The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

    A Career in Writing

    As we all debate Substack and what not, let's look at the glamour and appeal of a career in writing (yes, a bit dated - perhaps)

    Welcome back Kotto (aka catching cabs in NY)

    Nice elegy by Dennis Hartley for Yaphet Kotto - one of those faces you knew only too well even if you didn't know his name, along with this gem on how not to catch a cab in New York, courtesy Michael Moore.

    Thanks for all the films, i feel indebted.

    https://digbysblog.net/2021/03/r-i-p-yaphet-kotto/

    "The Culture Warped Pop for Good"

    Murder on the Hippie Highway

    The story of a mass murderer with a huge amount of magnetism and extreme ability to make things go his way - whether a Jeffrey Epstein, a Donald Trump, or a more obscure minor tyrant, it's a disturbing reminder of how easy it is for some to turn on the charm and extortion, contrary to our lawful rational universe expectations.

    https://edition.cnn.com/2021/03/13/asia/serpent-bikini-killer-sobhraj-in...

    Rosie Perez tale

    Somehow reflects on so many things we discuss around here, seemed worth the read.

    https://www.nickiswift.com/296045/the-tragic-real-life-story-of-rosie-pe...

    50 shades of Covid fan fiction?

    Increased levels of lockdown resentment and paranoia could drive a whole new industry and genre.
    Maybe the Joker was right - that which does not kill us makes us stranger.

    Orion's picture

    Sears Golden Strings - "White Christmas."

    Oldie but goodie.

    An aside about what would inspire someone to post Christmas music in the middle of February: an older black man approached me today while humming Christmas tunes in the middle of February. He then proceeded to talk about the end times. 

     

     

    Rickroll revival? Never say never.

    somebody remastered the "Never going to give you up" tape and it's looking like some Gen Z folks are intrigued

    color n i were talking abt this video and
    ... whys rick astley looking kinda hot pic.twitter.com/TJfwKTpI1v

    "Human beings who happen to be black"

    No one saw the Carny go

    Critic's Pick: ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’ Review: I Was a Panther for the F.B.I.

    Julio Cortazar - why just 1 reality?

    We've underestimated our psychological complexity, our capabilities.
    A game and not a game, and more.
    Once these were the discussions of art & politics.
    Rayuela - Hopscotch. We don't move linearly - we jump around.

    On Kamala Harris' stepdaughter's "style"

    My wife has been dressing like Ella Emhoff for as long as I've known her: "She wears Crocs and mismatched handmade clothes, though she also has what she terms a 'uniform' of black pants and a white tank top." https://t.co/qQ6V8CfYBV

    — Dr. Joseph Frusci (@JFrusci) February 1, 2021

    Homerin' Hank

    As a kid i couldn't understand why Hank Aaron got all these death threats and such pursuing the Babe, while everyone I knew was thrilled. I suppose or hope they had to realize there were tons of scrawny white kids proudly looking at their Hank Aaron, Bob Gibson, Joe Morgan, Lou Brock baseball cards as they followed the season each year.

    Mr. Smith goes to Washington

    Before our haiku master passed away, he left with the knowledge that Trump had won the 2016 election. How galling that must have been for him.

    It would be presumptuous to make anybody a witness that can't speak for themselves but I am pretty sure I hear this:

    When you mess with me
    You provoke your own demise
    Water is the wine

    Streaming=Stealing from Musicians

    Gary Newman describes his £37 payday for a million streams.

    Obscene ripoff from an industry that never had a good reputation to start. Still, why would you go the trouble of performing in 2021?

    And what other creative industry does this apply to?

    https://news.sky.com/story/gary-numan-one-of-my-songs-got-over-a-million...

    To Know Him Is to Love Him? Wall of Sound silenced

    It's hard to think of a musician as flawed as Phil Spector - maybe Ike Turner.
    Yet there's something to hear his wife defend his music, his studio work,
    in an era where moral lapses and chasms are not just career enders, but
    signal an end to viewing.
    But nobody every really thought most musicians were nice boys and girls - 
    they were the seedy side of life that were going to corrupt our souls with rock 'n roll.
    With Phil, they were almost right - he corrupted his own, while he left the rest of us
    a diamond mine.

    Orion's picture

    Spiritual Front "Song for the old man"

    I'll sing my worst song at your impeachment, old man Trump.

     

     

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