs!

Me: I know you have to go, sir. Thanks so much for being on the Phile, I am a big fan. Go ahead and plug your website and please come back again. I hope this was fun, as fun as "Yo Gabba Gabba". 

Emanuel: Thanks, it was fun. But maybe not as much fun as "Yo Gabba Gabba." imfrombarcelona.com/.

There, that about does it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to Laird Jim and Emanuel Lundgren for a great interview. There were so many more questions I wanted to ask him, I hope I can have him on the Phile again. Okay, the Phile will be back on Sunday with Thomas Wincek from All Tiny Creatures. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.

Not if it pleases me. No, you can't stop me, not if it pleases me. - Graham Parker