Bush or Bud?

I don’t quite know what to think about this pretty damn unique portrait of George W. Bush by Steve Lazarides (and sent over by Doug the Bass.) Does the loathsome oaf even deserve the attention? I recall something similar was done to John Ashcroft when he was the Holy Roller Attorney General. This, however, is a great deal more subtle and takes a little figuring out, but start from the top of his left ear (your left) and move out across all the pornographic contours of the face. Left clicking for a bigger image helps.

I’m also unsure about this Budweiser commercial from the 2002 Super Bowl that's been making the web rounds in the wake of 9/11 hindsight. Is the damned thing dignified or a piece of tawdry beer bathos? Those Clydesdales are damn fine horses, though.

The secret word is Decide

FASCINATING...

Fascinating.

WELCOME TO THE WEEKEND

This is meat. Doesn’t it look yummy? Don’t you just love vintage advertising? The red tint alone is an argument for vegetarianism. Or liquid nourishment. See how it coordinates with the nail polish. But don’t expect anything too profound from me in the next 48 hours. Even Strindberg had a day off.

The secret word is Cocktail

DOC'S PAPERBACK CLASSIC'S # 27

Maybe I should join the Hordes of Mekh. A strange adventure on another world in the company of an erotically implausible redhead with a double edged axe might do my mental health a power of good.

AS IF BEES DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH TROUBLES

At least enlisting in the Hordes of Mekh might get me away from the gratuitous madness of this damned planet where the military is now attempting to turn bees – who have enough trouble already – into little flying bomb detectors. (Also Valerie notes "If you check out the applications on the company web, they´re already marketing all this, which means they´ve been messing with the bees for a long time.")

“Honeybees are trained to recognize particular odors (for example, that of explosive compounds), and then to associate that smell with a food reward. Bees are able to recognize odors that are as faint as only a few parts per trillion in an air sample. When the bees detect the special odor, they extend their proboscis in expectation of receiving food.” More

IS THE PERUVIAN METEOR A DEAD SATELLITE?

Ready for the latest conspiracy theories in the matter of the Peruvian meteor and the unknown X-Files-class contagion that would appear to be emanating from the crater? I would also note that I have seen at least a dozen science fiction movies or read stories that have started like this -- including, of course War Of The Worlds. (Not the film version with Tom Cruise.)

“Reports from Peru now claim that more than 600 people have fallen ill after coming into contact with the "glowing rock" or having inhaled 'toxic gases' while visiting the massive 30 metre wide crater. The Peruvian Regional Health Directorate has been forced to set up medical tents near a health centre in Carancas to deal with the casualties, which most reports now claim are well above 600 people.” More

FROM THE ORIGINAL GERMAN
I had previously failed to notice that GEheimSTAdts POlizei freely translates as Homeland Security

HCB
Our pal has a piece on the movie The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford in American Heritage.

MUSIC? Fancy some Brecht/Weil by Bowie? (The end, I would add of the current Doc40 Bowie cache.) Although I do know the way to the next whisky bar.

The secret word is Mekh

HE SHOULD NEVER HAVE GIVEN UP COMMUNISM

ATHENS, October 18 (RIA Novosti) - A prisoner in a Romanian jail is suing God, Greek state television reported from Bucharest Tuesday. "God received different material valuables from me, as well as prayers in exchange for promises of a better life. In reality, this did not happen - I found myself in the devil's hands," the plaintiff said.
The convict is serving 20 years in the west Romanian city of Timisoara. He apparently blames God for the troubles in his life and wants God brought to account for failing to fulfill the commitments He undertook and for taking bribes. The plaintiff said that when he had been baptized in childhood, he concluded a contract with God that had legal effect - God was supposed to protect him from evil. The plaintiff said the Romanian Orthodox Church, which, according to him, directly represents God, should compensate him for the alleged God-inflicted damage. In line with the law, the lawsuit was submitted to court. However, as the defendant is neither an individual nor a company, and is not subject to a civil court of law's jurisdiction, the case is unlikely to be heard regardless of how justified the plaintiff's demands may be, court officials said.

OJ'S BACK -- WE CAN STOP THINKING

OJ, the ultimate distraction, has been deployed. Forget the war, forget the planet, forget the election, forget health care. Forget it all and sit and drool at the smirking, smug, sociopath, murdering sonofabitch like it was 1994.

WHAT US WORRY?

Meanwhile, in this week’s LA CityBeat, I re-discover MAD magazine. And wandering YouTube, I re-discovered the Grateful Dead, which is always tricky. Middle-aged punks stare at you like you were a puppy molester caught en flagrante. (Or maybe OJ) “Farren is a closet Deadhead!” Which is actually not true. As Boss Goodman used to put it. “You like the songs and the singing, not the solos.” Whatever fashion might dictate, though, I am unashamedly fond of New Speedway Boogie.

The secret word is Tromp

BLUE LAKES BOB

The following story, forwarded by Doug the Bass, but I believe to be circulating on the net has a naïve neo-Norman Rockwell quality that suggests those in power can't fool all of the people all of the time forever and ever, amen. On the other hand, how long and how much does it take for supposedly decent citizens to wise up to what is being done to them and theirs? Does it always require mutilated children before they grasp there's something wrong with this picture.?

THE BALLAD OF BLUE LAKES BOB ! (In memory of 9/11) by Purple Gene. I remember that Monday morning when I was driving to work ...9/11/01. I'll never forget it...ever!
The following weekend I was walking on a little dirt road behind our cabin on Blue Lakes. I ran into a larger than life old Vet named Bob walking his aging black Lab. I said Hi and the first thing out of his mouth after Hi was, "Fuckin' Ragheads!"
A year later, around September of 2002, I saw old Bob again and he told me that his oldest son had enlisted in the Army and was going to Afghanistan. I said, "Bob, I'll keep your boy in my thoughts. I mean it"!
A year later, around September of 2003, I saw old Bob again and he told me that his youngest son had enlisted in the Army and was going to Iraq. I said, "Bob, I'll keep your boys in my thoughts"! And I did!
Another year later, around September of 2004, I saw old Bob again and he told me that both his boys were doing O.K., but he started complaining about what his sons were saying in term of lack of protection on their Humvees and body armor and the heat and the sand and. I said, "Bob, I hope those boys of yours stay safe!"
A year later, around September of 2005, I saw old Bob again and he told me that his oldest son was back from Afghanistan but that his youngest boy re-upped in Iraq. Bob said, "my youngest is kinda crazy and I'm a little worried". I said, "Bob, I hope we can get him back home soon!"
Yet another year later, around September of 2006, I saw old Bob again and he said that his son was writing him less and less and that more of his buddies had been blown up by I.E.D's and he didn't give a shit who won the congressional elections. They’re all the same up in Washington...I said, "Bob, I would like nothing more than to see thiswar end and your youngest come home...and besides, I think they're spending too much of "our" money over in that "shit hole"!
Well I just saw old Bob this last weekend (September of 2007) up at Blue Lakes. He had on his usual army fatigues and hat and his black Lab was still limping along behind him. This time Bob said something that really struck me hard. "I think these "Chicken Hawks"in Washington have been lying to us all along. They just want that black gold. Oh and by the way my youngest made it back in one piece, but his head is kinda screwed up." I said, "Bob, tell your sons thanks a lot for trying over there...and I think you're rightas rain about Washington and the War!"
I wonder what he'll have to say next year?

And all I can follow this grim Americana with is Elvis singing “Trying To Get To You.”

THAT DAMNED PERUVIAN METEOR

(See yesterday’s comments. I felt challenged.)
"A meteorite fell Saturday night in the Peruvian area of Puno, close to the border with Bolivia, forming a crater with a 30 meters diamater, and six meters in depth, the local press reported today. A luminous object fell a little before midnight of the day before yesterday in the town of Carancas, in the province of Chucuito, about 1.300 kilometers to the south of Lima. According to sources of the Territorial Direction of the Police, the alarmed inhabitants of the area heard a great noise, similar to that of an airplane falling. Later, the witnesses saw a luminous object in fire in the sky that hit the ground, producing an explosion that left the earth charred. The meteorite didn’t hurt anyone, but the authorities are investigating if the remains found in the area are of animals that may have died because of the explosion. The farmers of the place fear the appearance of some disease, since chips of lead and silver were liberated in the shock of the meteor with the soil, the local broadcasting station “RPP” informed. The member of the National Academy of Sciences, Modesto Montoya, told to the “Andean” state agency that the fall of meteorites in Peru doesn’t present any danger, unless they hit some structure. “None of the several meteorites that fall in Peru and make perforations of varied sizes are harmful for people, unless they fall over a house”, Montoya said. In June, another meteorite fell in the Mascapampa hill, in the province of Arequipa (south), leaving the population alarmed. Curiously the meteorite fell exactly one month after the terrible earthquake that hit Lima on August 15.
Other more dubious stories told of tiny people emerging from the meteor."

The secret word is Scully

NOW… You wanna see the Sears Tower struck by lightning?

THIS BLOG IS STILL PROTECTED BY...

The advanced societies of the future will not be governed by reason. They will be driven by irrationality, by competing systems of psychopathology.- J.G. Ballard

WE KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE, MR RINGLING

Doc 40 was never designed as an animal rights blog, but humanity is spends so much of its time fucking over the other inhabitants of the planet it becomes impossible to ignore. I am not fond of zoos, and I loathe circuses that feature animal acts. (I don’t much like clowns either, but that’s a whole other story.) Part of my loathing for circuses stems from knowing, from nothing less than personal experience, that much of so-called animal training is based in calculated cruelty. This clip send by blu reveals a little of the nastiness involved in training an animal act, in this case elephants. Be warned, though. This video is not pleasant.

The secret word is Bastards

DOC'S PAPERBACK CLASSIC'S # 26

(Do I feel the depression coming back or is it a conversion to nihilism?)

FLEEING THE MENACE OF THE BOB DYLAN MACHINE...

Now here’s where it really gets complicated. In this message from Dan, Bob Dylan (helped by Antonio Lopez) warns us of the Cylon menace, while out there across the galaxy, the human survivors have All Along The Watchtower ringing in their ears, and we poor schmucks back on Earth are going to have to wait maybe a year to find what the fuck is going on and what the writers are up to. (Why do I watch TV? It only makes me dissatisfied.)

But if I actually lived in the TV all of this would be the primary mythology, not to say some high-octane motherfucker metaphysics of possibly catastrophic dimensions and I’d be thinking, right here, roll on 2012 and let’s see what that’s going to bring. In space no one can hear you scream, but on Earth, mind-snapping terror is completely audible. (Although if I lived in the TV I would be nano-tiny and speak in binary code. Word?)

CRYPTIQUE – God is just an out-of-control vending machine. (But what currency does he/she/it accept?)

The secret word is Relief

WATCH THIS ADMIRAL

Munz has sent us this highly salient warning about how Admiral William Fallon, commander of CENTCOM, which covers the Middle East and Southeast Asia – and who is essentially the boss of Bush lapdog Gen. David Petraeus – “privately vowed that there would be no war against Iran on his watch, implying that he would quit rather than accept such a policy." Since he remains CENTCOM commander, there does not appear to be an imminent invasion of Iran. If he quits, get nervous. (He also called Petraeus an "ass-kissing little chickenshit.”) Click for chapter and verse.

AND I clean forgot with all that’s been going on that I have a couple of snappy riffs on drunk driving in the current issue of LA CityBeat.

FIFTEEN CENTS?

I have a nickel and a dime and one fuck of a toothache. I’m off to Hudson Avenue, Albany.

The secret word is Bicuspid

CAN YOU SPELL GYLLENHAAL?

Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal has long been a solid favorite of Doc 40, and the above picture is published to mark the fact that she taken over from Kate Moss as spokes-whatever of lingerie line Agent Provocateur. Yeah. Right. We take note of lingerie promotions. Would you believe that we’re publishing the post because the much admired Miss Gyllenhaal seems to have definite inclination for erotic restraint? I mean, she was locked into all those intricate devices in the 2002 movie Secretary and now this. Or maybe we’re posting this out simple animal voyeurism?

But talking of animals…

"WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO THE EARTH?'"

The following horror story comes out of China…
"The pelts of 27 snow leopards were recently seized from a black market trader in China. The record bust highlights the menacing threat to one of the world's most endangered cats, experts say. Acting on a tip, agents from China's State Forestry Administration raided an apartment in western China last month, according to state media. Police arrested the fur trader, identified only as Mr. Ma, after discovering the cache of pelts, along with 104 bear skins and parts of clouded leopards and lynx "Police found three snow leopard heads and two snow leopard skeletons in the raid," Ge Yun, of the China-based nonprofit Xinjiang Conservation Fund (XCF), told National Geographic News. The seizure is reportedly the largest haul of leopard pelts since Chinese officials began keeping records in 1949. An official with China's State Forest Administration, who identified himself as Mr. Li, confirmed the arrests in a telephone interview but declined to offer details. "The snow leopard is endangered, and the government is working very hard to protect it," he said." Click for more

"WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO OUR FAIR SISTER?'"

We’re Iberian lynx* and this is our tale of woe. (Sent by Valerie) When the fuck are you humans going to leave us animals alone?

* Is lynx the plural of lynx?

"THE SCREAM OF THE BUTTERFLY"

Having been using lyric fragments through this post, here’s a full 12 minutes of The Doors doing a live version “When The Music’s Over”.

Oh yeah, Andy and I had a really swell time playing the Hyperion Tavern last night. Great crowd, great reception. We resolve to make it regular haunt. We also discovered it was formerly gay bondage bar called Cuffs. (Which kinda takes us back to the top of the post.)

The secret words are Turn Out The Light

THINGS CAN'T ALWAYS BE PERFECT

Sadly the ladies of the QMAPDP may be unable to make the gig but Mick Farren and Andy Colquhoun can be counted on to be rolling out their two-man psychedelic deviant future blues at Tequila Mockingbird’s Club Fluffer at the Hyperion Tavern in Silver Lake TONIGHT! (September 13th) and you are cordially invited. We have still not been informed of show time, but we figure showing up between 9.30 and 10.00 PM would be about right.

Hyperion Tavern, 1941 Hyperion Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027. 323-665-1941

Drink it up, tip the waitress, forget your troubles and come on down. (Our current slogan.)

The secret words are Be There

THE ROAD TO QUAGMIRE

Aeswiren, who we depend on to keep an eye on these kind of things sent this acute analysis of how the Reagan Administration taught the Saudis the art of advanced corporate fraud. (The kind that involved oil, rather wives, camels, or goats.) And, of course, at precisely the same time, the CIA was pouring billions of dollars into the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan to support their guerrilla war against the Soviets. And, needless to say, one of the Mujahedeen’s most prominent organizers and financiers was a wealthy young Saudi named Osama Bin Laden.

“Oil is so important to the strength of a nation’s economy that it was the United States’ final plan of attack to crush the Soviets. During the late summer of 1985, the Reagan administration had a sudden stroke of genius. Tired of the stalemate, the American government knew that the only alternative to physical destruction of the Soviet Union was to nuke their economy. And knowing that much of its economy was based on two exports— oil to Europe and military weapons and training to anti-Western countries—we found an in. Mindful of the saying “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” we decided to make a little pact with Saudi Arabia—an offer the Saudis couldn’t refuse. You see, high oil prices from OPEC kept Soviet exports to Europe and other countries profitable. It also allowed Iraq, Iran and Syria to purchase advanced Soviet weapons and training. And those countries had been threatening Saudi Arabia for years. The high oil price also allowed the Soviet Union to keep a military presence in South Yemen, Syria, Ethiopia and Afghanistan. The idea was to bankrupt the Soviet Union by having Saudi Arabia drop its oil prices far below what the Soviets could afford to sell for. Once non-Soviet prices were lowered, former Soviet oil clients would cease buying from the USSR, killing the communist giant’s income. It would also harm the Soviet economy because Iraq, Iran and Syria would no longer be able to sell their oil at prices high enough to be able to afford Soviet weapons and training. It was a sucker punch to end the Cold War, a numbers-crunching accountant’s wet dream . . . and it was just crazy enough to work. But that’s also where the problems begin. In short, we taught the Saudis how to cook the books and how to make their supplies appear larger than they really were to keep the oil prices low. In December 1985, the price of oil was $26.46. And then, suddenly, on March 31, 1986, it plummeted to $10.25. The Soviets couldn’t keep up, and their economy began to collapse. Our part of the bargain for Saudi Arabia’s aid in bankrupting the Soviets would become known as Operation Desert Storm. But the book-cooking lessons learned by the Saudis would soon become widespread among OPEC nations— and even among Big Oil companies. And after decades of inflating their actual reserve numbers without finding any more significant oil resources, the future of the world’s oil is falling apart faster than a canvas shoe on a rainy day.” From Report -- Energy and Capital.

The secret word is Hydrocarbon

And, for the rock & roll section of our show, what better than David Bowie live and “Putting Out Fire With Gasoline.”

1-800-CALL-GOD

And God thunders...

“THIS IS NOT MY BLOODY PHONE NUMBER!!!”

Or however the angry voice of God might look in print. (This is all the fault of Munz.)

THE BEES AND THE BEARS AND NOW THE US NAVY IS SCREWING WITH THE WHALES

As the Army in the form of Gen. David Petraeus, recommends that decisions on the contentious issue of reducing the main body of the American troops in Iraq be put off for six months, the Navy has made it their mission deafen, disorientate and kill whales. The following letter from James Taylor (yes, that James Taylor) was forwarded by Sky. Do what you can.

"The Navy's sonic assault on whales should be stopped immediately. I'm asking for your help to make it happen. Let me be clear: I have the deepest respect for the U.S. Navy. When I was growing up, my father was a doctor and commander in the Navy. His role in helping to establish a base at the South Pole in 1957, as part of the International Geophysical Year, had a lifelong impact on me. We loved the Navy because it helped win World War II. But we also loved the Navy because it was a leader in the scientific study of the natural world. That's why I feel so strongly that today's Navy should be using its vast resources to protect not just our nation but the health of our planet's oceans as well. And it's why I am so distressed by the acoustic onslaught the Navy is now waging beneath our planet's oceans -- an onslaught known to kill whales with dangerous mid-frequency sound waves. Mid-frequency sonar is designed to detect enemy submarines. The Navy's warships deploy underwater speakers that blast the ocean with noise in excess of 235 decibels -- a sonic barrage roughly comparable to a Saturn V rocket at blast-off. That explosive level of noise can cause whales -- who have an exquisite sense of hearing -- to panic, surface too quickly, and hemorrhage internally. Many beached whales have been found bleeding around their brains and ears after their fatal encounters with military sonar. Imagine a sound so disorienting or so painful that you jump out of the sea and die on the beach rather than be subjected to it for another minute! From a whale's point of view, the Navy's sonic assault must seem like torture. But that torture isn't just cruel, it's unnecessary. You see, the Navy could adopt simple safety measures when training with sonar that would prevent the needless infliction of pain and death on these magnificent animals. For example, the Navy could avoid marine habitats where whales are known to migrate, feed, and raise their young. These common-sense precautions would not compromise military readiness. But the Navy refuses. So the maiming and killing of whales goes on. This callousness toward nature -- toward the ocean itself -- does not reflect the Navy I grew up with. We deserve better. And, as Americans, it's our right to demand better. Our message is simple: Whales should not have to die for military practice. Please join me and millions of other people in getting that message to the U.S. Navy and to Congress. Click here now and tell the Navy to do the right thing.

Sincerely, James Taylor, RDC Action Fund"

AND IF YOU HAPPEN TO BE...

…the only person on the planet who hasn’t seen the Britney Spears MTV Awards train wreck, here it is again.

The secret word is Over

WE'RE DOING IT AGAIN

“We’re going to see Mick & Andy next Thursday?”
“Of course, darling, we’re purple-haired, future-retro space lesbians, what else could we do?”

Mick Farren and Andy Colquhoun will be rolling out their two-man psychedelic deviant future blues at Tequila Mockingbird’s Club Fluffer at the Hyperion Tavern in Silver Lake next Thursday (September 13th) and you are cordially invited. We have not been informed as yet of show time, but we figure showing up between 9.30 and 10.00 PM would be about right.

Hyperion Tavern, 1941 Hyperion Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027. 323-665-1941

Drink it up, tip the waitress, forget your troubles and come on down. (Our current slogan.)

But now we move to something considerably more grim...

FIRST THEY FUCK UP OUR PLANET AND NOW THEY WANT TO SHOOT US FOR FUN

The following distressing item was forwarded by some girl. “An…Independent on Sunday investigation has found that polar bears are being shot in alarming numbers by rich trophy hunters from the US, Europe and Japan, even as their increasingly fragile habitat melts beneath them. Campaigners know that climate change and pollution are the biggest threats to polar bear survival, but believe that stopping sports hunting is symbolically important.” Yeah? My initial reaction was to more than symbolic. It was violently angry. I wished I was younger, and had a helicopter and an AK47. It would give me deep satisfaction to shoot some of these rich bastards and see how the fuck they like a burst of hollow points ripping into their ass. Click for the rest of the story.

The secret word is Revenge

FRAGMENTED SUNDAY

Seems to be a lazy Sunday, fit for doing very little except tidying up outstanding stuff. We have two versions of the same story about the latest theory on bee disappearance from Betsy and Mike. And also an intriguing bit from Valerie on just how smart octopi are turning you to be.
And also The Small Faces singing the magnificnent obvious. (Look for Steve Marriot's very brief Jagger impression.)

FREE MUSIC

HCB also forwarded another of those sites where one can get free downloads of old Deviants recordings if you know how to work them. In this instance it’s Disposable

AND AN OPTICAL ILLUSION

The secret word is Headache

ALL THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT

Valerie has sent a fascinating link to Project Censored – News The Didn’t Make The News. It’s long, but some of it really makes the blood run cold. “Project Censored have their new book and list for 2006-2007 (Still don´t understand why the books called "2008").”

The secret word is Smokescreen

LEVEL 5 TASTE WARNING! (Help is here!)

"Darlings, we're to save you from the Crocs. And we have heels!"

CHARLIE IS STILL TV's DARLING

The media constantly prove themselves such suckers for the combination of death, Hollywood, and the 20th century. This week MSNBC felt the need to drag out poor, 72 year-old Charlie Manson as the personification of psychedelic evil in a show luridly titled The Mind Of Manson. They didn’t even bother to wait until some kind of anniversary or parole hearing. In the interview segment, Charlie made the point that he was the squares’ scapegoat for all the stuff they hated and feared about the 1960s. And, to a degree, I have to sympathize with the guy. Beside Pol Pot, Charlie was a rank amateur. Click for some of Charlie’s recent rantings that MSNBC didn’t get. (By the way, Charlie will be next considered for parole in 2012. One more factor for a year already gathering unhealthy significance.)
Meanwhile, in this week’s LA CityBeat, my media column is all about the mass attempts to subvert Wikipedia and names the guilty.

The secret words plainly have to be Helter and Skelter

SURPRISE! This has to the Web Toy of the Week! (Thanks some girl)

LEVEL 5 TASTE WARNING!

THESE ARE CROCS. SHOOT THE WEARER ON SIGHT. TAKE NO PRISONERS. ACCEPT NO EXCUSES.

I TOLD YOU RONALD REAGAN WAS HAUNTING DOC 40

Yeah, Ron? And when the hell is America going to wise up to the fact that socialized medicine in one form or another is the only practical and civilized solution, unless a nation is so extreme and alarming in its moral bankruptcy that it is quite prepared to allow its poor to suffer and die (yes, die) while supporting the obscene profits of insurance companies, HMOs, the medical profession and pharmaceutical industry? Hey Ron, your family wasn’t financially devastated by your Alzheimer’s, but hundreds have been. To demonize functional, organized, single-payer healthcare as “socialist” is as fundamentally absurd as talking about a “socialized” army or “socialized” sanitation and highways. (Although Bush seems to be busy privatizing the bloody military.) Healthcare is simply another facet of national defense, or, if you like, the national infrastructure. If the idea of altruism bothers anyone, look at it as self-interest. Is capitalism simply too obtuse to realize that, if the poor have no health care, they represent, in the event of an epidemic (or pandemic) an untreated vulnerability vector that points the virus straight at the rich? I would go on at length except everyone seems to glaze over at this point in the rant, refusing to accept that, in the matter of healthcare, the USA willfully chooses to be a third-world hellhole for about 40 million of its citizens. (Pic from Tom Sutpen)

The secret word is Sick

And all this talk of health care provides, I guess, the thinnest pretext for running Elvis Costello and Steve Naïve playing “Pills & Soap”

Luciano Pavarotti – RIP

IT DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU'RE YOUNG OR OLD, YOU JUST HAVE TO BE A ROCK STAR

Thanks HCB

DOC'S PAPERBACK CLASSIC'S # 25

It’s amazing what the media will come up with on a slow news day. In this instance MSNBC offered a stunning statistic. "Rock stars - notorious for their "crash and burn" lifestyles - really are more likely than other people to die before reaching old age. A study of more than 1,000 mainly British and North American artists, spanning the era from Elvis Presley to rapper Eminem, found they were two to three times more likely to suffer a premature death than the general population." I guess you can file it under "fast", "young", or "corpse." Unless you want to read more, let’s just end this barely relevant piece of data with Sid Vicious singing My Way

The secret room is 1009

PS The Los Angeles heatwave seems to have broken. I may soon be back to my normal irate self.

(Pic from HCB)

RANDOM TUESDAY

Mind deadened to a dull ach by the same layer of motionless heat, power blackouts, dull dissatisfaction, and, other scenarios shopping themselves in Hollywood as prequels to the apocalypse or beasts caged in the heart of the city (they should be so lucky) I offer nothing except a clip from Doug the Bass demonstrating just how barking crazy Ted Nugget really is and how he should be put out of his misery with one of his own guns.

The secret word is Craving

A ROMANTIC ON LABOR DAY

The translation is “Anarchist books are arms against fascism” (Thank you Valerie.) Which I allow to reassure me that I am not a fraud, because all I do is write or rant about the fight for what I fondly define as liberty. And also, with its Spanish Civil war !No pasaran! romance, the poster totally shames me into renewing my belief that the struggle will continue – must continue – no matter how distracted or diluted it may have become, because, very simply, this planet could be a fucking paradise if we would simply stop abusing and exploiting it and each other.

The secret words are If Only

And here’s the Clash doing “Spanish Bombs” – trite perhaps, but at least Joe always meant it.

POST-HUMAN (a hot night rumination)

Here in Los Angeles, the temperature was pushing 100F this afternoon with no exaggeration. Parts of the city suffered power blackouts, and the cat decided it was sufficient reason to demand two breakfasts just in case some PM apocalypse might occur and upset what the airlines call meal service. And, of course, it’s the Labor Day holiday weekend in a city, country, and culture with so little pride in the power of labor or the dignity of unions that a party or parade would – like socialism – be just tooo 20th century. (But what do I know about work? I’m a bloody writer.)

And as a writer a found a couple of brand new hyphenated words to play around with that came with both a thrill and a chill…

“Post-human” he muttered to himself, over and over, ruminating and less than happy.

If you heard it here first, you heard it heard it here first, but I doubt it will be the last time (maybe the last time, I don’t know.) Supposedly the post-human condition will be whatever emerges in the wake of The Singularity when, in thirty or some years, as predicted by Ray Kurzweil and others, the computers will be smarter than we are and they’ll be calling the shots, and our brains will supposedly be integrated with advanced microprocessors and nanobots will be rebuilding our cellular structure, granting us virtual immortality. Or possibly our personalities will be uploaded onto a super-future hard drive and then decanted into some incredible piece of animatronic biotech. Although when I say we, I actually don’t include myself in all this because even though I quit cigarettes, I in no way expect to live another thirty years with US healthcare, and even if I did, I would be so fucking old when all this came to pass, I'd hope to be too full of synthetic opium to care. And I would also be more than a trifle ashamed to evolve into something more complex and some kind of wonderful while a planetary crisis of extinct polar bears and level 7 hurricanes still almost certainly will remain unsolved. Or is being solved by the super smart computers who might – like Skynet, the Matrix, the Daleks, and HAL 9000 before them – decide that the first and most rational and eminently sensible move towards restabilizing Earth would be to exterminate humanity with all possible speed.

But it’s a hot night and I’m really only playing with the words
“Post-human?”
“Post-human?”
“Post-human?”
“Post-human?”
“Post-human?”
“Post-human?”

The secret word is Hell

And for no other reason than impulse and the mood of the night here's the orginal b&w video of David Bowie singing "Wild Is The Wind" (And, of course, the song does contain the secret word.)

ANOTHER JULIAN BEEVER

Here’s another Julian Beever (the English artist famous for his chalk art on the pavements of England, France, Germany, USA, Australia and Belgium – see last Wednesday.) A crowd gathers around the archeological illusion. (From HCB)

NOAM CHOMSKY MAKES IT PERFECTLY CLEAR

Doug the Bass sends over this was an 'off the cuff' response by Brother Noam Chomsky, during a public talk, to an audience interruption asking "...what are you talking about? Fascism? Anarchy? Define your terms."

"Fascism is a system of government that exercises a dictatorship of the extreme right, typically through the merging of state and business leadership togetherwith a belligerent nationalism."

"Anarchism is not just a romantic fable but the hard-headed realization, based on 5000 years of experience, that we cannot entrust the management of our lives to kings, priests, politicians, generals, and county commissioners. It is founded on the observation that since few people are wise enough to rule themselves, even fewer are wise enough to ruleothers."

The secret word is Hope

(And, of yeah, Andy and I had a pretty satisfying show last night – mainly thanks to Francine.)

The email is still byron4d@msn.com

A MOMENT OF COMPLETE SELF-INDULGENCE

Where is the woman in the black vinyl dress?
And why does she weep and stumble from the mausoleum?
Last night I had the dream I have feared
For over a year.
The surrealist cocktail of grief and Gethsemane
The twisting vortex of fury and dead flowers
Is there significance that it comes 48 hours
Before I have agreed to perform?
And Nick Cave is singing Suzanne
On my TV
At a Leonard Cohen tribute
In Canada
And, at that point, I almost catch myself
In a moment of madness
Buddhist or booze fighter?
Savage or St. Francis?

I never made it to Assisi
Or Alpha Centauri
But I can’t stop now.
Why should I?

(Poor Otis dead and gone, left me here to sing his song.)

There is no secret word. But come and see us play. Maybe the duck will drop.

(Andy Colquhoun and I perform tonight at Tommy Ray’s. See Monday for information)

HILLY KRISTAL -- RIP

RONALD REAGAN IS HAUNTING DOC40

I don’t know if it’s an omen, good or bad or what, but Ronald Reagan keeps popping up all over. Here he is with James Dean on the cover of the new Radiators From Space CD. It was sent over by Miss Templeton who explains its provenance. (But beware. There’s more Reagan to come.)

"It's from a 1952 TV playhouse thing in which Dean is rather good as a drunken beatnik and Reagan is, well, Reagan as a Doctor who has been held hostage by Dean until he can fix up his friend who is badly wounded - they can't go to a hospital because the wounds occurred in the course of a robbery or whatever. It's called "The Dark Dark Hours" and is mostly rubbish, Dean's fascinating hep-talking beatnik excepted. Classic network cheese. A black/white simplistic moral situation, decent society vs degenerate 'other' and then everyone's perennial favorite: guns. It wouldn't be more than a footnote in either actor's history, except that one of them became the President of the United States at the time when the national Chevrolet was taking a hard turn to the right. And the other become the international icon of that streak of raw American rebellion that's always there and ready and doesn't even need to wait for a cause."

The secret words are Republicans Caught In The Men’s Room

(AND DON’T FORGET I’LL BE PLAYING LIVE TOMORROW. SEE MONDAY’S POST FOR DETAILS)

CAUCASIAN CHALK ILLUSION

Julian Beever is an English artist who's famous for his chalk art on the pavements of England, France, Germany, USA, Australia and Belgium. The 3D illusion is a real mindfuck. Figure where the chalk stops and the beer begins. (Thanks HCB)

PERMISSION TO BE FREE

(Spanish Civil War poster from Refugi 307)

After writing for most of the weekend, my hands hurt, I had no thoughts left, and some local weatherman with a flair for the dramatic he probably gleaned from watching Inside The Actor’s Studio, was telling me that another unmitigated heatwave was on the way. On Thursday I’m doing my first live show in god knows how long and everyone will stay home and hug the AC. But then this diatribe turned up from Frank-in-the-Bunker via Doug the Bass and I figured it was wildly radical enough to pass along instead of a resume of my late summer August neurosis. The gun control argument may get some of you going. It is, however, almost identical to the Black Panthers position on firearms. (And probably what got a whole lot of them massacred by cops and FBI.)

"Slave: "Master, will you please stop whipping me?"

Master: "No."

Slave: "Ow. Pretty please?"

Master: "No."

Slave: "Ow. Darn."

There you have the entire political process, in this country and every other. Instead of asking nicely, should the slave be allowed to forcibly stop the master from whipping him? Surely we can't have that! That would be against the "law"! No single sentence better sums up the belief that we are the PROPERTY of the politicians, than this one: "You have to work within the system."In other words, we have no right to do what we want, until we first get the politicians, via "legislation," to SAY we have the right (which means it isn't a "right" at all). "Mom, can I please go out and play?" "Congress, can I please keep more of what I earn?" The asking itself implies that THEY have the right to decide, which in turn implies that they OWN all of us.The Declaration of Independence speaks of unalienable individual rights--which we didn't get from "government," and which no "government" has the right to deprive us of. Why, then, when the politicians do violate those rights (as they do on a daily basis), do we ask THEM to please stop it? It's because the general public does NOT believe in unalienable rights at all.If someone is trying to steal my car, do I need the THIEF'S permission before I have the right to try to stop him? No. So if tyrants are stomping on my rights, why would I need to ask them for "legal" permission to resist their oppressions? The very idea is idiotic. When it comes to "lobbying" politicians, I find the example of "gun control" particularly amusing. Lots of Americans believe, as the Founders of the country did, that an armed populace is the best guard against oppressive government. In other words, the common folk should be armed so that, if the government becomes overly abusive and oppressive, the people can violently overthrow it. So how silly is it to "lobby" politicians to please "legalize" private gun ownership? Consider the absurd message it sends: "We have the right to forcibly resist you if we decide you're being oppressive! So, um, can we please keep our guns? Pretty please?"The Founders said these things a lot more politely, and in a more respectable, civilized manner. I'll say it so anyone can understand: If someone tries to disarm you, when you haven't committed force or fraud against anyone, you have the absolute right--"law" or no "law"--to kill the person who tries it. Oddly, even most "gun rights" advocates don't like putting it that way, though their stated reasons for "gun rights" is to protect against tyranny. Well, duh: if you need the tyrant's PERMISSION (via "law") before you'll resist tyranny, what's the point?A consistent message from people who believe in gun rights—which admittedly would make most people very uneasy (because of their underlying "government"-worship)--would be this: "Dear Congressman, I understand you are considering voting for so-called 'legislation' that would disarm me. Be advised, if you do that, I have the right to kill any thugs you send to disarm me, and the right to kill you for sending them to do it. Have a nice day."I know a LOT of you cringed when you read that. No offense, but the only reason you would cringe is if, deep down inside, you believe that we are all OBLIGATED to obey whatever commands politicians decide to dish out. And in order to believe that, you must believe that each of us BELONGS to them. If some private individual threatened to come into your house to disarm you, most of you would, without hesitation, condone a response such as: "Try it, and I'll blow your damn head off!" And if ten people, or a hundred people, threatened to disarm you, you'd have the right to violently resist ALL of them.So why would you have any less of a right to do it--and why does the idea of forcibly resisting make most people uneasy--when people wearing the label of "authority" try it? Aren't they just people, too? In most peoples' eyes, NO, they aren't just people; they are representatives of our collective master, our OWNERS: "government." And as long as the people hold that view, the ONLY power they will ever have is the power to pitifully beg their masters to please be nice. In other words, they will have no power at all. A lot of people have said that they want something somewhere between what I speak of and what we currently have. They want a lot less government, but not none at all. But once again, when it comes right down to it, there are only TWO options: either we each own ourselves, or we are all owned by "government." There is no in between, and there can be no compromise between the two. EVERY so-called "moderate" solution concedes that we are slaves, but asks our owners to be nice. If we own ourselves, we don't NEED their permission to be free, their "laws" carry no obligation to obey, and we have every right to forcibly resist their infringements just as we would have if our neighbor decided on his own to start "taxing" and "regulating" us. If you ask me, being a slave who can only beg his master to be nice isn't good enough. If that makes me an "extremist," so be it. If I were a slave, I'd prefer a nice master. I'd be oppressed so rarely, and to such a small degree, that even I would rarely bother to complain about it. Nonetheless, there is still a fundamental, crucial difference between being the property of a wise, benign, permissive and kind master, and owning yourself. The former should never be accepted as being good enough. – Larken Rose

The secret word is Right!

A PROMOTIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT -- WE ROCK AGAIN

It’s been while since Mick Farren and Andy Colquhoun walked their musical dog in the Los Angeles basin. But did you really think we’d hung it up? Hell no. We’ll be rolling out the two-man psychedelic deviant future blues at Tommy Ray’s on Ventura for a special show next Thursday (August 30th) and you are cordially invited.

Tommy Ray’s, 12345 Ventura Blvd, Studio City, CA 91604 (That’s like between Laurel Canyon and Whitsett.)
(818) 506-2412

And if you’re wondering about the heat of the dog days, the show’s on a patio. So drink it up, tip the waitress, but make sure you come on down.

(Goddamnit, this reads like an old time radio commercial.)

The secret word is Nervous

I'M NOT SURE WHAT THIS HAS TO DO WITH THE ABOVE

Bernie sent this review from yesterdays Sunday Times in London of a 32 track CD compilation called “Cries From The Midnight Circus – Ladbroke Grove 1967 – 78” on which I feature on three cuts with and without The Deviants.

"The soundtrack of Richard Curtis’s Notting Hill ignored bands from the area in favour of anodyne pap appropriate to the film’s content. Here’s the real soundtrack of Notting Hill: 32 tracks follow musicians from Ladbroke Grove, London’s little Haight-Ashbury, as they shed shaggy afghans for proto-punk street gear. The Pretty Things invent the rock opera on Defecting Grey; American expats the Misunderstood preempt psychedelia with the eastern stomp Children of the Sun; with Do It, the Pink Fairies could have been our Stooges; and Mick Farren, a local legend, flails around enthusiastically, achieving nothing but sounding splendid."

I’m clearly a little conflicted. I feel that “achieving nothing” is possibly an understandable error, so I’m totally concentrating on the “sounding splendid.”

FREE STUFF ON SUNDAY

Can’t write anything profound, insightful or even just plain silly today since I am contending with the deadline from Black Lagoon. I can, however, offer you a free download (if you can follow the directions, which I’m not sure I can) of Gringo Madness by Tijuana Bible. Tijuana Bible consisted of Henry Beck, John Collins and me, and was a minimalist, highly poetic, Manhattan anti-folk, unplugged kinda endeavor that played live in the saloons of the Lower East Side in the late 1980s and reconvened on a snowy weekend on 9th Avenue to cut this epic around the time Bill Clinton was getting elected president.

And if that’s not enough, how about some retro-culture in the form of a video of James Dean and Gig Young in a safe-driving public service TV spot.

The secret word is Overworked