August 30, 2024

 Howdy folks. Well, what did you think of the Harris interview? I won't go on a tirade, so don't worry, and I know that nothing I say will change your unwavering support for her, but I mean....c'mon. Even you guys have to admit that she didn't do very well. Just on body laguage alone, she didn't look confident. She sat slumped, and it showed compared to Walz, who sat next to her much taller, straight backed, shoulders squared. She also kept her eyes down as she spoke, only looking up at Dana Bash toward the end of each question. Guys, this lady just isn't presidential. I don't think she even wants the job, to be honest. There was nervous tension in her voice. Compare her to Hillary Clinton, who can talk policy like an encyclopedia on any subject, with total confidence. I know you guys don't like Hillary because it's not cool to like the Clintons, but I mean, c'mon.......Kamala Harris? She couldn't even get past Dana Bash. I'm not saying she crashed and burned, but she sure looked burnt out. She looked and sounded nervous and scared.  And then there's the lying and flip-flopping, and the worst economy of our lifetimes. I know you're gonna vote for her anyway, so good luck. You're probably gonna win. That's the power of the media. Well anyhow...

Question: do you think Walz could be a CIA agent? I'm serious. I mean, what's with the 30 trips to China? Not 5, or even 10...Thirty. He first went in 1989 (love that year) when he was 25 years old, and he even married his wife on June 4 (the anniversary of Tiannamen Square) so it would be "a memorable date" (his words). Thirty trips to China. Who even goes, say, to Paris thirty times? Who can afford to? But China? I think he's full-on CIA, playing The Big Dumb White Guy, and he's acting as a handler for Harris (who even the top Dems know can't be trusted to speak on her own). This is a guy who "let" Minneapolis burn down. Could there have been a backwards strategy to that? If you are shaking your head, thinking "how ridiculous", then you don't know Ten Level Chess. That's what the CIA plays. 

I don't have any concerts to report this week, though I might be going to see KK's Priest at the Rainbow Bar and Grill's Backyard Bash on Sunday. I say "might be", because - though the show is ostensibly "free" (you have to purchase a two-drink minimum wristband) - there's still a good chance it will be a fiasco. The tickets say "admission is not guaranteed". This is because it will be a first come/first serve deal, meaning that fans will have to wait in a long line, and when the Rainbow's parking lot is full, that line will be halted unless people inside leave. So, to see KK's Priest, you'd have to theoretically get there by 1pm, to get a good place in line (i.e. to guarantee your admission to the event), and then you'd have to stand there all day, in the midst of a jam-packed crowd of sweaty Nikki Sixx lookalikes, getting your ears blasted by the four or five opening Hair Metal bands, until KK comes on at approximately 8 pm. That's seven hours of standing in a hot parking lot, and it's gonna be 95 degrees. Oh, and you'd also have to stand there through Accept, who come on just before KK. Balls to the wall, anyone? Maybe not. The only other option is to get there at 7 or 7:30, hoping it's not packed to capacity, because if it is you won't get in.

I'd love to see KK Downing, who I last saw with Judas Priest in 2011, but I'm not sure it's worth it to chance driving down there, arriving just before he comes on, only to be turned away because the Rainbow parking lot is already full. There's no way I'm gonna arrive at 1pm and stand there til 8. Now, he's also playing at The Whisky the night before (Saturday August 31), but tickets are 70 bucks. I won't pay that much for a club show, sorry. The catch-22, for me, is that I told Grimsley I would drive to see KK, since he drove us to Jon Anderson and Sammy Hagar. So if  he wants to go, I'll keep my promise, but only under the above-stated terms. I'll agree to drive us down there in the evening on the slim chance we'll get in. I'm sorta hoping he won't want to go...

I watched "Lost Highway" for the 3rd or 4th time (maybe 5th, I've lost count), and I finally gave up on trying to decipher it. In some ways, it's David Lynch's most enticing film because it does tease a storyline, right up to the point of the jailhouse switcheroo. Before that, you have a fairly straightforward plot for a Lynch film: Jazz sax player Bill Pullman lives in Lynch's concrete mansion with his sultry girlfriend Patricia Arquette. As the movie opens, he gets a message, through his security intercom, that "Dick Laurant" is dead. This will turn out to be a red herring, because there is no Dick Laurant in the movie. It's Lynch trolling us again, with an incident from his life (google it). The couple then receive ominous videotapes left on their doorstep, filmed inside their house by an intruder, in which more is revealed each time. Finally, Arquette is shown in a porno movie. The next thing we know, Pullman is facing the electric chair for her murder.

But then one day he's replaced in his cell by Balthazar Getty, an auto mechanic who is screwing the girlfriend of a Hollywood mobster by the name of Mr. Eddy. And the girlfriend is Patricia Arquette.

The best role in the movie is Robert Blake as the devil. You'll remember the creepy scene where he introduces himself to Bill Pullman at a party. Too much time is spent on the porno aspect, and there is one scene thrown in for commentary on L.A. tailgaiting, a typical Lynchian mix of violence and comedy.

But even though he spends way too much time on the movie's second half and the relentless gauzy porno shots, it's still one of DL's most hypnotic movies, and the first few times you see it, you'll be compelled to make sense of the plot. You'll swear there's a mystery to be solved...but it will turn out, after several more viewings, that you are only half-correct. There's a mystery, all right, but there's nothing to be solved, because the meaning of the mystery is up to you. Lynch has said in interviews that it represents a dream. It's super cool that he used his own house as a main location. The photography and acting are top notch. Even Gary Busey gets a turn. It's a great film; it just doesn't mean anything. 

Question: Do you guys remember the Superball, by Whammo? They were the company that made the classic Frisbee, and in 1965, they also had a handball-sized black rubber ball called the Superball, and you could literally bounce it over the roof of your house so it would land in your backyard. I had a Superball when I was six, and not only did I bounce it over our roof, but I took it inside to the hallway that connected our living room to the bedrooms, and I threw it as hard as I could against one wall, horizontally, so that it would rebound quickly and with force against the opposite wall, and because hallways are narrow, this created a "drumming" effect between the two walls. The Superball had so much power that it went whambambambambambambam between the two walls of the hallway before finally dropping to the floor. A variation on this was to close the hallway door and do it with the lights out in pitch darkness. You had to be careful that the Superball didn't bounce back and hit you. Kids had a blast with the Superball, but then a year or two later, Whammo diluted the formula, and Superballs thereafter were less powerful. Maybe too many parents complained of broken windums or holes in the hallway walls. I imagine there might also have been kids with missing or broken teeth from bouncing a Superball that came up and hit them in the mouth. It was made of Vulcanized rubber, and had a special, compressed core. I was reminded of the Superball when thinking of another awesome toy from the early 1960s. Remember those plastic rockets that you filled with water and pumped full of air to cause pressure, then you launched them - like the Superball - over the roof of your house and into your backyard? Man, we had the coolest toys back then... 

Finally, you might remember that at the end of the last blog I mentioned 2009. That's your cue to ask: "Now, what could've happened that year, Ad?" Are you skeptical? I mean, after all, it was 20 years removed from 1989. Well, you may recall that I was housesitting in 2009, at a home in Reseda. And it has recently been brought to my attention that Something Happened to Me in That House, something bizarre and terrifying. I've always known about the terrifying part, but the Bizarre Part has been new to me. That's your cue to ask, "How could it be new, Ad? Is this another case where you didn't remember something?"

Yeppers.

Folks, I got Hyp! no-Tized! in that house. I could tell you what happened to me after I was hypnotized, and I could even reveal who hypnotized me, but you'll have to wait for my next book. This is a true story, 100% fact, I even have witnesses, and if they would cooperate I could prove it. 15 years have passed, so the person responsible would not likely go to prison, but they should have because he or she didn't merely hypnotise me but did it against my will, after drugging me first, and then he or she proceeded to do "other things" to me, figuring that I'd never remember it due to the Roofie they slipped me and to post-hypnotic suggestion. 

Good grief, Charlie Brown. I'm beginning to wonder if I've just been a punching bag or a toy for other people all my life. It's for certain that I'm susceptible to hypnosis, and that certain people have known that. But I'm still glad I'm me and not those other people, because bad stuff is coming for bad people. Not from me, of course, but from God. God is gonna get 'em. You wouldn't want to be one of them, trust me. And you definitely wouldn't want to be one of the bad guys from 1989.

Peace and love to everyone else, though. Stay tuned.

August 23, 2024

 Howdy folks. Well, did you watch RFK's speech? He knocked The Truth out of the freakin' park, and I pray that it will generate enough coverage (or at least online discussion) to derail the momentum of Kamala Harris, whose speech last night was vapid and phony in comparison. The whole DNC was a joke, and I especially enjoyed the mega-rich and sanctimonious Michelle Obama lecturing America about "taking more than you need." Meanwhile, she and Barack own four multi-million dollar mansions and she charges 750K per appearance. Man, these people are awful, and Harris is in love with herself. Go Trump. If nothing else, at least he isn't phony, no matter how big an a-hole he's been in the past. And Robert F. Kennedy Jr. comes from the most distinguished family in modern American politics. As wealthy and controlling as they have become, the Obamas couldn't carry the Kennedys' jockstraps. Does anyone remember John F Kennedy? If you do, and if you think Kamala Harris is a viable candidate for the most powerful office in the world, then shame on you. You have lost your way.    

And that's enough of politics. Every time I get depressed by the possibility of a Harris presidency, I watch the Greta Thunberg "How Dare You!" clip. It always cheers me up, lol.

I'll tell ya what cheers me up: rock and roll, and last Monday (August 19), Grim and I went to The Forum in Inglewood to see Sammy Hagar's Van Halen Tribute, which is billed as the Best of All Worlds Tour. Grim once again drove. We left at 5:30pm and took the 405 south, encountering the usual rush hour traffic when we hit Culver City. Still, we were parked just off Manchester (on Spruce Street) by 6:30. Free parking once again. I confess that I was hoping to see Loverboy, the opening act who were coming on at 7, because I like three of their songs, but our tickets were on Grim's phone (I only have a flip phone) and he didn't want to see them. If I had been the "me" of my 20s, I wouldn't have wanted to see Loverboy, either. In fact, I'd have cringed at the prospect because I hated them back then. My 25-year-old self would've chewed my 64-year-old self out: "Loverboy?! What are you thinking?!" Why did I want to see them now? Because I am nostalgic for the 1980s. Man, what a great decade. 

Grim bought a White Claw from a parking lot salesman, and then found an unopened can of same in a trash can, which he gave to me. We drank and talked to two long-time VH fans before going inside. Our seats were in the loge, halfway back, top row. Not bad at all.

We love to talk about Time here at the blog, how elastic it is, and non-linear. How it seems to move fast and slow simultaneously. Another thing time can do is change your perceptions and/or soften your opinions. I used to "hate" Loverboy, and now I can admit I like three of their songs. Ditto Journey (and a few other bands). And I notoriously "hated" the Van Hagar version of Van Halen for a long time, because it seemed like "jock rock" to me back then. I loved Sammy Hagar when he was in Montrose, but when he went solo and became The Red Rocker....well, he started to suck, and by the time "I Can't Drive 55" came out, he was in the same league as Ted Nugent (another guy who started out good and became a cartoon). Also, regarding Van Halen, I was loyal to David Lee Roth (who eventually became a bigger cartoon than Sammy). Mostly, though, I just thought that the VH sound had gone soft when Hagar joined. Of course, I was only hearing the songs that were being played on the radio, hits like "Dreams" and "Love Walks In". My late-20s self thought: "This ain't real Van Halen! Every song sounds like 'Jump.' "

But - long story short - as the Van Halen saga dragged on through the years, and I continued to hear the Sammy songs on the radio, I started to appreciate the melodies, Ed's guitar work, and yes, even Sammy's vocals. "Dreams" is now one of my favorite Van Hagar songs. Ditto "Love Walks In". And the heavier stuff like "Poundcake" and "The Seventh Seal" is straight-up killer. To sum up, while the original DLR version of Van Halen will always be my favorite (and one of my favorite bands, period), I have come to like the Van Hagar version also, because - truthfully - they made a lot of great music with Sammy. Great enough that when he announced this tour, I knew I had to go, especially with Michael Anthony on bass. I realized I hadn't seen him since 1984, on the VH tour for the "1984" album, the last time the original band was intact. I hadn't seen Michael Anthony in 40 years, so yeah, I knew I had to be there.

But I didn't expect the concert to be as great it was, so loud and hard-rocking. I mean, it was flat-out awesome, like an arena show from the 1980s. The band was on fire: Joe Satriani did an admirable job of playing Eddie's songs, with an approximation of the EVH tone, in a general version of Ed's style, but without trying to copy him, which no one can do. Instead, Joe played Ed through his own filter. I thought he nailed it (and of course, he's Joe Freakin' Satriani). Michael Anthony was his rock-solid self. He looked great for 70, he sang lead on "Aint Talkin' Bout Love", and even broke out his famous Jack Daniels bass. He was locked into the pocket with drummer Jason Bonham, who drove the whole thing like an 18 wheel semi. The sound was monstrous, like a harmonious buzzsaw. I don't know where Sammy gets his energy, but it's amazing for a man who will be 77 in a month. It must be his Cabo lifestyle and the Mas Tequila. He drank onstage, and even passed out cups of the golden nectar to fans in the front row. There wasn't an empty seat in the arena, and the crowd stood for most of the show, which lasted 2 hours 10 minutes. One thing I noticed: there were no loud conversations among fans, at least in my vicinity. As any concertgoer knows, this is an obnoxious modern occurance at many (if not most) shows nowdays: loud fans talking over the music. Maybe it was too loud for people to talk, or maybe the VH fans are too devoted. Whatever the reason, it was a welcome respite. The fans were 100% focused on the show. Sammy remarked how great it was to play indoors, noting that most of the dates on this tour were at outdoor amphitheaters.

I really hope they extend the tour and do a second leg. For now, check out some of the Youtube videos from the various tour stops, and read the reviews from fans. And if they play again, do not miss 'em.

I have a Montgomery Clift movie for you: "Wild River"(1960), in which Monty plays an official from the Tennessee Valley Authority who is tasked with moving an old woman off of her ancestral farm before it is sunk underwater by a new hydroelectric dam. The movie begins with an actual newsreel clip from 1933 that shows the Tennessee River raging during a flood. Homes are swept away, and a distraught man speaks on camera of how he lost several family members to the river. We then cut to the opening scene, by which time FDR has created the TVA, which will serve not only to dam up and control the river and its tributaries, but will bring electricity to impoverished people living along its banks in several states. If I am not mistaken, the TVA was one of the largest public works projects in US history. It was of course part of The New Deal, but not everyone liked it. This is evidenced in an early scene when Monty meets Jo Van Fleet, the elderly matriarch of the Garth farm, which is located on a small island in the middle of the river. She does not see electricity as progress and lives by the laws of nature. She employs a group of Negro workers, who - by her words and tone of voice - she treats like chattel, and yet it is clear she loves them and they her, especially her assistant Sam, who stands by her to the bitter end. She has "taken care" of the Negroes for all these years. Sam loves her and vice versa. What they share is a sense of family and a love of home. That's what this movie is about, the question of "What is progress, and how does it affect that which existed before it?" How does "progress" (i.e radical change) affect people who were happy with the status quo?

In this case, there is the disastrous, killing river, that requires damming up to protect the lives and livelihoods of its habitants. Heck, the Army Corps of Engineers drained the much smaller Los Angeles River in 1938 for that same reason, because of flooding in the San Fernando Valley. So you can see the government's reasoning from a safety standpoint alone. But "Mrs. Garth" (Van Fleet) is from another time, post-Civil War, before telephones and electricty in houses. We even see Monty flying over in a small plane. It is very easy to forget (or not even know) that modern technology did not exist as recently as 175 years ago, and just 100 years ago, only half the homes in the US had electricity. Monty's task is unenviable, kicking this poor old, stubborn soul off the only home she has ever known, on what she considers God's land, not the government's.  

Jo Van Fleet may not be a familiar name to most movie fans, but she was a phenomenal actress who turned in two of the greatest performances you will ever see: in addition to her heartbreaking but dignified role as "Mrs. Garth", she also played James Dean's slatternly, abused mother in "East of Eden". Watch them both and be in awe. Lee Remick, also somewhat forgotten, was a great actress who plays the widowed granddaughter of "Mrs. Garth". Desperate for escape from what she considers a stunted life, she falls in love with Monty and begs him to take her back to the city, any city, wherever he comes from, it doesn't matter. Remick should've gotten an Oscar for her performance. It becomes her movie in the middle third. Monty faces opposition not only from Mrs. Garth but from the white businessmen and local bosses who've relied on cheap Negro labor.

This is a tremendous film. Martin Scorsese called it Elia Kazan's greatest work, which is saying something whem you consider his filmography, which includes "On the Waterfront", the aforementioned "East of Eden" and "A Streetcar Named Desire", among others. If you read the IMDB reviews and ratings, you will see that the fans agree. Many give it an 8/10 or higher. Monty is great as always. Has there ever been an actor who made so few films, yet all of them are different from one another, and all are classic? And has there ever been an actor whose life was as tragic as his career was triumphant? All of this is why Montgomery Clift rules. The guy can do no wrong, because he was for real, and it comes across onscreen. He was Method Acting and playing himself all at once. The last shot of this film will blow you away. I give it a 10/10. 

And that is more or less all for today. I'm still being distracted by the political situation (please God, let it be over) but I've been back to work on finishing my second book, which has astonishing new developments. You've heard me talk about 1989 for many years, but how about 2009? Are you ready for that?

Stay tuned.

August 17, 2024

 Howdy folks. Sorry for the delay in posting, it's been a busy week, but let's get caught up, starting with last night's Jon Anderson concert, which Grimsley and I attended at the Fred Kavli Theater in Thousand Oaks. T.O. doesn't usually spring to mind when one thinks of rock shows, but the Kavli is a very nice, intimate venue, similar inside to a classical concert hall with stacked balconies and side boxes, and the sound and sightlines are excellent. I also love Thousand Oaks, a beautiful town with a laid-back, clean and quiet vibe that reminds you of the Valley in the 1970s. It's not unlike Santa Clarita in that respect, and it's a piece of cake to get to. Grim drove. We took the 118 to the 23 with zero traffic on a Friday evening, imagine that. Free street parking at Thousand Oaks Boulevard and Cunningham Road, with a half-mile walk to the theater.

"Okay, Ad, but how was the show?" Since you dare to ask, I will answer. It was so far off the charts that it's unreviewable. You kind of had to be there. First of all, Jon Anderson will be 80 in two months. That, in itself, is astonishing, because he's lost nothing vocally, except maybe 5% of his lung power, but he's still got the other 95% and he remains note-perfect. Then there was his backing group. Have you ever heard of The Band Geeks? I hadn't either, nor likely had anyone else until this tour was announced. They  are an amalgamation of high-level musicians led by bass player Ritchie Castellano, who plays full-time for Blue Oyster Cult. He can duplicate Chris Squire's parts, and that goes for everyone in the group on their respective instruments. Most impressive was guitarist Andy Graziano's replication of Steve Howe. Howe is such an ideosyncratic player; I never thought anyone could play his licks but this guy did it effortlessly, and that goes for the whole band. It was like Yes on steroids. They played from 8:10 to 10:52 with a 22 minute intermission, so it was 2 hours and 20 minutes of music. They opened with "Yours Is No Disgrace", closed with "Roundabout". You can go to setlist.com to check the rest. The whole thing was outstanding, it was like seeing Yes in 1973 if they were The Band Geeks and Jon was 80, with an awesome light show of the current stripped-down, AI variety. The audience were all between 60 and 80, except for a few 8 to10 year olds with their grandparents. Lucky kids. 

Grim and I were initially going to go to see Alice Cooper on this night (August 16). We had tickets, which included free passes to the Orange County Fair. But then, about two months ago, I started seeing Facebook reviews for this Jon Anderson tour, describing the power of The Band Geeks. Though I've been to over 800 concerts, I never saw the classic Yes lineup (how the hell did I screw that up?), but I was fortunate enough to catch Jon with ARW (Anderson, Rabin and Wakeman) twice, in 2016 and 2018, so I knew he could still deliver the goods, but I wasn't as revved about seeing him without Rabin and Wakeman, and when I first heard that his band was called The Band Geeks...well, that didn't help. But then, after reading all these rave reviews, I found a concert video on Youtube. "Holy smokes!" I called Grim. "Man, I hate to say it, but Jon Anderson is playing the same night as Alice Cooper. They're playing all Yes material and his band is incredible. It's gonna kill me to miss this show." Grim said, "Let's sell the Alice Cooper tickets. The drive to Costa Mesa on a Friday night would be hellish, anyway." He was right. Costa Mesa (where Alice was playing), is 65 miles down the 405, which is slow at any given time but becomes a parking lot on weekend nights. In 2008, it took me almost three hours to get there for a Hilary Hahn concert at the Segerstrom Theater, so I wasn't looking forward to the drive, either. Long story short, I sold our Alice tickets on Stubhub, and we bought Jon Anderson tix instead. We hated to miss Alice Cooper, but he tours every year. We'll catch him in 2025, hopefully at a closer venue. And, we made the right choice with Jon Anderson and The Band Geeks. The next time they tour, absolutely do not miss them.

Let's see, what else have we got? No Montgomery Clift, but I did watch "Carousel", one of the great Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals. It's also one of my favorite movies. Shirley Jones is so beautiful and wholesome in her role as "Julie", a factory girl in a New England mill town who loses her job when she falls for carnival barker "Billy Bigelow", played by the great Gordon McRea. He soon gets fired also (by his jealous boss "Mrs. Mullin") and the two hastily marry. Julie gets pregnant, but Billy is put upon by her relatives for having no way to support his young wife and child. Ashamed of himself and desperate, he takes an offer from hoodlum "Jigger Craigin" (Cameron Mitchell), to rob mill owner "Mr. Bascombe" (John Dehner), but things go awry and the plot turns. "Carousel" features the classic showtunes "If I Loved You" (which you'll recognize), "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" and "You'll Never Walk Alone". Gordon McRea and Shirley Jones also starred in Rogers and Hammerstein's "Oklahoma", one of the greatest musicals ever made. Both films are highly recommended.  

I listened to part of Trump's interview on X (formerly Twitter) with Elon Musk, something I never could've imagined myself doing one month ago, but that was before George Clooney unleashed the communist coup that brought us Queen Kamala, the most dangerous politician in American history, not to mention the worst. Now, every day I am on the Trump Train, though I won't pull the voting lever for him (if I was in a swing state, I would). I watch Megyn Kelly and Fox News, along with Sky News in Australia, anything to get an anti-Harris viewpoint. I check realclearpolling.com every day, usually more than once. It's driving me to distraction. Fortunately right now, even with the free ride given to Harris by the media and her "joy" (i.e. policy-free) offensive winning over eager Dems, Trump is still ahead in the current Electoral College assessment. Let us pray he wins. If he doesn't, we won't have a country. I said to Grim, "Imagine me, the guy who was scientifically verified as the #1 Anti-Trumper of all time, rooting for Trump to win. How is that even possible?" Grim thought about it but I answered for him: "What would it take for me, of all people, to actually root for Donald Trump? He'd have to be running against somebody who was even worse. I didn't think that was possible, but it's happened." 

Last Sunday (August 11) I went wih my sister Vickie to the Ahmanson Theater at the Music Center to see a matinee performance of "Clue", which was based on the 1985 movie. It was a total blast, completely madcap with a great, Disney-ish stage set and lighting effects all remeniscent of The Haunted Mansion. The acting was farcical and almost cartoonish in places, with a lead who reminded me of Jim Carrey. Great stuff and not an empty seat in the house. Vickie picked me up at Whole Foods by the Ventura Boulevard/101 Freeway exit. I took the 240 bus down there (one bus the whole way) because my car is leaking coolant (gotta get it repaired, Ad, don't dawdle.) All in all, a great trip downtown, we even got free street parking because it was Sunday. It was my first time at a play since "The Exorcist" at the Geffen Theater in 2012, an awesome show that starred Richard Chamberlain and Brooke Shields. 

That's about all I've got this time. Not much music this week, because I'm so nervous about the election, as I'm sure you are the other way around. I've gotta get my mojo back. I mean, I was worried we wouldn't survive Trump after the 2016 election, but we did and now I'm rooting for him because I don't believe we'll survive Harris. Hey Washington? Can we please have our normal, moderate politicians back? Where are the Clintons and Bushes of today? ("Stay! Out! Da Bushes!" - Jesse Jackson). Anyhow, it will be interesting to see how the Dems deal with the mass of anti-Israel protesters that are sure to be at their convention in Chicago, not to mention all the various Wokester groups. Good luck with all that, Kamala. Maybe you can sic Nancy Pelosi on 'em. Me, I'll be at Sammy Hagar's Best of Both Worlds concert on Monday night at the Forum. That's the Red Rocker's tribute to Van Halen. It'll be my first time seeing original VH bassist Michael Anthony since the "1984" tour, forty years ago. I'll review it in the next blog, and I'll have a Monty movie for you. Stay tuned.

August 9, 2024

 Hey everyone. Did you happen to see the live feed from Ritchie Blackmore and Candice Night last night on Instagram? It was really cool. I think this is the second one they've done (the first was a few months ago), they call it "Tales From the Tavern", and it's Ritchie's way of talking about his life and answering questions from fans. It takes place at The Owl and the Pussycat Bar, which is located in their Long Island house. Ritchie talked for over an hour about all kinds of things, mostly musical, but he also mentioned his aversion to touring due to age (he's 79) and some health conditions I wasn't aware of. He claims to have six stents in his heart (he says, "I collect them") and he also said he had a heart attack last year. Now, Ritchie is known for his dry wit, and he says everything with a straight face, but this is the second time I've heard him mention the stents, and - most importantly - his wife Candice didn't correct him or tell him to stop joking around about such a serious subject, which you think she would do if he was indeed joking, if only to prevent unsettling the fans. I Googled "Ritchie Blackmore + heart attack" and found nothing, but of course health matters can be kept secret. Anyhow, he looks good for almost 80 (with his everpresent glass of beer at hand) and heart attack or not, we should all say a prayer for his continued good health. Ditto for David Lynch, who has just revealed he has emphysema. Two of my very favorite people, may God keep them around for a long while, and while we're at it, let's add Joni Mitchell, too. I've been listening to her albums this week ("Blue" and "Hejira"), and she is (of course) a treasure.

Anyway, make sure and watch "Tales From the Tavern" with Ritchie. It's on his Instagram page. You'll see the still shots with his picture in them. The feed is in three parts.

I don't have a Montgomery Clift movie for you, but I did go to see "Trap" with my sister Vickie at the AMC Northridge. I won't tell you anything about it but it's pure Shyamalan. The reviews are love it/hate it, just like they were for "Longlegs", but I loved 'em both (though for different reasons) so pay no attention to the haters. It's definitely one of his better pictures, a return to form. One thing about "Trap" is that it looks great. Shyamalan is like Spielberg in that respect. If nothing else, he can make a picture visually exciting. Okay, that's it. No spoilers, no hints. Just go see "Trap" and go with the flow. Give in to your inner M. Night.

I've also been watching "Sybil", the 1976 TV movie taken from the bestseller of the same name about a young woman with thirteen different personalities. This was the movie that put Sally Field on the map of serious actresses, even before "Norma Rae", and she is just incredible throughout, along with the late Brad Davis and Joanne Woodward. I remember watching "Sybil" on TV when I was still in high school. It was presented as a mini-series, and the subject matter was strong enough (at the time) to be shocking, and it remains so today. One caveat: there are scenes of child abuse that are awful. I was most interested in Sybil's hypnosis sessions, with psychiatrist Woodward, that enable her to recall her past. Woodward breaks through the memory blocks that are preventing Sybil from becoming whole. The ending is pretty horrendous, but cathartic as well. If you've never seen "Sybil", give it a look, though as noted, it's rough going in places.

Now, in a total change-up, I am going to recommend a documentary to you, and you aren't going to like it. I want you to go to Youtube and watch "The Fall of Minneapolis". It's about the George Floyd case and it actually came out in November 2023 so you may have already heard about it and avoided it because it doesn't fit your political narrative. Me, I have the advantage of not being on the Blue or Red teams, so I can watch anything I want to watch, and I found out about this startling documentary when I was researching the background of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who I initially liked when he became the pick for Veep, because he's from Mankato, home of Pearl the Wonder Girl. Gee, what a coinkydink, right? Anyhow, I liked him at first, but then I watched this documentary, which I now ask you to watch with an unbiased eye. Something sinister is going on, and the evidence is going to shock you. Just watch it. And then tell me what you think about a ticket of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. I've been watching Fox News to get some perspective, in addition to Sky News in Australia. And I like JD Vance, who - if you give him a chance - you'll have to admit he's sharp as a tack.

 More music: This week, besides my daily dose of Big Big Train, I've also listened to the first three albums by Gryphon. Remember them? You might if you Google their logo or the album covers from their debut, "Midnight Mushrumps", and "Red Queen to Gryphon Three". As a teen in the College Records days, I had all three on vinyl. A fan on Youtube described them as a combination of Gentle Giant and Jethro Tull, which is not innaccurate. They sound like they stepped right out of medieval England. Another fan called them Hobbit Rock. They opened for ELP on the Brain Salad Surgery tour and thus played American arenas, though I didn't see 'em. Anyhow, definitely worth a listen for progressive rock fans. 

That's about all I've got for tonight. I'm reading "The Black Carousel" by Charles L. Grant, the master of "quiet horror." Every night at CSUN, I've been doing a Bunny Walk, where, before departing, I try to guess the number of bunnies I will see on campus (usually between 2 and 7). Years ago, there were only squirrels and of course squirrels are ubiquitous wherever you go. But in recent years, we've had raccoons, feral cats (like Einstein), possums, and now even bunnies, who come out at night and sit on the lawns. Seeing them gave me the idea to invent a game, informally known as The Bunny Game, and because it was no fun just to play by myself, I added two other players, real people who may or may not know they are playing, depending on how psychic they are. Most importantly, both like counting bunnies, so much so that I am in last place at the moment. We're playing up to 10. Whoever wins ten games first wins the contest. The next game starts in about 90 minutes...(stay tuned).

August 3, 2024

 Howdy folks. I hope your weekend is off to a good start. Me, I have got to get a better workspace. Living in a Tiny Apartment as I do, I spend much of my time writing not at a desk or table (which would be nice), but sitting in an old Ikea rocking chair that I've had for about twenty years. I write with laptop in lap, which isn't so bad, but leaning slightly backward in the chair becomes uncomfortable after a while. I wrote all of "Pearl the Wonder Girl" in this chair (which I am sitting in now), and 80% of my first book (which will be released next Spring). So it's a chair that produces results, you might say, but I'm getting sick of sitting in it. I just plain need more space, not only to write but to have easy access to other materials, like old letters and journals and such that can be used for research purposes.

And boy oh boy did my first book ever get a curveball thrown at it, and just when I thought it was finished, too. Now I've gotta go back and reconfigure it. Holy Smokes, folks. Who saw this development coming? Not me, that's for sure. Well anyhow, what've we got to talk about? (It's gonna take every bit of self-control I can muster not to talk about the election. I didn't think anyone could ever come up with a worse candidate than Donald Trump, but they've done it...)

Well anyhow! (ahem, clearing throat...) Do you guys ever watch Toyah and Robert's Upbeat Moments on FB? I'm talking about Robert and Toyah Fripp of Sunday Lunch fame. Oh yeah, he was in some band called King Crimson, too. But now, besides their wildly popular Sunday Lunch, they post a short clip from their home (on the Thames) in England, dedicated to their Upbeat Moments of the Week. They're doing their part to keep folks jolly in precarious times, and if you haven't yet seen their Upbeat Moments, just enter it into the FB search window. It's a great way to start your Saturday.

I have a Montgomery Clift movie for you: "Suddenly, Last Summer"(1959) in which Monty stars as a brain surgeon specialising in lobotomies. Liz Taylor plays "Catherine", a  young New Orleans woman gaslighted and institutionalised by her wealthy aunt (Katherine Hepburn) for "telling fantasy stories" about Hepburn's recently deceased son, "Sebastian". The movie is very talky and was adapted by Gore Vidal from a play by Tennesee Williams, so it's loaded with poetic dialogue. You kind of have to wade through it in the early going, in a lengthy scene bewteen Hepburn and Monty. It's clear she has some problems, and when she talks about the death of her precious Sebastian, which happened "suddenly last summer" in a Spanish village, Monty starts to wonder what she's hiding. She's called him to her gothic mansion, which has a primeval jungle out back, to ask him to perform a lobotomy on her niece Catherine, who is locked up and diagnosed insane for opening the family's skeleton closet. 

Monty can tell that Hepburn is obsessed with her dead son, and it becomes clear that the family is trying to silence Catherine. Monty's boss (Albert Dekker), the head of the cash-poor state hospital, wants Monty to go ahead with the lobotomy asap, because Hepburn has promised a one million dollar donation if they perform the operation in twenty four hours "to relieve Catherine's pain". Meanwhile, poor Catherine tries to escape and becomes trapped in a room full of nutcases, similar to a scene from "The Snake Pit."

Monty is the level-headed one here, surrounded by people with agendas. I was riveted, because I was gaslighted and called "delusional" and "crazy" in the late-1990s when my memory began to come back and I started "telling stories" that certain people did not want to hear (I don't mean you, Lilly). Thankfully I was never lobotomised, but I had my brain altered and my memory taken away (or blocked) by an unconscionable medical procedure, so I could seriously relate to Catherine's predicament in this movie. People are fucking nuts, but it's the truth teller who pays the price. Go figure.

Toward the end, Monty hypnotizes Catherine, and the truth comes out about Sebastian's death in a highly symbolic, taboo-breaking scene. Tennessee Williams' sister Rose was lobotomised, so he was emotionally invested in this cruel practice. For the record, I just checked, and the last lobotomy in America was performed in 1967, or so they say. Anyhow, this is the third Monty and Liz Taylor film. We've seen them together in "A Place in the Sun" and I hope we can find a copy of "Raintree County". Taylor was a very good actress for what she specialized in, which was nervous breakdown roles. Really, she was even very good as Cleopatra, which, despite its reputation as the biggest box office bomb of all time, is actually one of the greatest films ever made. The image of the latter day Taylor (bloated, drug addicted) does not reflect her ability. Monty is great as usual, even though Liz had to battle with director Joe Mankiewicz and producer Sam Spiegel to keep him on the film, as his drug and alcohol problems were causing delays on the set. But you'd never know it by his performance. We've now seen 11 of his 17 movies. Next up? Hmm, maybe "Wild River" or "From Here to Eternity".

In music, it's turned into The Summer of Big Big Train for me. As previously noted, I was introduced to BBT about 10 or 12 years ago by Pat, who burned me a copy of "The Underfall Yard". I listened to it once or twice and put it away, thinking it was pretty good but nothing that grabbed me. A dozen years went by. I don't think I listened to BBT once during that time. In late 2021, I read about the tragic death of their singer David Longdon and mentioned it to Pat, who was still in the physical world. Then I went back to forgetting about the band, until approximately two weeks ago, when one afternoon, wondering what music to listen to (having explored and exhausted the supply of obscure Prog bands like Kraan), I got a notion: "What about Big Big Train"? I started where I left off, with "The Underfall Yard", which I found most excellent this time around. I then delved into their other mid-period albums like "Folklore" and "Grimspound", which led me to the near-and-far edges: early and latter day BBT, and I've been listening every day since. I'm hooked. Every day I have to hear at least one BBT epic (many are 15 minutes long), and I credit it all to Pat, who must've "tapped me on the shoulder" with that suggestion two weeks ago. I, in turn, suggest them to you, especially if you are a fan of classic Genesis or any great English Progressive Rock band. I predict you will get hooked just as I did.

I've also been listening to "Les Chants de l'Aurore" by Alcest (a masterpiece), various Beach Boys, and at the moment "To Our Children's Children's Children" by The Moody Blues, the greatness of which cannot be adequately described.

In the evenings, I've been watching episodes of "Millennium", Chris Carter's other series, starring Lance Henriksen as "Frank Black", an ex-FBI agent now working for the clandestine Millennium Group, who solve seemingly unsolvable (even supernatural) crimes. "Millennium" was a great show, but ultra-dark in keeping with the sometimes-apocalyptic aura of the late 1990s. I've also been watching eps of "Doc Martin", which I got from the library on DVD. I used to watch it with Pearl and it reminds me of my time with her, a great and funny show that aired on PBS. We loved "Doc Martin", and also "Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries", "George Gently" and "Vera". Great shows all. 

Finally, last night, just for the heck of it, I Googled "when was Ritchie Blackmore's first concert?". His bio has always listed the start of his professional career as 1961, and I've wondered if he ever crossed paths with The Beatles. Anyway, a link came back for a poster sold at auction in England, advertising a concert way back on August 3, 1959 (65 years ago today) at the Sports Pavillion in Wembley, London, featuring The Dominators Swing Group (who had, according to the seller, a 14-year-old Ritchie B. on guitar). This poster sold at auction for 300 pounds, so I think it is legit, meaning that Ritchie's career actually began in the 1950s. That led me to do more Googling and I found another website:

    http://forgottenbands.blogspot.com/2010/01/bobbie-dominators.html

This one says that Ritchie's first gig was even earlier, on Christmas Eve 1958, when he was 13. It puts him close to the earliest Beatles territory, in fact when they were still The Quarrymen.  

I should note that one of Ritchie's first drummers (perhaps his first), was Mick Underwood, who died this week. Ritchie eulogized him on FB. Underwood played briefly in The Dominators and also in The Outlaws with Ritchie. The singer of The Dominators, Bob Danks, says that the original name of the band was The Vampires and then The Electric Vampires, but because Ritchie had an amp with Dominator in the name, and Danks had a Dominator motorcycle, they changed the band name to The Dominators. At any rate, Sir Richard goes back to the early days of Rock and Roll. I hope I get to see him one more time...

That's all for today. Have a great weekend, stay cool and stay tuned.