Big Jimbo and The Doors were unquestionably the most over-rated Rock Band since Heart Break Hotel hit the airwaves in 1956. They turned out exactly two great tracks, they being Crystal Ship on their First LP and Five to One found on their crap double Absolutely Live. Crystal Ship has to be the greatest example of sound psychedelia, while Five to One is one down and dirty incitement to Youthful Anarchy. And in this age of sanitised, corporatised rock music, the sound of broken glass is sorely missed.
The whole Doors Industry, which fortunately has ground to a halt this century - Danny Sugerman, Jerry Hopkins, John Densmore and Mr Oliver Stone (of more in Part Two) - has been a carbuncle on the rear end of Rock Journalism. It is about time we recognised the efforts of that other industry. And yes, Pamela as a much younger wench made a vital in-the-studio contribution to the greatness of Crystal Ship.
TWO
Australia's Department of Trade and Foreign Affairs (formerly know as Foreign Affairs) has to be the worst of any in the G20. The public servants (in this case an oxymoron), who occupy its overseas embassies et al, view inquiries by Oz citizens overseas as an occupational hazard to be avoided by placing them in the ether of the internal phone loop. Equally, serious has been the past instances of practicing paedophiles been given overseas posting and subsequent departmental hush ups.
Disclaimer: I have never had occasion to utilise their services. In point of fact, they could take a lesson from the PRC's overseas embassies who provide an efficient and helpful service.
THREE
Millers Crossing by the Coen Brothers has to be their best movie simply based on the performance of Jon Polito as Johnny Caspar. The scene between Caspar and his none-too-bright and overweight son is priceless.
FOUR
The three most used tracks in the history of cinema since Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets are:
Gimme Shelter - Rolling Stones
Rumble - the ominous instrumental by Link Wray
Anything by Kool and the Gang.
Been dying to get this hoary old chestnut printed and forgotten
FIVE
In the Sino-English blogoshere, there is an annoying cross-posting, lets-scratch-each-others-back Mafia. As this is beyond debate to even the most casual observer, lets move on and recognise the conspiratorial but well documented investigations of Peter Dale Scott HERE. Scott is no slouch when it comes to documenting his suspicions, and I recommend his books to 2000, most of which I have read.
(4th try to post comment)
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't dwell on the "let's-scratch-each-others-back" phenomenon, KT. It could come across as if you didn't like to be an outsider in that regard. As you wrote yourself, the routine is beyond debate to even the most casual observer anyway. I'd worry more if my own blog's back was being scratched, all of a sudden, and regularly. You can be fairly sure that on the day China-bashing became popular on the blogs, my blog would be found on the opposite side of the field, in search of information that can't frequently be found elsewhere.
Anyway - your blog will be permanently on my blogroll (provided that you don't stop posting). The internet is for posts and views outside the mainstream. That's what Al Gore invented it for, is it not?
Thanks JR. The mafia reference was simply a hook to mention Peter Dale Scott.
ReplyDeleteKindles are those rotten reading tablets. The one's where you can't make use of your favourite bookmark. I still have a bookmark and letter opener bought decades ago in the local Maoist bookshop, and my super large 2 volume OED was bought at the other Commie bookshop which supported the old Soviet Union.
And you comment about cookbooks just killed off Miscellaneous Fact No. 7.
Back to normal transmission after I get the other five facts out of my system.