Monday, March 7, 2011

I came for Snider, then stayed for Bayer

Do you remember how annoying it was to walk all the way around the huge hole that they dug in the ground to expand the Harold B. Lee Library at BYU?

Or the season the BYU football players changed their uniforms to make themselves more visible to each other and it looked like the entire team was wearing bibs?

Remember the old BYU Health Center?

Have you ever been to a Garrens comedy show?

Do you remember the dances in the step-down lounge of the SFLC?

Does the acronym SFLC make you giggle?

Were you annoyed when BYU changed their 'official' colors from Royal Blue to Navy blue because you had to change a large part of your fandrobe? (Fan wardrobe. I just made that word up. I have a PhD now, so I'm allowed to make words up)

If the answer to most of these questions is a resounding YES, you were at BYU during the era of the "Snide Remarks" columns that first appeared in the the Daily Universe. This is where I first experienced the hilarity of a man named "Eric D. Snider." Eric wrote a regular column for the Universe for several years, and I was a pretty big fan. If you were, or are, currently stationed at BYU, you will probably find these hilarious. Eric has kindly posted the entire run of his Snide Remarks articles on his website.

Here are some that I enjoyed during my stay at BYU:

"A Freshman's Guide to BYU"

"NCMOrons"

"Michael McLame"

"Letters Entertain You"

Eric's brother was my home teacher the next year, and I actually got to meet Eric once. Well, I'm not sure we actually met, but he was visiting the Centennial Apartments where I lived, and someone pointed him out to me. If I remember correctly, he was mooning someone up on one of the balconies from the hot tub. It could have been someone else, so don't hold me to that memory. Pretty funny whether or not it was him. Well, funny to me now. I'm pretty sure 19 year old me was pretty shocked. Which makes it that much funnier thinking back on it.

Fast forward a bit. The Snide Remarks Column left the Daily Universe. Sad Day. Luckily for the world, Snide Remarks lives on! Well, they have been a bit sporadic in the past few years, but are about to get regular again. A bunch of us chipped in and talked him into writing the columns weekly once again. It's going to be good.

So Eric has moved on, and is now a professional movie critic. I enjoy reading his reviews, and have come to trust his rating scale. If he gives a movie a A- or B+, I'm probably going to go and see it.

About a year ago, Eric started doing a movie podcast with Jeff Bayer. They call it "Movie BS with Bayer and Snider". Get it? BS? Because their last names are Bayer and Snider? They do a weekly show and talk about movies. Well, mostly they talk about movies. Sometimes they get a little off subject, but mostly they stay on track. The occasional word or two of profanity slips out, but they keep it pretty clean other than that. So don't be worried if you see an "Explicit" warning in iTunes. Yours truly is the official "Arizona Fan" as of Episode 49. Well, I get all of Arizona for now. As more fans claim turf, I'll probably have to share.

Jeff Bayer is "the tallest film critic in America," not that that really matters for radio. I've been accustomed to Eric's snarky humor, and Jeff brings his own. It's so much fun to listen to their banter. Their opinions line up most of the time, but they aren't afraid to butt heads if they disagree. Also, Jeff has the cutest little giggle when he gets really excited about something that a movie did right. Eric is an online critic, working for film.com and cinematical.com (and probably others). Jeff is a TV critic and has a segment on his local news segment (look for "Flicks on 6" to see a clip of him). He goes on more junkets than Eric (Eric has been on only one) and so gets to interview more of the celebrities. He also has a website.

I really enjoy how Jeff and Eric both balance each other out and enable the crazy of the other. I have subscribed to the show on itunes, but listen live whenever I can. I am a Facebook Fan, and I got a twitter account so I could follow Jeff, Eric, and the Show.

Check them out!