March of the Penguins (of METAL)

In an odd juxtaposition and/or a sign of my age, I was watching "The 100 Most Metal Moments" on VH1 the other day. It is a a clip show of old MTV footage mixed with fairly old metal heads (Why do I bet that Ronnie James Dio has an AARP card in his wallet?) and modern D-List celebrities talking about various tidbits of metal history and lore-Did you know that the lead guitarist for Black Sabbath lost the tips of two of his fingers in and industrial accident before joining the band? I didn't. He played the guitar with prosthetic finger nubs for finger tips. The show is one of those enjoyable time wasters that VH1 is really good at putting together (a la pop up videos or I love the 80's). But the thing that caught my eye was that a commercial for March of the Penguins . Sure it is one of the surprise "hits" (documentaries usually do almost no box office biz and in this in this summer of umpteen weeks of down Box Office, it has caught Hollywood’s eye by doing more that $20 mill so far) but I thought it was a funny item to advertise during a show highlighting the historical excesses of Metal.

But I was pleased to see the show mention, Heavy Metal Parking Lot . Looking back, this film is a cautionary tale for me, since I know people who were EXCACTLY like this and could have ended up like them. The school van I took to high school had people right out of this (and actually attended this show) and I have no doubt one or two of them are driving around town in a delivery truck, singing to radio whenever 'living after midnight' comes on and are really looking forward to lighting up a blunt when they get home after work.