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Up to the minute notes on the current state of free thinking and free living: Kentucky moonshine - original analysis and reporting from MoreThings, and all round pop culture museum of sight and sound - photo galleries, mp3 and video downloads.
Al Barger and MoreThings - getting people's goats since 1998.
Live free or die!
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May 10, 2003
The face of evil
Gentle readers, evil exists in the world. You know it and I know it.
Need proof? CLICK HERE to look driectly into the eyes of pure evil.
posted by Al at 5/10/2003 04:17:00 PM
Pre-code Hollywood
I've been reminded of a 1999 book Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American Cinema, 1930-1934 that I want to recommend. Before reading this book, I had heard of the "Hollywood production code", but didn't really get the extent of the real honest-to-god censorship that fell on the movie industry for over a quarter century. Basically, the Catholic church set the standards for not just language but topics and plot turns that were acceptable.
Doherty's book brings this out by examination of the several years before the production code went into effect, and before it was actually enforced. The Marx Brothers probably simply could not have made Duck Soup five years later.
In this telling of the story, the production code was largely discredited as an effective and enforceable code by the brazen disregard of... Alfred Hitchcock. I don't know if the destruction of this stupid production code nonsense could really be put down to ONE film; that sounds too romantic and cool to be true.
Doherty makes a pretty compelling case that the movie Psycho specifically and egregiously flaunted the production code. He details the ways. Hitchcock and this movie were simply too big to stop. From there, the decline of the Motion Picture Production Code was rapid.
Dang, Psycho was already the shiznit, but looking at it after reading this book, having some idea of the historical significance of the movie politically- that makes it that much sweeter.
Reading this book will also give you better appreciation for the early work of James Cagney, particularly The Public Enemy, and what a truly raw and risque piece of work that was.
posted by Al at 5/10/2003 04:14:00 PM
May 09, 2003
EMI's little acorn
On this day in history, May 9, 1962 the Beatles signed their first recording contract with EMI. This led to their catchy but humble debut single "Love Me Do." From such a little acorn grew Sgt. Pepper. Who'd a thunk it?
posted by Al at 5/09/2003 04:40:00 PM
Galileo's reprieve
It was 20 years ago today, May 9, 1983 that Pope John Paul II officially reversed the church's 1633 condemnation of Galileo, who had commited the high blasphemy of scientific inquiry. More specifically, Galileo proposed that the earth went around the sun rather than vice versa.
It sounds stupid now to an American with free speech and separated church/state functions, but Galileo had to officially renounce his scientific discoveries under threat of death.
posted by Al at 5/09/2003 02:19:00 PM
His truth goes marching on
John Brown was born this day in history, May 9, 1800. Screw the evil Abraham Lincoln, ol' John Brown was the guy who REALLY gave a damn about freeing the slaves.
OK, he was a religious nutcase- but arguably to a good end in this case. God told him to lead an armed revolt to free the slaves. He led the famous assault on Harper's Ferry, and was heading south with men and munitions when he was caught and hanged for a traitor.
posted by Al at 5/09/2003 01:16:00 PM
Eminem the censor
Weird Al Yankovic is set to release a new album of his special parodies, but hold the video: Eminem won't let him make a video for his parody of "Lose Yourself".
"Eminem gave his approval for me to use 'Couch Potato' (my 'Lose Yourself' parody) as a track on my new album, but he wouldn't allow me to do a video for it," Yankovic tells Billboard.com. "He somehow feels that a Weird Al video would detract from his legacy or make people take him less seriously. I have to respect his decision, but it's obviously very disappointing for me -- it would have been an absolutely amazing video."
I'm not sure how Eminem legally could stop him from making a video, but just that he would even try to stand in the way earns him a #13 boot in the ass. This jackass goes out cursing Lynne Cheney for supposedly repressing his free speech, yet he's making more of a censorship move here than anything Ms. Cheney has ever done. Name me one record that Ms. Cheney has actually tried to stop from being made or released.
Ms. Cheney and even the dreaded Tipper Gore have acted out of some idea that they were promoting the public good. I may not be sympathetic to censorship, but they have some reasonable point in being concerned about what kind of smutty stuff that children are inundated with in the popular culture.
Eminem, on the other hand, just doesn't want to personally be made light of. That is not even a pretense at a worthy goal.
What a hypocrite Mr. Mathers has shown himself to be. He can make scurrilous and probably libelous attacks on, for starters, Britney Spears in song and video. However, he won't allow even a likely very genteel parody from Weird Al. He can sure dish it out, but he can't take it.
Marshall Mathers apparently believes in freedom of speech for me, but not for thee.
posted by Al at 5/09/2003 01:04:00 PM
May 07, 2003
Bob Roberts, Tim Robbins paranoid comic masterpiece
"Bob? Ain't that a bitch!" - Prince
Tim Robbins was condemning the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy before Hillary made it cool. He wrote, directed and starred as the titular Bob Roberts in 1992. Bob Roberts was a smiling, good looking and charismatic fount of pure, twisted conservative Republican evil.
Politics aside, Robbins made a really outstanding and clever movie with a strong vision, and no small number of laughs. He took every bad or bad sounding thing from the original Reagan-Bush years, and rolled it into one almost believable conspiracy arch. You see, the damned conservatives were looting S&Ls to invest in drug running from Central America to raise money to support the Contras- and enrich themselves, naturally. These couple of sentences may not sound that promising for a movie comedy, but the skill of the writing puts it all across.
Particularly, he created an exceptionally clever and comedy worthy frame for the whole thing. Bob Roberts is a pop star, writing folk style songs to express his fanatical and callous right wing views- which form the basis for a candidacy for the US Senate. This gives him endless opportunities to invert Dylan, the classic model for this stuff, for example his album "The Times Are Changin' Back." He also has a video parodying the famous cards-in-the-alley video, in which Bob Roberts now advocates making millions "by any means necessary."
One big aspect that makes the whole thing work is the quality of the songs that Tim and his brother David Robbins wrote. Just as songs, they are more interesting than anything Dylan himself has done in 20 years. They're pretty catchy, have fairly simple but effective and wide ranging arrangements, and the stench of sulfur from hell emanating from every single one. For example, he really embodies the war on drugs in "Drugs Stink" in which he encourages the literal lynching of drugs users and sellers. "Be a clean living man with a rope in your hand." Not only that, it's a catchy little tune.
Putting it in another context, I'd rate the songs from Bob Roberts notably superior to the actually good songs from the classic Spinal Tap. Both movies feature songs specially written as parodic content in character. Tap had some grooves, but the brothers Robbins wrote much more intricately clever songs. This not surprising in that Tap songs were Zen songs written in the voices of stupid people. Roberts is a wicked smart dude, much more interesting. The tunes are more developed, the arrangements not purposely cheesy. The words of "Complain" are more sophisticated than those of, say, "Sex Farm". Not only are all the songs strong, but individually distinctive. Each one is a unique stylistic creation, not quite like any other.
Another thing that makes the flick great is just how far Robbins is willing to go, which is pretty far the hell out there. Specifically, the guy is conniving enough to stage an assassination attack on himself. Damn, but that's a HARDCORE Republican bastard.
The climax of the plotline kicks in on a guest musician appearance on the Cutting Edge Live television show- a doppleganger for Saturday Night Live. As a writer, Robbins took the time to make a nicely unsympathetic swipe at SNL as self-deluded corporate sell outs, nothing but glorified faux-progressive PR flacks for the military-industrial complex. He explained this directly in a monologue being rehearsed by the guest host. Then he demonstrated it with the inanity of the cast and material of the show. For this little subplot, I've never seen a harsher or better drawn criticism of this iconic show. This segment alone about justifies the effort of watching the movie.
Note how he plays the puds at the show. As a matter of artistic integrity, he insists on performing a brand new song live on the air, a patriotic statement that he had written just that very afternoon. Then he reached over to play the reel-to-reel tape of the pre-recorded orchestral arrangements for what turns out to be essentially a campaign song. The perfect cynicism of this gesture shows precision and careful thought in the writing.
Look, if you have any taste at all for political movies, then you really HAVE to see this, to own a DVD. If Dr Strangelove, Wag the Dog and The Manchurian Candidate rate high on your list of groovy movies, this one is absolutely for you, even if you don't necessarily buy a lot of the left wing politics.
posted by Al at 5/07/2003 12:56:00 AM
May 06, 2003
Oh, the prestige
I find through the magic of referer logs that the #3 result of a Yahoo search for "pop composers" turns out to be my humble page "Frank Zappa - Modern Day Composer" of all things.
posted by Al at 5/06/2003 06:33:00 PM
May 05, 2003
Malkovich?
posted by Al at 5/05/2003 09:46:00 PM
May 04, 2003
Malkovich?
posted by Al at 5/04/2003 09:37:00 PM
Country workout mix CD
I've got numerous custom mix CDs engineered for working out to. Here's the crack line up for a country music workout mix. Note that I do use the term "country music" broadly enough to include Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry.
"Jackson" June Carter and Johnny Cash
"Walking the Floor Over You" Ernest Tubb
"Better Move It on Home" Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton
"Baby Let's Play House" Elvis Presley
"Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" Hayseed Dixie
"Cash on the Barrelhead" Dolly Parton
"Iraq and roll" Clint Black
"Up on Cripple Creek" The Band
"Thirty Days" Chuck Berry
"Salty Dog Blues" Flatt and Scruggs
"Rubberneckin'" Elvis Presley
"Rocky Top" Osborne Brothers
"Travelin' Man" Dolly Parton
"Lookin' Out My Back Door" Creedence Clearwater Revival
"Joe the Singing Janitor" Junior Brown
"I'm Movin' On" Ray Charles
"Keep Your Hands to Yourself" Georgia Satellites
"Roy's Guitar Boogie" Roy Clark
"Highway to Hell" Hayseed Dixie
"I've Got a Tiger by the Tail" Buck Owens
"The Claw" Jerry Reed
"Blue Suede Shoes" Elvis Presley
"Made in Japan" Buck Owens
"Louisiana Woman, Missisippi Man" Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn
"Out Behind the Barn" Little Jimmy Dickens
"Mystery Train" Elvis Presley
"Happy on My Way" Bill Monroe
"Jolene" Dolly Parton
"We'll Get Ahead Someday" Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton
"I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" Soggy Bottom Boys
This mix works out around 78 1/2 minutes, so you may cut a song or two, depending on how full you want to cram your CD.
This has been road tested and certified for your exercising (or dancing) enjoyment.Labels: country_music
posted by Al at 5/04/2003 09:35:00 PM
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