Fred Kaplan at Slate writes an appreciation of one of the greatest jazz albums of all time, Kind of Blue by Miles Davis:
Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue, which was released 50 years ago today, is a nearly unique thing in music or any other creative realm: a huge hit?
I have loved The Slits, the original female punk band, since I first heard their debut album Cut. I’ve owned it on vinyl, cassette and on two different CD versions. It’s an album I have played—and played often—for over two decades. I used to have a life-sized record store stand-up of the Slits in my bedroom in London that I bought at the Portobello Market and lugged all the way back to Brixton. That’s dedicated fandom as far as I am concerned.
And when I first met my lovely wife, she gifted me with a Japanese issue CD of Return of the Giant Slits, so I knew she was “the one” for me!
A great new website devoted to all things New York has recently launched called Revel in New York, that takes a look at Gotham through the lens of some of its residents. Here’s Ari Up from The Slits and what she has to say about her adopted home town.
You remember Willie Aames, don’t you? Right. That Willie Aames, he of Eight Is Enough and Charles In Charge fame. Oh, and Bibleman—the ongoing “adventures of a man transformed by the word of God.” I remember getting my first taste of the B-Man one summer at Kirk Cameron‘s Camp Firefly. It was “TV night.” Me beside Chelsea. Hmm, what episode was it—“Jesus, Our Savior,” or “Lead Us Not Into Temptation?” Ah, well, I forget. Camp!
Anyway, thanks to YouTube, we can all catch up with Aames’ armor-clad creation. Now put aside, if you can, the above clip’s anti-semitic stabs at humor. It’s Aames’ donning of that suit in clips like this one that I’m sure contributed to his
Thanksgiving Day suicide attempt after filing bankruptcy, having his car repossessed and his wife of 22 years, Mayla Upton, asking for a divorce. The former child star had been sober for 20 years when he left his Kansas home depressed and shaken, and rented a room in Los Angeles from a friend, stealing a bottle of Jack Daniels. Aames was also taking antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication when he put a knife to his throat and cut himself in six places.
Wow, sad—six places?! But consider this: unlike the possibly mythic Job, Aames is a very real, flesh-and-blood vessel spreading God’s word. To children. On television, no less. If such misery could beset him, one of God’s best Generals, what hope is there for we common foot-soldiers? What God would inflict such torment? Well, maybe no God would. No God at all.
Bless you, Willie Aames, atheists everywhere should be singing your praises—or something like that. Hey, stay off those knives!
I’m eagerly awaiting the release of Capitalism a Love Story. No fan of Capitalism and a big Moore fan, this looks like a treat for moi.
Never underestimate the wrath—or letter-writing determination—of a pissed-off film fan. According to Scientific American, those pot-stirrers at Government Attic made what they thought was an innocent FOIA query: what do the residents on the International Space Station (ISS) do, like, for fun?
Well, they asked, NASA answered. American booksellers seemed okay with the contents of the ISS library—everything from Dickens to Dan Brown—but the list incensed movie buffs, particularly the ominous-sounding Shooting People, a UK-based collective of independent filmmakers. “Our members would like to see Harold and Maud [sic] rather than Harold and Kumar, that Man on Wire replace Man on Fire,” Shooting People’s James Mullighan wrote to NASA. Spelling errors aside there, James, I totally agree with you.
But, in a further sign that the demand for indie fare has, errr, cratered, NASA’s William Gerstenmaier explained that they don’t dictate the onboard selections?
“It’s like a safari, only better.” This mildly persuasive-looking site for Somali Cruises offers to ferry thrill-seeking travelers all the way from Mombasa to Djibouti. To better combat pirates, they suggest you bring along your high-powered weaponry. Don’t have guns? No problem, they’ll rent you what you need—and throw in 100 rounds of tracer ammo in the caliber of your choice.
Here’s a testimonial: “Six attacks in 4 days was more than I expected. I bagged three pirates and my 12-year-old son sank two rowboats with the mini gun. PIRATES: 0—PASSENGERS: 32! Well worth the trip. Just make sure your spotter speaks English.” Well, thanks for that tip on “spotters,” Donald from Salt Lake City! I’m afraid, though, I won’t be joining you port side. Somali Cruises isn’t—yet—taking credit cards. Ah, well, there’s always this.
I love Pop Art Machine. It’s the perfect way to make amazing low cost art to hang on your walls. Pop Art Machine has high resolution files of millions of images that you can download and print as posters or on canvas, tee-shirts, whatever you want to do, really. And it’s free.
Go there and poke around, see what you find. Earlier today I searched for William Burroughs and found several cool galleries of his book covers from around the world, like this Japanese cover of My Education. You could print this as big as a movie poster and the resolution would still be crisp and clear.
Newsweek reports that “We Are All Hindus Now”:
America is not a Christian nation. We are, it is true, a nation founded by Christians, and according to a 2008 survey, 76 percent of us continue to identify as Christian (still, that’s the lowest percentage in American history). Of course, we are not a Hindu?
They’re plastic rats. They fit on your fingers. And they shoot light out of their noses. Lights of many colors. Which, according to the packaging, is “Ideal for Night Blogging!”
What? You haven?