This incredibly sweet poster was designed by the talented Mr. Mik Cary. Wish I could have gone to the show...

Some interesting reading from Our Man Tabor.

Paging Professor X or the DEO...

Here's an interesting little news item from the English version of Pravda. Wonder how close this fellow lives to Chernobyl?

Thanks to Mike Cary for passing this on.

Looks like a thankfully light week for me, comics wise, according to the latest Diamond shipping list. On Wednesday, I'll be picking up:

Lucifer 34
Ultimates 8
and
Strangers in Paradise v3 55

That's it! Of course I will review them when I get the chance. You have a Johnny Bacardi Show guarantee on that.

Just added, although I've been aware of it for a few weeks now: author William Gibson's blog page. You'd think that if anyone could write a good one, he could. See link at right.

I've also added a great many new blogs by other, not so well-known but no less interesting individuals. Look at right and investigate. And if any of you are reading this, feel free to add me. Just because I'm not on that high-falutin blogroller thingamabob doesn't mean I don't need some lovin'.

Sad news: Mickey Finn, Marc Bolan's percussionist during the glory days of T.Rex, is dead. Maybe I should hunt up Dewayne Gardner and have another wake like we did at age 17 when Bolan died.

Between today and yesterday is like a million years.

Link via Warren Ellis.

While staying up late the other night watching TV, I caught another one of my "eye magnet" movies. You know, when you're flipping and you run across one, no matter how many times you've seen them before you watch. And watch. Films like (for me) Snatch, the Fifth Element, Pollock, The Hudsucker Proxy. A couple of nights ago, another: Absolute Beginners.

You may be familiar with it; it's a 1986 big screen musical adaptation of the Colin McInnes book about teenage lifestyles and race riots in late 50's & 60s Britain. I've never read the book, and I understand that those who have and loved it were alternately outraged and disappointed in the film. Being unfamiliar with McInnes' novel, all I can do is take the film at face value, and I flat out love three quarters of it.

Directed by then-hot music video director Julien Temple, it's just one visually amazing set piece after another, with a great, eccentric cast, led by Patsy Kensit and some inspired stunt casting like those stalwarts of RCA's glitter years, David Bowie and the Kinks' Ray Davies. Early on, at least, it's about a young photographer named Colin, played by one Eddie O'Connell (who somehow managed to avoid doing much of anything else filmwise of note after AB). Colin wants to maintain his integrity as an artist as well as avoid exploiting the teenage scene from which he's been making a meager living taking snapshots of, but he is also deeply in love with beautiful blonde "Crepe" Suzette (Kensit), who has aspirations for wealth and fame that don't extend to staying in Colin's world. Eventually Suzette, through her job as a fashion designer assistant, manages to attract the interest of Henley, the unctuous gallery owner, and they become engaged. Henley, however, is an aging homosexual who doesn't love her– he wishes to marry Suzette as a front. He's even open to Colin and Suzette seeing each other on the sly after a while; of course, Colin wants no part of it. Feeling dumped by Suzette, Colin is determined to win her back and eventually winds up involved with some of the more corrupt characters in London society including one Vendice Partners (Bowie), a real estate developer who is behind the effort to forcibly eject the minorities living in the London slums where Colin lives so he can build new apartments. Eventually, racial tensions reach the boiling point and a riot breaks out, and all gets sorted out before it's over.

The description doesn't really do it justice...one of the highlights of the movie is the scene in which Colin goes to a party at Partners' on the invitation of Partners' wife, gossip columnist Dido Lament (played by the ubersexy Anita Morris). Of course, Colin sees Suzette there with Henley, gets very drunk, and has this great drunken conversation with himself, in a mirrored cul-de-sac, while some pumping jump-jive music (the great "Sellin' Out) by Slim Gaillard plays in the background and Dido mixes a martini by wedging the shaker between the heel and sole of her seven inch stilettos! Colin takes a swing at Henley, misses, and lands on the spinning floor humiliated. After he picks himself up he encounters Bowie, who wishes to hire him to be his photographer. They have a huge production number, dancing on a immense typewriter...it's one of the most intoxicating 15-20 minutes of film I've ever seen. And believe me, much more happens before and during this particular sequence.

Another highlight is the song by Ray Davies, who plays Colin's father. Colin hates to come home, because his shrewish mother has turned their home into a boarding house and he pities his father who almost seems to be a tenant in his own home. Ray gets to do an Arthur-ish ditty called "Quiet Life", while chaos breaks out in the house all around him as he does his household chores. Most of the song is performed on a set which is a cutaway view of the house itself, where we can see everything that goes on in all the rooms at once. It's an amazing scene.

Unfortunately, the movie grinds to a halt with the climactic race riots. It's probably very much in keeping with the spirit of the book, I can't say, but it's so different in tone to the rest of the film that it's extremely jarring and after you've watched it once you won't care to see it again. It's as stolid and forthright as the other three-quarters of the film is imaginative and exciting.

Heck, if nothing else it's worth seeing to watch Anita Morris mix that martini. I searched high and low on the internet to find a picture of it. If you haven't seen AB, I recommend it highly–it's one of the most underrated musicals ever. It's inexplicably unavailable on DVD, but well worth checking out on Showtime, if you get it, or on VHS.

For the first time in ages, I placed an order with Columbia House, which I received yesterday. What I got was the latest from the Indigo Girls, titled Become You, This Is Where I Belong: The Songs of Ray Davies and the Kinks, and Lou Reed's Berlin.

I've been an admirer of the Girls' music for many years now, beginning with their great Rites of Passage album, where they learned to garnish their earnest folk with Irish instruments, electric guitar, strings, and so on. Added a few more colors to their palette, if you will, and each subsequent release has been outstanding.

The Kinks tribute features many muscians I like, such as Ron Sexsmith, Fountains of Wayne, and Matthew Sweet, along with a couple of friends of mine, Nashville musicians Tommy Womack and Bill Lloyd, who chip in with a great collaborative effort on one of my favorite Kinks tunes, "Picture Book". Name dropper? Me? Plus, it has humorous liner notes written by Mr. Davies himself.

Lou's Berlin album, about drugs, dysfunctional relationships, S & M and dementia in that fabled city, is one that I came to love (as much as you can love it) back in the 70s. It's not a happy fun record by any means, but it's gripping and often lovely in places, and I recommend it to anyone not on lithium. Since album cover design and packaging are a passion of mine, I must note that the CD release has replaced the original, distinctive and quite beautiful in its own way handwritten script that was used on the LP for all the type including lyrics, credits, and so on with a script-looking font that is intended to simulate handwriting, for better readability, I assume. Problem is, the font is still too small and is very hard to read, especially in the case of the inside booklet notes. So what was the point? The artificial font is nowhere nearly as good looking as the original handwriting, and is no more readable.

Oh well, that's me in a nutshell. ("How did I get in this nutshell? It's so cramped and small here in this nutshell!") There's just no pleasing me sometimes.

As you can probably infer from the wedding picture below, I was not really into the Disco lifestyle. I was more of the stoner-in-an-army-jacket type who wouldn't dance unless I was held at gunpoint or so drunk I didn't know what I was doing. So you probably deduced that I wasn't much of a Bee Gees fan back in the day. I just couldn't relate to most Disco music. Hate is a strong word, especially since I was receptive to dance music- Sly and Parliament were faves of mine in my teenage years. But most disco just got on my nerves. One reason was because of my job at the time, in the prepress of a large printing factory where they broadcast the local top 20 FM radio station all day and all night over the ceiling speakers. We had to listen to it, you couldn't turn it completely down...I got fed up once and cut the wires, but then I got nervous about getting in trouble so I spliced them back together. This was at the height of the Disco era, and the Bee Gees got constant airplay. I also think it was just that awful Robin Gibb falsetto, with his fricking hand constantly over his ear, being played over and over and over on the radio that I couldn't stand. "Tragedy" was the worst by far, with Robin squealing "loving you, loving you, luuuu-vvviiiing yooooouuu" a dozen times in eight hours for months on end. I often fantasized about taking pencils and jamming them in my ears just to make it stop. But really, when it came down to it I was never one of those "Disco Sucks" clods, and eventually I came to appreciate the music of Chic and KC, among others, but it took me a long time. And I never looked good in a tapered silk shirt, either. Amusing aside-the first movie my wife and I saw on a date was Saturday Night Fever. Oh dear.

However, the passage of time and the (presumed) subsequent maturity have caused me to re-evaluate the music of the Bros. Gibb over the years. The older, pre-disco stuff is somewhat interesting, and when you get right down to it (and they're not being played on a radio at work that you have to listen to all day long) "Jive Talkin'", "Night Fever", "More Than a Woman", and others are damned catchy and pretty darn good R&B slash Disco slash Pop. I've even got mp3s of "Jive" and "Woman" on this very computer. So it is with a little sadness that I read about the death of Maurice Gibb today. You know, the bearded one who wore hats to cover up his shiny head. Now whether or not this means no more Bee Gees I cannot say, and I can't say it will affect my life one way or another if it does...but it's always a tragedy to lose one of the giants from back in the day, and make no mistake, the Bros. Gibb qualify. So requiescat in pace, Mr. Gibb.

Mr. and Mrs. Bacardi, 24 years ago today. Get a load of those sideburns.

For those who believe in omens, my turntable is malfunctioning again. Went bad right before the Falcons-Eagles game. It worked for about 5 hours after I got it back from the shop, and now it's playing at the wrong speed and is inconsistent about when it will come on when I lift the tonearm.

Sigh.

Now I gotta take it back to the shop and see if the guy thinks he can do anything with it. If he can't, or wants to charge me again, then I'm going to take it and toss it in the path of an 18-wheeler.

Here's a late suggestion for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar: Joe Nedney.

This game reminded me of one reason why I dislike the Titans. They never seem to beat anybody conclusively; their games are always decided by controversy. I know I'm generalizing here, but if the game ends in a flukey play of some sort, it's always a good bet that the Titans are involved. But don't get me wrong...I realize that the Steelers lost yesterday because of their inability to contain Steve McNair. He was, and I think will continue to be, a difference-maker for the Flaming Thumbtacks. I'm sure all the good old boys in Tennessee are thrilled to death with that.

And while I'm not happy with the outcome, I gotta say I'm pretty proud of my Falcons. They went in and hung tough with the Eagles last night, despite losing half of their starting defensive backfield ...and if they could have just eliminated many of the stupid penalties they committed in the first half, the outcome might have been very different. Mike Vick has GOT to work on learning how and when to throw the ball away. If they brought their A game to Green Bay, they brought their B minus game to Philly. Typical for the Jekyll-Hyde team Atlanta's always been. If we can just get a couple of players on both sides of the line in the off-season, who knows– the Falcons might just acheive back-to-back winning seasons for the first time.

New Christgau Consumer Guide up over at the Villiage Voice.

Spent most of my day today looking for a couple of used vehicles. The fellow I work for at the radio station also owns a car lot, and I'd like to think he will give me a decent deal on something. My truck is in the shop more often as not these days, as is my daughter's; my son's car was rearended a month or two ago and got totalled, leaving him carless, and Mrs. Bacardi's car has a lot of problems, like oil leaking into the coolant for starters. I'm looking at giving my son my Rodeo to drive until he can get steady employment and theoretically get his own transportation, getting two newer vehicles for me and Mrs. B, and getting Abby's fixed until she can pay on something for herself. Motor vehicles are the bane of our existence, it's sad to say. Can't afford to pay on a new one or keep an old one on the road. Guess if I'd stop buying comics I could afford a Porsche or something. Maybe if I put one of those keen Amazon.com honor system buttons somewhere on my site, all of you out there would help me buy new cars!

Other than that, I've been spending most of the afternoon catching up on all the vinyl I haven't been able to listen to for over a year now, including two or three I won on eBay but haven't been able to play like Frank Sinatra's Watertown, Curved Air's Phantasmagoria (check out that cool cover above), and Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention's The Grand Wazoo. Am I eclectic or what? I've also given spins to Graham Central Station's Mirror, Maria Muldaur's Sweet Harmony, Roger Glover's soundtrack to the Butterfly Ball and Grasshopper's Feast, Sparks' Propaganda, Mary Hopkin's Earth Song/Ocean Song, and Godley & Creme's Ismism.

Hope you're telling the truth, Pete.

Damn. Wycheck just scored, shooting my score prediction down. The Steelers are coming up small on defense, and McNair is gutting it out as usual.

That's all for now, more later maybe.

Johnny B's Fearless Football Picks

Continuing a grand tradition I began last weekend, here's what I see for the upcoming games:

Steelers vs. Titans For various reasons, I've never been much of a Titans fan, despite the fact that they play only an hour and a half away. This year, I've kinda come to respect them since they opened up their offense and have groomed a hungry young defense. I see this being a low scoring contest, and I like the Steelers' ability to score on the Flaming Thumbtacks a lot more than vice versa...I'll take Hines Ward and Plaxico Burress every time over Derrick Mason and an anonymous cast of hundreds of WRs. Steelers, 17-13.

Falcons vs. Eagles Well, I picked against my boys last weekend, and they rewarded me with a victory that will go down in franchise history. I'm tempted to take Philly for that reason alone. For Atlanta to pull off another upset, it's essential that they are able to run the ball with Dunn, Vick and Duckett against a Eagles D that is every bit as strong and quick as Tampa Bay...and we all know how well Atlanta ran against Tampa Bay. So while I fervently hope they prove me wrong again, I gotta go with the Iggles 24-17. Damn.

49ers vs. Buccaneers Speaking of the Bucs, if they can get any QB play at all they should be equal to the task of shutting down the Niners. They can hurry-up all they want, but Jeff Garcia and Terrell "Jackass" Owens will find the speedy Bucs D a lot tougher to solve than the poise-less Giants. And bet your ass the officiating will be better, too. Bucs 27-17.

Jets vs. Raiders Boy, everybody's jumping on that J-E-T-S bandwagon, aren't they? They do kinda have that team of destiny look about 'em, no doubt, but Rich Gannon, Jerry Rice and Tim Brown will be the difference-makers, methinks, and the Men in Black have just enough D to stifle if not shut down Pennington and the young Jets receivers. I see a shootout. Raiders 35-28.

There you have it! So far, I'm 2-2, and I should have been 3-1 if not for boneheaded officiating and dumbass Giant defensive backs. Remember, these prognostications are for entertainment purposes only. Bet this way at your own risk.

Oh happy day! My turntable is fixed! With any luck, I'll go get it tomorrow.

My enthusiasm for DC's Legion book has dimmed slightly, but it's still one of my favorite reads and it looks like it's going in an interesting direction with a spiffy new art team. Read more about it over at Pulse.

Here's some interesting Beatles news.

Glad it's from the Let It Be sessions; I was afraid maybe some lost Gone Troppo or WIngs at the Speed of Sound-period tapes had been recovered.

COMICS REVIEWS
Week of January 8, 2003- what I bought and what I thought!

1. DAREDEVIL 41 The old axiom that you get what you pay for doesn't hold true this time around. I paid almost two and a half dollars more last week for a comic that wasn't half as good as this one. Fun story, nicely dialogued as usual by Bendis, and very well drawn by Alex Maleev, except, curiously enough, for his terrible rendition of the Owl which makes him look like Wolverine after Jenny Craig and a three day bender. I've always had a soft spot for the Stilt Man character...one of the first comics I ever owned was Daredevil 8, above, which sported great Wally Wood art, especially the cover. He's used very well here. The Stilt Man, not Wood. A

2. 100 BULLETS 41 The usual outstanding Azz/Risso story and art, giving us more Trust/Minutemen puzzle pieces on the one hand, while giving us a clever counterstory on the other. A

3. FABLES 9 More Fractured Fairy Tales, this time out wrapping up the second story arc in a somewhat rushed fashion and with a surprising cliffhanger at the end. I've never been much of a fan of Mark Buckingham's pencils; as a penciller, I've always thought he made a good inker. But he serves the story well, and Steve Leialoha's inks give him a Kirbyish flavor. A-

4. POWERS 27 Another consistently excellent book. The pottymouthed super-hero satire at the beginning was amusing, but I'm sick to death of super hero parodies- nothing makes an easier target. As for the rest of the story, so low key that it seems like almost nothing of consequence happens, it gets by on characterization, which is Bendis' saving grace. A-

5. VERTIGO POP: LONDON 3 Milligan & Bond's little morality play takes some interesting twists and turns, and not in directions that I thought it would go. Good on them. A-

6. JSA 44 This seems to be a week for rushed finales. The gimmicky resolution to the whole Egypt thing was kind of a letdown, but now that it's out of the way we can get into what I want to see, the Doc Fate meets Gemworld meets...a surprising return character at the end. B

7. HAWKMAN 11 I've really tried to like this book, really I have. But the scripts, while they try hard, never really rise above standard superheroics. Whatever the reason, you can't fault Rags Morales, who draws these turgid events with energy and style. B-

8. KILLRAVEN 4 If I didn't love the McGregor/Russell 70s version of this character so much, I might think more of this well-intentioned but feckless revival attempt, and actually, if one looks at it objectively, this is the best issue yet. But as a series it's an aesthetic failure, for reasons that are intangible, like heart and soul and emotional investment which I usually always seemed to get from McGregor & Russell but are beside the point for Davis. For him, this is a vehicle to demonstrate the he can write as well as he can draw, and nothing more. Problem is, he can't. C+

Stolen shamelessly from the incredible GoodShit: The Top Ten Nude Scenes of Year 2002. Enjoy.

Me, I'm thinking I gotta rent Human Nature with Patricia Arquette. I still haven't gotten over her in those clunky high heels in Goodbye Lover.

Coldplay's "The Scientist" from their latest album "A Rush of Blood to the Head" is one of the most flat-out lovely songs I've heard in what seems like forever. Even if he does channel Bono singing "Stay (Faraway, So Close)" a bit at the end.

Also wanted to pass this on: You may recall that thanks to the nice folks at Blogarama, I won a $50 online gift certificate. After giving it some thought, here's what I bought: The Essential Johnny Cash and Exploding: The Highs, Hits, Hype, Heroes and Hustlers of the Warners Music Group.

When I was a wee lad (refer to my Christmas Day picture in the archive), my Dad was a league bowler. I went with him often and while he bowled, I would beg him for dimes so I could play records on the huge jukebox they had at the alley. One song which grabbed me and wouldn't let go was "Ring of Fire" by the Man In Black (no, not the Shadow, Johnny Cash!). My Dad got tired of giving me dimes, I think, and went out and bought me the 45, which I played almost as much as Meet The Beatles on my little blue record player. Johnny Cash and the Beatles pointed me towards the road to ruin. Unfortunately, I don't have any Cash records, not even the fine Rubin-produced ones of the last few years, and this is my first step towards rectifying this situation.

Also, I have always had a lifelong (well, since 1970 or so anyway) fascination for the artists, look (graphics), and feel of Warner Bros./Reprise Records product, especially from the period 1967-1975. This book is a history of sorts about those days, and I'm really looking forward to reading it.

And that's how I spent my unexpected windfall. I'm sure you would have done differently. Unfortunately, fifty bucks doesn't go a long way, especially when you're trying to qualify for free shipping, necessitating that you pay Amazon prices for everything.