www.LukeSki.com
the Official Website of "the great Luke Ski" and GNOME Productions
Recent Gnews
May 25th, 2004 - RICHARD BIGGS, 1960 ~ 2004
Actor and fellow MarsCon 2004 Guest of Honor Richard Biggs passed away recently.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/05/25/obit.biggs/index.html
I wasn't quite sure how to deal with this, so I decided to write about it on the following page:
Luke Ski's Tribute to Richard Biggs
In a nutshell, he was a great guy, and will be greatly missed at conventions across the country.
January 14th, 2004 - Luke Ski turns 30!!!
Yes, on this January 14th, 2004, I, Luke Ski, will turn 30. The best gift you can give me right now is to get lots of people you know to come to www.LukeSki.com and order my CDs "Carpe Dementia" and "Worst Album Ever" (see the Catalog page) or you could always check this out. If I'm very lucky I'll be able to relax and have some fun that day, and distract myself just enough to prevent a mid-life crisis.
BIG NEWS from Spring/Summer 2003 - Luke Ski song included in Cable TV Pilot!
"Spin The Bottle, Inc.", the folks behind VH-1's immensely popular "Pop-Up Videos" have produced a new TV pilot utilizing comedy music. Early in 2003, they put the word out to dozens of comedy-music artists across the country to submit original comedy songs to them on certain topics for use in this TV pilot, which would be a weekly show in which they produce funny music videos on current news & entertainment subjects. Out of about 100 submissions, my song "And The Winner Is...", an original rap song about Awards shows, was one of 4 songs that made it into the pilot. The other 3 songs were by Rob Paravonian, Rusty Magee, and Sharky Favorite. It was the paycheck from that song that funded the early release of "Worst Album Ever" (which is why they are thanked in the liner notes). The show is currently being shown to a handful of well-known cable TV networks that may be interested in it. So, lets cross our fingers and hope that one of them will bite and I'll end up producing music for them on a regular basis for use on the show. Because they bought the song from me, I can't include it on any future albums, however they have sent me a copy of the pilot, and it's really cool to see one of my songs in a video format.
September 6th, 2003 - Luke Ski bangs the Gong!
On Saturday, September 6th, I came out victorious at Sharko Bizarre's Gong Show
in Chicago! I performed "Stealing Like A Hobbit", which just barely
did NOT get gonged (unlike Tony Goldmark, who was very unjustly gonged), and
recieved scores of 6, 8, and 10 from the judges, for a total of 24 points,
beating out 2 mandolin players, and a guy who tied himself up and puked in a
bucket. My prize was a check for $2.17, a season pass for all WNEP Theater
shows, and a slot in the Gong Show Finals coming up in 8 months. Thanks to
Amanda Cohen and all my friends who showed up and cheered me on!
August 23rd, 2003 - LUKE SKI ON "SHOCKWAVE" RADIO
Host "Baron Dave", a.k.a. David E. Romm talked with Luke Ski about his new CD "Worst Album Ever", spinning some tunes, and plugging the heck out of MarsCon 2004 at which they will both be guests of honor! Shockwave can be heard online via a link at http://www.kfai.org, and can be heard on the radio locally in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, 3:30-4:00 p.m., Saturday, Fresh Air Radio, KFAI, 90.3 FM Minneapolis, 106.7 FM St. Paul.
August 10th, 2003
- LUKE SKI
INTERVIEWED BY "CRAZED FANBOY DOT COM"!!!
Wanna read it? Here it is! :)
http://www.crazedfanboy.com/spotlight/lukeski.html
Thanks to Mike Smith for interviewing me and plugging the new album!
June 6th, 2003 - LUKE SKI MEETS TRACE BEIULIEU, MST3K'S DR. FORRESTER!
Yes you collective heads-of-knuckle! It happened at DucKon 12 in Chicago! I actually got to perform my song "Mystery Science Theatre Picture Show" for him at the opening ceremonies! Here's an article and some pics: http://www.mst3kinfo.com/satnews/duckon/index.html
May 25th, 2003 - MARSDUST INTERVIEWS "LUKE SKI"!
On-line fanzine "MarsDust", which has done interviews with the likes of Henry Rollins, Rob Zombie, Bruce Campbell, and Ookla The Mok, has just posted their latest issue, featuring an interview with me, Luke Ski, done at MarCon 38 a few months ago. To check it out, go to: http://marsdust.com/lukeski.htm
May 4th, 2003 - "STEALING LIKE A HOBBIT" HITS #2!!! - "WANNABE A SLAYER"
STAKES #4!!!
Well it seems that a combination of
your regular requests and the positive feedback of the general public that has
pushed "Stealing Like A Hobbit", my new Eminem parody about
"Lord of the Rings" up to the #2 spot on Dr. Demento's Funny Five
countdown! Thanks again for continuing to support me and the new song.
Just a reminder, the song will not be released on CD until January 2004, and is
not available as an downloadable MP3 anywhere. So if you'd like to hear it
again, and if you'd like to help the song hit #1 in the weeks to come, please do
me a favor and REQUEST for the song to get played again! You can do so here: http://www.clamhead.com/drdrequest.html
You can also make a request by e-mailing drdemento@drdemento.com,
calling "the Odd Tune Hotline" at 1-562-ODD-TUNE, or sending a letter
to "the Dr. Demento Show", PO Box 884, Culver City, CA 90232. Be
sure to tell all your LOTR-fanboy friends about the song!
Also this week, as well as
"Stealing Like A Hobbit" hitting #2 on the Funny Five this week, on
the same countdown, my Buffy the Vampire Slayer tribute song "Wannabe A
Slayer" hit #4! Here's how it happened, as best I can tell.
Back on his March 30th show, Dr. Demento got a request to play something in
honor of the impending series finale of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", so
he chose to play "Wannabe A Slayer" to fulfill that request. For
those of you who don't watch Buffy, here's what's happening on the show right
now. The newest apocalypse-bringing bad guy is systematically killing off
all of the forces of good around the world that support the Slayer, including
any teenage girl that could potentially become a Slayer in the future. So,
all of these 'potential Slayers' have fled to SunnyDale to find Buffy for her
help and protection. So, now Buffy has a house full of about 2 dozen
'potential Slayers' who want to learn how to be a Slayer. So, the song I
wrote early last year is suddenly very accurate to what is happening on the show
right now. I mean, "If you wanna be a Slayer...", is kind of the
perfect anthem song for the show now, don't you think? Well I assume
that's what all the Buffy fans who hadn't heard the song before must have
thought, because they put in enough requests to put the song at #4 on this
week's Funny Five, just 2 places behind "Stealing Like A Hobbit".
Pretty cool, huh? So, while "Hobbit" is the song I'm currently
trying to gain support for as my new single for 2003, I have no problem with all
the Buffy fans out there also putting in their requests for "Slayer"
as well. :) Thanks again, and beware of orcs and bunnies.
May 4th, 2003 - "MISTER BAND" SUNG BY 'LUKE SKI' HEARD BY THOUSANDS OF CHEESEHEADS
This was one of the 'really big projects' that I mentioned back on April 15th. If any of you attended the UW Madison Varsity Band Spring Concert at the Kohl Center, you undoubetly heard me on the song "Mister Band" played during their opening video sequence. For those of you who weren't there, the film they made to introduce the band's director Mike Leckrone was a James Bond parody, specifically of Tom Jones' "Thunderball" (think "Spy Hard"). I co-wrote the lyrics and recorded the vocals with and under the direction of Bob Monschien. The 36,000 people who saw it during the three perfomances reportedly must have liked it, because they did not leave and go home upon hearing the song (that's my story and I'm sticking to it). If any of you reading this actually saw it, let me know what you thought of it. Bob lobbied with the director to allow me to perform "Y.O.D.A." during the concerts, but the Kohl center was deemed to echo-y for me to do a performance that could be understood by the audience (that's their story and they're sticking to it). In case you're wondering, "Mister Band" will not be released on my next album, but it may be a rarity available to Luke Ski Fan Club members. The good news is that in compensation for my help with this, Bob is going to assist me in my attempts to make a professional quality music video for one or more of my songs in the future.
January 2003 - Luke Ski also ruled on other shows and internet polls...
Out in the San Diego area, the "Oldies and Oddities" radio show hosted by Zeb Navarro had a Top 25 countdown of their own, in which "Who Let The Frog Out?" was #7 in 2002! Also, David Tanny of Dave's Fun Stuff Dot Com had his Demented Music Poll 2002 (a top 100), in which the following songs from "Uber Geek" were ranked: #100 "My Name Is Al Bundy", #74 "C'Mon Ride The Bus", #52 "Bender Roboto", #47 "Use The Force", #38 "Wannabe A Slayer", #33 "In The Line Again", #28 "Keanu Man", #21 "Who Let The Frog Out?", #18 "Fanboy", #16 "C'Mon Ride The Bus - Mass Transit Remix" (that track is NOT on 'Uber Geek', it is a www.LukeSki.com exclusive free MP3!), and finally at #3 "Peter Parker". So 11 percent of the Top 100 songs were by 'Luke Ski'! I'm very surprised that "It's A Fanboy Christmas" did not make the cut, unless the poll has a ban on holiday music. Thanks to all of you who went out and voted for me even without me incessantly e-mailing you every week asking you to do so!
Nov. 17th, 2002 - The New “Luke Ski Dot Com”…
Those of you who have been here before may have noticed that it is now completely different from the way it used to be. Well that is because I have decided to once again run the website myself rather than seek outside help. This is the only way to ensure that all the most updated information on me gets posted right away, rather than having things get delayed for weeks or even months at a time. I’ve added a lot of new features to the site, so please take a look through the menu bar and see what’s new. Any feedback you’re willing to give me on the new site would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for visiting, and I hope you enjoy all the funny stuff found here at www.LukeSki.com!
Oct 24th, 2002 - "TOYFARE MAGAZINE" PRINTS SOMETHING "LUKE SKI" & "WEIRD AL" RELATED!
This month's ToyFare Magazine (Issue #64, December 2002) has a half-page article which is a guide to getting autographs on your action figures (page 75). Right smack in the middle of it is a picture of a Star Wars: Episode I "Yoda" action figure, which is autographed by "Weird Al" Yankovic. I sent them this figure as a gift when I sent them a picture of me with Al holding up an issue of ToyFare, that they printed back in Issue #39 (Nov 2000). They don't mention my name, but they do have Yoda saying, "Play "Eat It"!".
Oct 24th, 2002 - THE POST OFFICE SUCKS
Today I went to get mail from the GNOME Productions PO Box, only to find they are now renting it to SOMEBODY ELSE. Ever since Steph and I moved to the other side of Madison, driving back over there just to check my mail became less and less frequent. So, since they hadn't seen me around in the past month, they closed it and gave it to someone else. So, the 1000 "Uber Geek" CDs and all my business cards now have an address printed on them that is no longer valid. I filled out the change of address forms so that hopefully things will get forwarded to me, but for future reference do not send anything to the "PO Box 259172" anymore. If you really need to send me something via snail mail, I can e-mail an address for you to send it to.
Sept. 12th, 2002 - THELMA "PENNY" PEARSON - FEB. 23RD, 1908 ~ SEPT. 12TH, 2002
Some of you have met my grandmother, whom I have referred to as "Nanny" since I first learned how to talk. Well, unfortunately, she passed away early this morning at my mother's house in Lake Geneva, WI.. She was 94 years old, and lived a good year or so longer than the Doctors predicted, due to her energetic personality and sheer stubbornness. Some of the best memories of my life revolve around her. I spent many Friday nights over at her house eating Tombstone Pepperoni Pizza, watching "Webster" and "Diff'rent Strokes", and she played a mean game of Scrabble in her day. Any family gathering was never officially under way until she declared it to be "Party Time!", as those of you at my wedding reception should very well remember. I could go on about her for quite a while, but this really isn't the place for it. I just wanted to let you all know about her passing, so that those of you who were lucky enough to have met her can stop and take a moment to think about how she made you smile, even if it was just for one moment. She will be greatly missed, and greatly loved forever.
June 13th, 2002 - IDENTIFY “SUSPENDER GIRL”!!!
An more important thing about "Uber Geek" that I have to mention. Look at the cover photo of the album. Just below the "DORK CON XIII" sign you see a girl wearing a white t-shirt with suspenders, glasses, and a hat. Who is she? Here is another picture of her: SUSPENDER GIRL. If anyone who was in attendance at "Dementia: 2001"can identify this girl and give me her name and address, I will reward that person by sending them a box of Mrs. Grass' Chicken Noodle Soup with a bag of Mama's Brand Oyster Crackers. Just e-mail me at LukeSki@Juno.com with the subject line "SUSPENDER GIRL". Thanks. :)
www.LukeSki.com is maintained and © 1998 - 2003 by Luke Sienkowski
