Pheaturing Phile Alum Michael Fargnoli From Hadley's Hope

Hello, welcome to the Phile for a Monday. I am your host... Whitey Peverett. How are you?  Did you watch the Emmys last night? I didn't, but I have to say congratulations to all the unwatched shows in my DVR on winning Emmys. If you watched the Emmys, you got a free HBO Now account, courtesy of Andy Samberg. Now you can stop using your parents', or your roommate's parents', or your one-time Tinder date's roommate's parents' account. In response to HBO's CEO saying password sharing is really NBD, Samberg decided to go ahead and offer this info to Emmy viewers. He announced that his username is Khaleesifan3@EmmyHost.com and his password is Password1.
And the account actually worked! Well, it worked briefly.  Alright, so Irving, Texas police likely violated the civil rights of Ahmed Mohamed when they questioned him without his parents or an attorney present. The story has already created a national news frenzy and broad support for Ahmed on the Internet, including from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and President Obama. Police reportedly denied Ahmed's requests to call his parents during his interrogation, which is quite clearly prohibited by Texas law: A child may not be left unattended in a juvenile processing office and is entitled to be accompanied by the child’s parent, guardian, or other custodian or by the child’s attorney. During a press conference, Irving Police Chief Larry Boyd was unable to answer reporters when asked why Ahmed was denied a call to his parents. Scrutiny over how the police handled Ahmed's arrest and questioning now includes close involvement from the Texas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. So let's hope that both the Irving police and school board have polished their public speaking skills. They're going to need them.  The British Prime Minister maybe put his genitals in a dead pig. Welcome to #PigGate. David Cameron, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, apparently once placed his "private part" in a the mouth of a dead pig while a student at Oxford university, according to a new biography. What makes it magical is that this is politics, so people are actually stepping up to defend him. At first, I assumed this was just British tabloid journalism at its worst (and it might be), but this is in a biography. Now, it doesn't seem to be authorized, but Britain has some harsh libel laws. You can't just make up that David Cameron put his wang in a pig's head while said head was resting on the lap of a classmate at the Piers Gaveston Society (an Oxford dining club). There is apparently also photographic evidence. You can, as is the case here, say a classmate of Cameron's attested to the story, though, and that was enough to set Twitter almost literally on fire with #piggate. Donald Trump is gonna have to fist a live walrus to get the headlines back. Haha. Anyway, it all makes sense now when I saw the Conservatives last logo...

John Stamos wants kids. In fact, he wants kids so much that his "ovaries are rattling." This guy! The 52 year old actor stars in a new sitcom, "Grandfathered," in which he learns late in life that he has a son and a granddaughter. In real life, he was married to Rebecca Romijn, but they did not have children together. The only thing we know about how Stamos gets along with kids is that he tried to get the Olsen twins fired from "Full House." Apparently, despite his age and continued success with acting, he is still up for having a full house of his own. "My ovaries are rattling. Do men have ovaries? They're jingling. I can hear them jingling now." No, men do not have ovaries. And no, they do not rattle or jingle. They pulsate or tingle, especially if a man is tall, handy around the house, and has all his hair. Stamos is in luck, because Hollywood is full of down-to-earth, modest people that are interested in marrying stars so they can have children, not money.  Participation trophies are totally a thing that make old people say stuff like, "Back in my day, the only trophy we got was a firm kick in the ass! Your generation is way too coddled." Last month, James Harrison of the Pittsburgh Steelers took to Instagram to basically say that, when he saw that his kids received "Best of the Batch Awards" for participating in an athletics program. "I came home to find out that my boys received two trophies for nothing, participation trophies! While I am very proud of my boys for everything they do and will encourage them till the day I die, these trophies will be given back until they EARN a real trophy. I'm sorry I'm not sorry for believing that everything in life should be earned and I'm not about to raise two boys to be men by making them believe that they are entitled to something just because they tried their best... cause sometimes your best is not enough, and that should drive you to want to do better... not cry and whine until somebody gives you something to shut u up and keep you happy. #harrisonfamilyvalues." Is he a good parent? Or was he too harsh? Do you think we care? What, you want a cookie for your opinion?  By the way, best of luck to Pope Francis on still believing in God after visiting New York, Washington DC, and Philadelphia.  So, do you have a Fitbit? I don't, but I might get one now as they have Fitbit badges for extremely lazy people. Check it out...

Haha. I live it.  So, a lot of people, me included, remembers Star Wars coming out in 1977. Well, a character from Star Wars apparently has been out since the 40s. And I have proof from this piece of World War II art work...

That's kinda cool.  Facebook is coming out with a dislike button you might've heard. They are also coming out with this symbol... but I don't know how I would use it.

Hmmm.  So, one thing I like to do in my spare time is to go on Twitter and look up certain words. One of those words I look up is "Foghat." This is a tweet I recently discovered...

That's cool... for him. Right? Okay, let's see who rolled snake-eyes...

Jackie Collins
October 4th, 1937 — September 19th, 2015
She wrote "Drop Dead Bitch." That should do it.

This is an easy one. Read the Wikipedia article about the Faces of Belmez! There were no corpses under the house and chemical analyses make it quite certain, that they are a hoax, faked by the owners son. It's a weird story. Okay, it's Monday, and time to talk football with my good friend Jeff in a pheature called...

Me: Hey! What's up, Jeff? How are you?

Jeff: Hey, Jason, it's always great to be back on the Phile. I'm doing okay. Trying to figure some life stuff out, but then again at this point who isn't? You know?

Me: Yup... I know. Okay, what's the latest in the NFL news?

Jeff: The biggest news coming out of week two is a huge injury. In week one Dallas lost their receiver Dez Bryant. In week two they have now lost their QB for anywhere from 8-10 weeks after Tony Romo broke his clavical in the game against Philadelphia. Add to that their decision not to re-sign DeMarco Murray in the off season. So as it stands the only big offensive weapon Dallas has left is Tight End Jason Whitten. Despite this, they are 2-0 this season.

Me: In the monologue I mentioned James Harrison being mean to his kids taking away their trophies. What's your take in this?

Jeff: Yeah, I saw the James Harrison bit. I think he's trying to toughen up his kids. As if having a scary linebacker for a dad wasn't enough? Do I agree with it? No. I don't. They're kids. At some point yes, we need to stop giving participation trophies. But his kids are young. I'm all for kids being kids. I like James Harrison (obviously, he's on my team) but I think he could lighten up a little bit. If he went after Tom Brady in week 1 like he did those trophies, Pittsburgh could have been 2-0.

Me: Haha. Any other news?

Jeff: It's all ready been a topsy turvy week. Seattle, who has been to the Super Bowl two straight years, is sitting at 0-2. The retooled Eagles? 0-2. The season is still early and we still have 15 weeks to go. No matter how good a team looks on paper, sometimes they are not very good on the field.

Me: Okay, I'm in the lead! Yes! So, how did we do last week?

Jeff: Speaking of looking good on paper, I was confident in my picks this week. My teams were going against Tampa Bay and Oakland. However, both teams looked good. By both teams I mean Tampa Bay and Oakland. I thought my 1-1 week last week was bad. It got worse. I went 0-2. You went 2-0 the first week. You only had one place to go in week 2. You took a step back going 1-1. Which is better than 0-2. I was able to pick up a point when the Steelers CRUSHED the 49ers. The Giants for the second straight week blew a double digit lead and lost. So the point standings after two weeks: You have 6 points. I have 3 points. Good job.

Me: Yes! Ha! Let's do this weeks picks. I say Cardinals by 1 and Browns by 2. What do you say?

Jeff: This week I will pick New England by 4 (and no controversy with the game being in New England this week) and Denver by three points.

Me: Alright, see you next week.

Jeff: Good luck! See you next week.

The 31st artist to be pheatured in the Phile's Art Gallery is Ivan Lovatt and this is one of his pieces...

That's pretty cool. Ivan will be a guest on the Phile a week from today.

Today's pheatured guest is a Phile Alum who is the lead singer in the Orlando based band Hadley's Hope. They have a great new album which is available on iTunes called "Shame." Please welcome back to the Phile my friend... Michael Fargnoli.

Me: Hey, Michael, my friend, welcome back to the Phile. How are you?

Michael: Citrus.

Me: Ummm. Okay. Last time you were here was over two years ago I think. Yeah, February 2013. Man, that long? A lot has happened in my life since then, how about your life?

Michael: I gave up beer.

Me: Oh. Why would you do that? Anyway, Hadley's Hope is based in Orlando, but you are originally from Rhode Island, am I right? How long have you lived in Orlando and what made you move down?

Michael: Yes, you are right! I have lived in Orlando for 20 years. I moved here to attend college because I was obsessed with 2 things: Jim Morrison and the movie Edward Scissorhands.

Me: I have lived in Orlando for almost 28 years, and love it, but I am sure one day I'll move somewhere else, who knows. What about you?

Michael: Maybe I will move to Everglades City someday and be eaten by an alligator or burmese python.

Me: So, who else is in the band with you, Michael?

Michael: Kyle, Tim and Antonio.

Me: So, who formed the band? Was it you?

Michael: Yes, I formed the band in 2003.

Me: The last time you were here you said the name comes from something from the movie Alien. The ship, am I right? So, is Alien your favorite movie apart from Edward Scissorhands?

Michael: No, you are wrong. It is not a ship and it is not from Alien. It is actually from Aliens (2nd movie) and is the name of the colony where the families are living and then get eaten alive. Aliens is not my favorite movie. However, Alien is my 2nd favorite movie (the first Alien movie). Have I confused you yet? :)

Me: Ummm... close. Did you come up with the name yourself?

Michael: No, I had little to do with the naming of the band.

Me: Did the band have any other names before you settled on Hadley's Hope?

Michael: Probably but I can't remember now. However, the band used to be called Studio K (when I formed it). We changed the name to Hadley's Hope in 2006. Studio K was a very lame name.

Me: How many of your fans get the reference and how many think your name is Hadley?

Michael: Ha. Actually a lot of our fans get the reference (most of them are sci-fi nerds). No one thinks my name is Hadley... but we often get asked "Which one of you is Hadley?"

Me: You're the lead singer in the band, right? Are you also the main songwriter, Michael?

Michael: Yes, I am the lead singer. We all write together as a band but I do write all of the lyrics.

Me: Okay, let's talk about your new album... "Shame." Man, I love this album. It's a lot more guitar oriented than your previous one "Neon City." Was that done on purpose?

Michael: It wasn't done on purpose but we definitely took a turn with this album. We were once told that we should drop all of our heavier songs... and instead of taking that insane, lame advice we just got heavier... (songwriting wise that is). 

Me: Who were your influences behind this album, Michael?

Michael: Peter Gabriel

Me: The song "Almanac" has a very 50s sound, and it's one of my favorite songs on the album. Was this a fun song to do?

Michael: Yeah!!

Me: The album starts of with a song called "Anne Bancroft." Is that the actress? Is she your favorite actress? What is that song about?

Michael: Yes, the song was written as a piano demo 10 years ago right after she passed away. The song has nothing to do with her but I wanted to dedicate/tribute her so I named whatever song I happened to be writing at the time she died after her. The song is about someone trying to stop someone from killing themselves.

Me: And another song has a person's name... "The Ballad of Philip Fitzroyce." I love that song but I have no idea who Fitzroyce is. Is he a real person?

Michael: He is a character from the movie Jaws 3... which takes place at SeaWorld Orlando, which is down the street from me.

Me: The single is "Worldkey." What is a worldkey? That song has some very deep lyrics, Michael. Were you okay when you wrote that song?

Michael: WorldKey is this: WorldKey Information: Interactive kiosks that offered previews of various EPCOT Center attractions. Guests could also talk to a live Cast Member via two-way closed-circuit video, or make a restaurant reservation while in the park. It was part of Earth Station at the exit of Spaceship Earth. I was actually fine when I wrote those lyrics. I was reading a lot of "National Geographic Magazine" and listening to Peter Gabriel.

Me: I remember WorldKey now. When I was in custodial at Epcot I would walk by and touch the screens to see who was on there. I think I have a picture of WorldKey here.

Me: Flashbacks, man. So, when you write, do you write on the piano, or guitar and what comes first? Lyrics or music?

Michael: I write on the piano. Sometimes lyrics come first, sometimes music. It just depends on what inspires me.

Me: I have to mention the album cover... were the other guys okay with just you being on the cover? 

Michael: Yeah, it was actually their idea to have me on the album cover and I was okay with it.

Me: Also, where did the album title come from? You shouldn't have shame, it's a great album.

Michael: The title comes from a very dark period in the band. The title is a tongue in cheek, sarcastic nod. I have no shame but I love having "Shame" the album... we are very proud of it.

Me: I have to mention you guys did a version of "Golden Dream," which is the song in the American Adventure show at Epcot. Did you guys ever think of releasing that song? It's a great version. You guys should make an album with songs from Epcot. That would be great! Whatcha think?

Michael: We released it as a online single and it did really well! We would do an whole Epcot Center album but that would be produced by Kyle... and the lead off single would be "Tomorrow's Child."

Me: By the way, you said you would invite me to play kazoo on the album last time I interviewed you. Haha. I listened to the album paring there was no kazoo. So, maybe next album? Haha.

Michael: Definitely! We would love to have you come to our studio and play anything you wished to play :)

Me: Alright, Michael, so, what's next for Hadley's Hope?

Michael: More videos, new songs and a new album.

Me: Thanks for being here again. Come back when the next release comes out, and if it's the Epcot music idea I wanna be on it and I want credit for the idea. Ha. Good luck and continued success.

Michael: Thank you!!

Me: And mention your website.

Michael: Facebook.com/HadleysHopeMusic.

That about does it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to my guests Jeff Trelewicz and Michael Fargnoli. The Phile will be back next Sunday with Phile Alum Lila Rose. So, 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