tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62336747580438707512024-02-06T21:27:39.081-05:00H i M i P o Vvent.....purge.....repeat.Randy Aitkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17162458539450451627noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233674758043870751.post-68246204602503546892012-05-12T18:52:00.003-04:002012-05-13T13:55:19.501-04:00Ticket to Ride analyzed by Ian McDonald in Mojo Magazine Oct. 1994<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The exodus officially began on Halloween night 1994. My then current existential nightmare in Los Angeles was ending, and the trip home was about to begin. I was finally going to drive cross-country back to Baltimore. This would complete my five year California adventure. Just a few weeks before my departure, I bought a copy of the October 1994 Mojo Magazine with The Pretenders lead singer and guitarist Chrissie Hynde on the cover.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">I remain a pack rat to this day and the Oct. '94 issue is still with me almost eighteen years later.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">In the upper right corner is a sticker indicating that I purchased it from the Virgin Megastore in Hollywood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today Tower Records and Virgin are no longer physically with us. Only the memories of the old brick and mortar stores that we thought would be around forever have survived.</span> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=mojocoveroct94.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/mojocoveroct94.jpg" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">One of the feature articles offered excerpts of a new Beatles book "Revolution in the Head" by Ian McDonald.</span> I specifically enjoyed his appraisal of Ticket To Ride. </span></div>
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<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=finalMojo94OctTickettoRidearticle5122012508pm.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/finalMojo94OctTickettoRidearticle5122012508pm.jpg" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">As an eight year old Beatles fan, the 1965 movie <strong>Help!</strong> and the Capitol lp soundtrack brought incredible joy and happiness into my life. Ticket To Ride has always had a special place in my heart. Music fans were spoiled with the riches of creativity in the 60’s and riding the career path on the bandwagon with The Beatles provided many touchstones of meaningful shared experiences. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The bonds that I have made with music and film over the years of my life are incredibly strong.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Ticket To Ride remains one of the most powerful of those emotional bonds. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I bought <strong>Help!</strong> (or received the album as a birthday gift) when it was first released in mid-August 1965, and I was visiting my relatives in Virginia. Like <strong>A Hard Day's Night</strong> and other Beatles albums, I played <strong>Help!</strong> to death and sang along. Whenever I hear a song like Ticket To Ride, I can remember and make a welcome return to not only my youth, but to a period when breakthrough moments in pop music culture were not only amazing and delightful but refreshingly abundant.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">In the clip below The Beatles peform Ticket To Ride on the Ed Sullivan Show which was recorded in August for broadcast in September '65. </span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Looking back and listening to this clip with the hindsight of what we know about the history of The Beatles, John Lennon's live rough vocal honestly and clearly indicates the artistic acceleration of his internal maturation and an aging process that is in overdrive and fully engaged.</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/WH59eCChLUA?fs=1" width="459"></iframe>Randy Aitkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17162458539450451627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233674758043870751.post-86560320908187793152011-06-29T03:50:00.003-04:002011-06-29T17:21:23.526-04:00Happy 100th Birthday Bernard Herrmann!<span style="color: black;">Today is June 29, 2011 and it is the centennial anniversary of the birth of Bernard Herrmann who began his film career with Orson Welles on <strong>Citizen Kane</strong> in 1941.</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">In the same year he won an Oscar for his score for <strong>The Devil and Daniel Webster</strong>.</span><br />
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<strong>Jane Eyre, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, On Dangerous Ground, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Mysterious Island, Cape Fear, Fahrenheit 451 </strong>and<strong> The Bride Wore Black</strong> are just a few of the memorable and beloved scores that he composed.<br />
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Although Herrmann worked with notable directors other than Orson Welles such as Nicholas Ray, Robert Wise, J. Lee Thompson, and Francois Truffaut, it remains true that his work is most closely identified by the public with the films of Alfred Hitchcock.<br />
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<strong><span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">Bernard Herrmann/Alfred Hitchcock rehash: </span></strong><strong><span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">What if ?</span></strong><br />
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What if Bernard Herrmann and Alfred Hitchcock had not suffered through a professional and artistic<br />
unraveling of their longtime relationship in 1966 on the film that became <strong>Torn Curtain</strong>?<br />
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Hitchcock's previous film from 1964 was <strong>Marnie</strong> and it was the last collaboration he had with Herrmann and it was not a financial hit. The phenomenon known as The Beatles were selling tons of soundtracks to rabid rock and roll fans kids who were going to the movies AND buying the LPs released by United Artists for<strong> A Hard Days Night</strong> and by Capitol Records for <strong>Help!</strong> The ecstatic high of Beatlemania was making MCA Universal jealous for "the youth market" dollars and therefore they wanted to rake in the dollars with big soundtrack sales of a contemporary pop score to <strong>Torn Curtain.</strong> <br />
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Even though Herrmann promised Hitchcock that he would make a pop score happen that would change the direction of their previous work, it was not meant to be. Alfred Hitchcock was stunned when he visited the studio and heard Herrmann conducting and recording his latest work for <strong>Torn Curtain </strong>which was just as wonderful and old fashioned as his previous work had been for Hitchcock and he promptly fired him.<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=torncurtainmultisplit2june2820111129pm.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/torncurtainmultisplit2june2820111129pm.jpg" /></a>
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Obviously we will never know what might have been accomplished if they could have renewed their creative partnership. After Hitchcock dismissed Herrmann they never worked together again. Film biographies of Hitch and Herrmann retell the story of how Herrmann stopped by Hitchcock's office a few years later in an attempt to repair their relationship, but purportedly Hitch hid behind a door and would not see Herrmann.<br />
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The Wikipedia listing about Bernard Herrmann includes a quoted section from an interview with Herrmann's wife Norma which tries to correct the perception of Hitchcock turning a cold shoulder to Herrmann. Examine the section which follows this lead-in sentence:<br />
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"In a 2004 interview with Günther Kögebehn for the Bernard Herrmann Society (titled <i>Running with the Kids: A Conversation with Norma Herrmann</i>), she states:"<br />
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Herrmann">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Herrmann</a><br />
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If you wish to consider the "What If?" question about Bernie and Hitch,<br />
I think it might be appropriate to listen to this Elvis cut . . .<br />
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<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=torncurtainmultisplit2june2820111129pm.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="186" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/torncurtainmultisplit2june2820111129pm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<strong>Elvis Presley -</strong> <strong>That's Where Your Heartaches Begin</strong><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeifr8lCghM">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeifr8lCghM</a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeifr8lCghM">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeifr8lCghM</a><br />
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It is best to not dwell on what might have been and return our focus as movie fans upon the brilliance of the entire career of Bernard Herrmann, and specifically upon the incredibly successful run that was achieved during their years together as one of the greatest working partnerships of a composer and a film director in cinema history.<br />
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As most cineastes know only too well, between 1955 and 1964 they collaborated on eight of the best films directed by Alfred Hitchcock at the height of his powers:<br />
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<strong><span style="color: #0b5394;"> </span><span style="color: black;">The Trouble With Harry</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: black;"> The Man Who Knew Too Much</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: black;"> The Wrong Man</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: black;"> Vertigo</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: black;">North by Northwest</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: black;">Psycho</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: black;"> The Bird</span></strong><strong><span style="color: black;">s</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: black;"> Marnie</span></strong><br />
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A total of seven original scores by Bernard Herrmann and one picture as sound consultant on <span style="color: black;"><strong>The Birds</strong>.</span><br />
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After the glory years with Hitch and a resurrection of his career by working with Brian De Palma on <strong>Sisters</strong> and <strong>Obsession</strong> in the 1970s<strong>,</strong> Herrmann closed out his mighty body of work with his last score for Martin Scorsese's <strong>Taxi Driver</strong> which was released in 1976 and dedicated to the memory of Bernard Herrmann.<br />
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<strong>Taxi Driver</strong><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVP9dgZhddc&feature=related">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVP9dgZhddc&feature=related</a><br />
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<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=bernieat100collagera6282011FINAL.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/bernieat100collagera6282011FINAL.jpg" /></a>
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<span style="color: #e69138; font-size: x-large;"><strong>Happy Birthday to Bernie!</strong></span><br />
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<span style="color: #e69138; font-size: x-large;"><strong>All hail Hitchcock and Herrmann!</strong></span><br />
<br />Randy Aitkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17162458539450451627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233674758043870751.post-86385933308827392662011-06-22T02:22:00.001-04:002011-06-22T05:05:01.713-04:00Bruno Alexiu's score to L'Enfer D'Henri-Georges Clouzot is now availableIn 2009 I had hoped that we would see a cd release of music by Bruno Alexiu.<br />
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<a href="http://musi-cine-howlwithlaughter.blogspot.com/2009/11/henri-georges-clouzots-inferno-feel.html">http://musi-cine-howlwithlaughter.blogspot.com/2009/11/henri-georges-clouzots-inferno-feel.html</a><br />
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As of June 15, 2011, the soundtrack to<strong> L'Enfer</strong> has finally been released. <br />
Do yourself a favor and get it.<br />
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<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=cdcovertoLEnfer.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/cdcovertoLEnfer.jpg" /></a>
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The cd is available through Disques Cinemusique<br />
<a href="http://www.disquescinemusique.com/DCM_130_A.html">http://www.disquescinemusique.com/DCM_130_A.html</a><br />
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It is also available through Screen Archives Entertainment.<br />
<a href="http://www.screenarchives.com/title_detail.cfm/ID/15504/LENFER-DHENRI-GEORGES-CLOUZOT-INFERNO/">http://www.screenarchives.com/title_detail.cfm/ID/15504/LENFER-DHENRI-GEORGES-CLOUZOT-INFERNO/</a><br />
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<br />Randy Aitkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17162458539450451627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233674758043870751.post-66534212696662463642011-06-21T19:25:00.000-04:002011-06-21T19:25:35.225-04:00Pino Donaggio's "The House" from the complete score to CARRIE on KritzerlandIn 2010 a limited edition 2 cd set of the Pino Donaggio complete score to Brian De Palma's <strong>CARRIE </strong>was released by Kritzerland. The single cd may be easier to purchase, but if you can find it, I say buy the out of print Kritzerland 2 cd set. It is a joy to listen to if you are a fan of thrillers, Brian De Palma or Pino Donaggio or Stephen King. <br />
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I am especially fond of the composition entitled "The House" on the first cd of the Kritzerland release. The version of this track entitled as "Collapse of Carrie's Home" is available on the original album single cd release. <br />
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The music begins with an introductory section that is operatic and beautifully overwrought in just the right way and it is repeated twice. This section then moves into the lower depths and what we experience is our entrée to an eerie and haunting realm. We hear a slowly commanding and pulsing electronic force wrapped into the strings and the music inspires an awe and a disbelief in the listener (well at least this listener) at what we hear, see and imagine.<br />
<br />As it comes to an end in just over 90 seconds, we are left hanging and exhilirated as we await the next step in the journey. I love it.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/RandiniDeAitkenese?feature=mhee">http://www.youtube.com/user/RandiniDeAitkenese?feature=mhee</a><br />
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The Kritzerland site can be viewed at <br />
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<a href="http://www.kritzerland.com/">http://www.kritzerland.com/</a><br />
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Currently the online feeds of entertainment news topics show a desire by Hollywood to emake <strong>CARRIE</strong> with a new cast. I'm sure they will do it, but how do you top what was created back in 1976 by De Palma and Donaggio? Who will be chosen to score the picture? There will always be remakes for younger audiences, but in my opinion it will take a <em>really </em>talented team to match or top the original film. <br />
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Why not put the effort into something new? Take a risk.<br />
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In the meantime I say stick with the original winner which is captivating and compelling: <strong>CARRIE</strong>.<br />
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<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=Carriecovers2011.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/Carriecovers2011.jpg" /></a>Randy Aitkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17162458539450451627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233674758043870751.post-68535548670514966122011-06-09T16:47:00.000-04:002011-06-09T16:47:16.631-04:00An appreciation of "Red Lenses": a brief look at the Rush composition from Grace Under Pressure<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Neal Peart is the drummer in the Canadian power trio RUSH and tonight he will appear on Late Night with David Letterman as one of the featured performers during "drum solo" week.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I wanted to take a look back at a song of interest to me which is a showcase for the band and specifically Peart as a master drummer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><u>A random recipe for a rock song:</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Mix together the following musical ingredients:</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>a healthy dose of Who swagger,</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>crisply defined, flanged- guitar riffs, </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>clean rock bass, propulsive drums, </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>and lyrical allusions to phobias, fear and
communists.</span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">As you move forward in the progression of the composition, you alternate
between two bi-polar musical sections:</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 37.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>an overall stealthy, undercover-cool spy groove
which suggests a sense of control which surrounds and contains within it a
secondary contrary musical part</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 37.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>an intermittent syncopated section of material
that conveys absurd mania and borderline insane feelings via dance rhythms that
feature drumming skills of technically precise paranoiac percussion maneuvers
that builds tension and annoys the listener who desires and seeks a return to the
first section.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The sound elements within the song are unique to the group and not derivative,
even though at the same time they clearly reveal a love of Keith Moon and Pete
Townshend of The Who.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Continue this musical "struggle" for 4 minutes and 45
seconds, and you are left with an unusual </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">mid-1980s offering of a well-performed, slickly produced,
clever rock track entitled</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">"Red Lenses" by Rush.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8avwgsp159chttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8avwgsp159c"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8avwgsp159chttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8avwgsp159c</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">As listeners to the song there is no way out of this alternating cycle
other than through a fade-out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We will hear musical changes along the way. However as we listen there
is recognition and perception of an impasse. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Lyrically there is a real world-topical-op-ed-item of anxiety (please
fill in the blank with your concern) to consider and reflect upon; this anxiety
is of a type that we find in the world and in life where change will not occur;
we can only observe and worry and wonder about it as we visit this arena of the
song and then exit. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have experienced
an uneasy balance of opposing forces in co-existence, an eternal struggle of
polar ideas that remain at odds with each other.</span><br />
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<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=grabfromrushcomofredlensesgraceart.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/grabfromrushcomofredlensesgraceart.jpg" /></a>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>Randy Aitkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17162458539450451627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233674758043870751.post-73423080673540058232011-02-13T15:17:00.041-05:002011-02-25T22:12:34.439-05:00Valentine's Day 2011 - Brian Wilson's "Melt Away"<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In the early 1990's when I lived in Los Angeles, I had an opportunity to go to a special event that I couldn't miss. On Sunset Boulevard across the street from what was at that time the location for Tower Records, Book Soup was presenting Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys who was signing copies of his new autobiography enitiled <em>Wouldn't it be Nice</em>.</span><br />
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<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=brianwilsonbookcoverwouldntitbenice.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/brianwilsonbookcoverwouldntitbenice.jpg" /></a> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was early in the evening as I waited in line patiently with the other fans to gain access to the store. </span><br />
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<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=booksoupexteriorphoto.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/booksoupexteriorphoto.jpg" /></a> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We were allowed to enter in small groups of perhaps 5 -10 people. When it was my turn to meet Brian I asked him what music he had been listening to and enjoying and he replied "Joan Jett."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In the background about ten feet away to the left behind Brian I could see someone who was probably with the staff smiling. The mood in the room was a gentle feeling of shared quiet approval. I told Brian Wilson that I thought his track “Melt Away” from his self-titled 1988 solo album was right up there with any of his best material. Before I left, I thanked him and I shook his hand. He chose to keep his pen in his right hand and it was cradled in a resting place between his pinky and thumb on one side and his middle three fingers on the other side. It wasn’t a blood brothers gesture but with this odd but appropriate handshake, to me this was an act that sealed and confirmed the spiritual and holy and emotional bond that I have always felt with the best music that I adore, and here was a rare opportunity to honor and thank a creative master in person after years of partaking in visits to his aural kingdom of confessional studio storytelling.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">His autograph was certainly legible and a bit scrawled like a child would make in the fifth grade and I could really identify with it as my penmanship has always been horrible. The signature made me recall the blotted ink of my youth, it made me remember my history of inadvertant artistic smudges using a BIC pen either on paper or the regular bluish bleeding through from the pockets of my pants or ruining the pocket of a previously white button-down shirt as the ink erupted onto what had become my personal canvas of clothing. Ah, the travails of a brutal youth.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was so pleased to be at the book signing; I can remember my fun paying tribute to Brian Wilson as a junior in high school back in 1974. I was the MC of the Friends School talent show, and I performed “Surfer Girl “ and “In My Room” a capella with a few lovely girls named Denise and Lottchen (and perhaps Lisa or someone else?) providing complementary hand flourishes and movement and girlish eye-candy and sizzle to enhance my lovestruck teen angel performance. The gals provided a support system to my attempt to share with an audience a celebration of Brian Wilson's creativity, to go-for- it, and to transcend that sense of being a wannabe into an "I am" moment, and to reinforce the idea of the fleeting, hard-to-find, elusive symbolic "other" that us males who dig gals want to embrace. I felt satisfaction in my relaying the feelings of Wilson's songs and my cover versions uncovered my love of his work.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">At Book Soup I was finally able to see Brian Wilson in person and pay tribute.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I will never forget the opportunity that I had in Los Angeles to meet one of the greatest pop music giants of my generation and to shake his hand and say thanks.</span><br />
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<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=BrianWilsonsoloalbumcover.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="548" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/BrianWilsonsoloalbumcover.jpg" width="640" /></a> <br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I still think that "Melt Away" is one of his best ever. Given all of the public awareness of the anguish and turmoil that Brian Wilson has had to try and cope with over his many years of personal solitude, this newer tune allowed the listener to return to a state of wonder. In this song, it was such a relief to welcome back an old friend that many people had ignored or abandoned. This marvelous musical world of Brian Wilson's carousel mind and the sonic landscape that only he can create always exists. We just need to find it. With his songs he is providing an invitation to the audience, and as always he is musically saying to anyone who cares or has the time to share in his point of view: "I'm still here, listen." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Like many of the highlights and favorite moments of his finest compostions, at one minute and eleven seconds into "Melt Away", I feel that we can receive the privilege of reaching deeply into the core feeling of a higher emotional expression, one that lies within all of us and is sometimes if not often unexpressed, and this frustration is given a welcome release as it is conveyed by the freedom and sincerity of Mr. Brian Wilson.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em>Note:</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><em>There are several You Tube videos of "Melt Away" available to watch although none of them are the original track as it was released on his solo lp. See if you can find the original to listen to. I had submitted a video link to the original version and unfortunately for this posting, it was withdrawn due to copyright issues with WMG.</em></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>Randy Aitkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17162458539450451627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233674758043870751.post-39677612133288837612011-01-25T14:42:00.000-05:002011-01-25T14:42:29.995-05:00Rando Brando pop culture dream<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=randobrandooneeyedjacks.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/randobrandooneeyedjacks.jpg" /></a>Randy Aitkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17162458539450451627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233674758043870751.post-47945581957152273622011-01-06T19:45:00.006-05:002011-01-07T19:03:40.010-05:00Another look at hustling money via character assassination.<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=MarkTwainparodywithoutbonuscdinfo.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/MarkTwainparodywithoutbonuscdinfo.jpg" /></a><br />
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<br />
Mark Twain has been in the news recently due to the revised reissues of <strong>The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn</strong> and <strong>The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.</strong> When public figures become newsworthy, they also become targets for exploitation and character assassination. Check out this bargain bin attempt to air Twain's alledgedly dirty laundry via audiobook.Randy Aitkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17162458539450451627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233674758043870751.post-55277835357222558692010-12-24T17:31:00.004-05:002010-12-24T17:39:37.469-05:00Goodbye to 2010 - Hello 2011: A Christopher Walken OdysseyWhy not celebrate the end of 2010 by playing a music link in the background while you contemplate the wonders of life?<br />
<br />
These wonders of life I believe include your blessings and experiences that you have already had and those about to be.<br />
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I just found this great picture file of Christopher Walken in space from the site called Mighty Optical Illusions. <a href="http://www.moillusions.com/">http://www.moillusions.com/</a><br />
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<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=ChrisWalkenfreakouteyes.gif" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/ChrisWalkenfreakouteyes.gif" /></a> <br />
<br />
So I say check out Chris as he moves forward on his interstellar quest for more cowbell while you listen to some tunes. I dig these two for starters:<br />
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The George Russell Sextet playing an excerpt from <span id="btAsinTitle"><em>Electronic Sonata For Souls Loved By Nature</em></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIIMGBKb8CA&feature=related">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIIMGBKb8CA&feature=related</a><br />
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and also<br />
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Iron Butterfly playing their <em>Iron ButterflyTheme </em><br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDoWtqIGUjY">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDoWtqIGUjY</a><br />
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If you hold the Ctrl (Control) key down while you click on the link, the tune should automatically begin playing in the background while Chris does his thing.<br />
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Cheers and Happy Holidays!<br />
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<br />
<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=philosopherchriswalken.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="philosopher chris" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/philosopherchriswalken.jpg" /></a>Randy Aitkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17162458539450451627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233674758043870751.post-14662386454553782682010-12-08T21:27:00.006-05:002010-12-08T22:03:57.654-05:00Losing Lennon, Dad, Donald, and Tommy - RRA's Nostalgic Road Trip 1980 - 1996 - 2010<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">1996 was a really tough year for me because in short order I lost three very close friends.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Strike One.</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">My dad died in August after battling cancer for 2 years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Two nights before he died I attended a King Crimson show in Philadelphia with my friend Steve.</span></div>
<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=KCbackstagepassphillyshow96.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/KCbackstagepassphillyshow96.jpg" /></a> <br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We had a great time that night. I believe it was the last night of the KC tour and through Steve's friendship with Bill Bruford, we had received back stage passes and we gave BB a ride to his hotel. Perhaps the relief I felt at getting away from my father's illness if only for one night may have lessened the heaviness of losing him two days later.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Here I am with my father in the early 1990s.</span></div>
<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=raanddachristmaspixforblog.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/raanddachristmaspixforblog.jpg" /></a> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Strike Two.</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Donald King, the father of my childhood friends David and Julie and Doug King, who along with his wife Ellen were classmates of my parents at the Peabody Institute of Music, passed away a few weeks later in November of a heart attack. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Donald King in our dining room Winter 1986-1987</span></div>
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<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=DonaldKinginourhouse1987.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/DonaldKinginourhouse1987.jpg" /></a> </div>
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Donald King and my Dad in David and Patti King's Reservoir Hill backyard late 1986 or thereabouts.</div>
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<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=DonaldandDadinbackyardReservoirHill1987.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/DonaldandDadinbackyardReservoirHill1987.jpg" /></a> <span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">He always reminded me of Ross Martin (Artie in <em>The Wild Wild West</em>) and he was (like my father) a great cook and a talented organist and a funny guy.</span></div>
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<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=artieandjim.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/artieandjim.jpg" /></a></div>
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Ross Martin as Artemus Gordon and Robert Conrad as Jim West in <strong><em>The Wild Wild West</em></strong>.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Strike three.</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Then in December for the first time I experienced the loss of one of my earliest childhood friends. Thomas Kent Winchester died of cancer at the age of probably 43 or 44. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">He was born on December 11<sup>th</sup> in the early 1950's. When he passed away, the date was 11 days after his birthday on December 22<sup>nd</sup>. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia;">He was one of the people that I would always consider to be like a brother to me. Being that I have always been an eternally young and lonely, only child, I have always welcomed the bonds that I have had with friends like Tom.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We grew up together playing baseball and football and trading baseball cards. I had never met anyone like him before. He was like a mogul when it came to collecting things. He used to buy Topps cards by the box. He bought candy bars by the box.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For years he got so excited about Christmas that he would find out where his parents had hidden his presents.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">On his yearly pre-Christmas holiday undercover-special ops task, he would penetrate the perimeter of his parents' bedroom. He would traverse the closet door defense and then silently unwrap the gift boxes, and then he would put them back in the wrapping paper and return them to the closet vault. He did this because HE HAD TO KNOW what he was going to get, and he always liked life when it was on his terms. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">His lifelong passion for collecting things like his Beatles collection and his sports trading cards came in handy. As he grew older, he began to shed his collecting bug. In his later years these pop culture possessions were akin to stocks and bonds as they allowed him to cash in these items as needed to survive. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Like many kids in our age range, we were Beatles fanatics and we listened to their music and we really knew the catalog. The songs were religious hymns in our church of pop culture. We made Christmas ornaments together, and went shopping for albums and 45s in downtown Baltimore, and we ate a lot of pizza, and lots of other fun stuff and I’m sorry he didn’t live a longer life. He died too young, and unfortunately he grew up in a family atmosphere where there was a strong preference for smoking. Many of the photos that I have of Tom show him with a cigarette in one hand.</span></div>
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<br />
<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=RABeatlesinMono25percentsize.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/RABeatlesinMono25percentsize.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">As fate would have it, the Beatles Mono Box arrived today on December 8th 2010, and it is an early Christmas present for me waiting to be played. It was Tommy Winchester who called me from Idaho that Monday night on December 8, 1980. He wanted to let me know that Lennon had been murdered. To hear that brutal news from him made it "official" given all the positive quality time that we had spent together, and much of it accompanied by the music of our heroes the Beatles. We had experienced a loss in our family, and we needed to share the loss of Lennon.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Tom Winchester was a true friend and such a character like most of my friends from Baltimore, and I thought I should post a photo of "Kent" today. In his later years he preferred to be called by his middle name with the family ties to the Eastern Shore, but to me he will always be Tom.</span><br />
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<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<strong>Tom and Randy</strong></div>
<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=TKWandRandy.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/TKWandRandy.jpg" /></a> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">For a short time when I first became a huge fan of The Who, I thought that TKW enjoyed the rock opera <em><strong>Tommy</strong></em> only because it had the same name that he had. I was wrong.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">All I can say right now to TKW is “Merry Christmas” and to ask of him, “Tommy, can you hear me?”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG1faQDJJvg"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG1faQDJJvg</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The link above is from The Who live at Tanglewood in 1970 performing "Christmas".</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Here are two frame grabs of everybody's favorite rock drummer Keith Moon playing in the above You Tube link. </span><br />
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<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=MoonjumpsforChristmas.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/MoonjumpsforChristmas.jpg" /></a> <br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Keith is so excited about playing "Christmas" that he is jumping out of his seat three different times to maximize the impact of his sticks upon the second cymbal crash before the arrival of each part of the lyrics as the song goes forward! The Who during their peak years were undeniably POWERFUL. They were funny and ferocious, incredibly symphonic, always emotional, bombastic and in-your-face, sensitive and confessional, essential, meaningful, and heavy and timely, and that's why I loved them so.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Like all the things that I love deeply and care about, I still do.</span></div>Randy Aitkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17162458539450451627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233674758043870751.post-30613730724881901842010-12-03T00:36:00.000-05:002010-12-03T00:36:01.278-05:00RRA as a hybrid: one part Aurora model, one part pitchman for healthy eating. (More goofy bits for laughs)<br />
<b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">You're getting hungry.........very hungry. I want to sell you my breakfast bar!</span></i></b><br />
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<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=randulabrandgranolaclusters.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/randulabrandgranolaclusters.jpg" /></a>Randy Aitkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17162458539450451627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233674758043870751.post-50566472528894172172010-12-03T00:23:00.000-05:002010-12-03T00:23:45.761-05:00iTunes day one - Streaming Beatles First Concert November 16, 2010 12:35 PMOn Tuesday November 16, 2010 the Beatles finally made it to digital download on iTunes.<br />
I sat down just before noon to watch some of the free streaming video of the Beatles first concert in Washington, DC.
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Here are some frame grabs from the video stream that I watched that day on iTunes.<br />
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It never fails to amaze me that even as I get older, there continues to be new milestones that mark the impact of the Beatles upon pop culture.<br />
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<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=finalcollagegrabsbeatlesitunesday1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/finalcollagegrabsbeatlesitunesday1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>Randy Aitkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17162458539450451627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233674758043870751.post-53754893600376155512010-12-01T20:12:00.026-05:002010-12-11T17:20:33.582-05:00December 1, 1974 .... I remember it well.<p$1><p$1><br />
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<p$1><p$1><b>December 1, 2010</b></p$1></p$1></div>
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<p$1><p$1>Tonight is the 36<sup>th</sup> anniversary of a wonderful event. Unfortunately for my friend Chuck, he had tickets to a concert that we all wanted to see and he was unable to attend because he was going on a family trip out of state. I was able to buy his tickets and I brought my friend Mike with me to see Genesis with Peter Gabriel perform the <b>Lamb Lies Down on Broadway</b> at the Lyric Theatre. In the early 1970’s, rock music fans who enjoyed progressive rock were really spoiled by the variety and high quality of theatrical presentations and musical concepts. Although fans take heat from the "in crowd" when it comes to 70's Prog, The <b>Lamb</b> remains one of the greatest rock concept albums ever created and one of the best shows that I ever attended. Tonight I remember the amazing time that we had. I’m sorry that Chuck could not go, and I am grateful that I could be there.</p$1></p$1></div>
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<p$1><p$1>A few years ago in 2004, on the 30th anniversary of its release, I went with my friend Jamie to hear a Genesis tribute band called The Musical Box perform the complete <b>Lamb</b> using period instruments and pedals. It was remarkably like the original presentation. The verisimilitude was assisted by the tribute band having obtained the permission of Genesis to use the original slides and some props in the recreation. </p$1></p$1></div>
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<p$1><p$1>Although my picture below of the interior of the hand out that concert goers received when attending the <b>Lamb </b>concerts in 1974-75 is "blown out" and over-exposed from the flash, I find it to be wholly appropriate to the feeling that the audience had when the stage lighting pointing at the audience went off just like a pair of massive flash bulbs. This occured when these lyrics from<em> Lilywhite Lilith</em> were sung:</p$1></p$1></div>
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<p$1><p$1>" ..two golden globs float into the room and a blaze of white light fills the air."</p$1></p$1></div>
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<p$1><a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=blownoutlambhandout1211974.jpg" target="_blank"></a>Picture 2 - This is my ticket stub and a (slightly) more legible view of the inside layout of the concert handout. It replicates the content that is found on the inside of the album gatefold cover.<br />
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<p$1>Picture 3 - Back in 1974 or thereabouts, the recent Genesis catalog releases were repackaged. Here is a shot of the Genesis Collection Two box which housed a poster and the British import lps of <b>Foxtrot </b>and <b>Selling England by the Pound</b> with the <b>Lamb </b>handout and my ticket stub just above it.<br />
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Genesis performs "The Waiting Room" a.k.a. "Evil Jam" live from the <strong>Lamb Lies Down on Broadway</strong> tour at the Shrine Auditorium L.A., CA in 1975<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAgL18d7F-Q">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAgL18d7F-Q</a><br />
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updated 12 10 2010<br />
updated 12 11 2010Randy Aitkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17162458539450451627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233674758043870751.post-78826361649489685122010-11-30T01:00:00.034-05:002010-12-11T11:59:58.831-05:00Burke and Terry in Blow Out<br />
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1>In the bottom of the frame grabs just above we see on the left the interior of the ladies room at 30th Street Station, and on the right the exterior location of the Liberty Day celebration at night.</p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><br />
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1>These frames are a nice example of De Palma's artistry in the manipulation of a shape which reinforces the telling of the story. </p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><br />
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1>One aspect of the visual throughline in the production design of <strong>Blow Out</strong> are the colors red, white and blue and naturally the American flag. </p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1>We see patriotic bunting in the hotel celebration with Gov. McRyan on the local news, and we see the flag in public and being offered as mementos for sale during the evening portion of the Liberty Day event. To my eye the design of the lines and shapes in the framing of the ladies room suggests a variation on a theme. This is an abstraction which blends into the scene but it also stands out as being an odd interpretation of the US flag.<br />
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1>When you see the film and observe the continuity of meaning, these two frame grabs are an instance of how De Palma can visually stimulate the viewer graphically with the immediacy of the story line as it occurs in real time, and simultaneously he is providing another building block for the viewer to reach an understanding of a character and allow the audience to experience a more satisfying emotional climax of the film.</p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><br />
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><p$1><p$1>The Burke murder of the hooker takes place in a public setting. </p$1></p$1><p$1><p$1>This rendering of the American flag with a blood red upper left grid (which replaces the 50 stars on a blue square), and a wall of cold-looking closed </p$1></p$1>aluminum doors with vertical lines being emphasized (as opposed to the horizontal alternating white and red stripes) are not just visual details of the location of a murder, it is also an indication of how Burke, in his delusional state, has confused his psychopathic murderous substitution of violence as sex with a paranoid vision of being a patriot. He performs his undercover tasks in the open and in the dead of night.<br />
He is cloaked within his misguided sense of what is right. He believes he is serving to protect our flag and our country. Burke is a lethal, real-life embodiment of the goofy slasher who wears a satin red, white and blue jacket as seen in <i>Co-Ed Frenzy</i>, the film-within-a-film in the first reel of <strong>Blow Out</strong>.</div>
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1>The vertical lines in the ladies room scene, along with the framing used in the exterior of 30th street station scenes are links to Burke and his dominance, his active role as an obstruction to progress and healing, his ability to operate freely and impede others and control the flow of the film.</p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><br />
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<p$1><p$1>Jack Terry will become the true patriot that Burke pretends to be, and with Terry surging forward towards the audience with the American flag so boldly pulsing in the background, we see a triumph of the horizontal over the vertical in Terry's struggle with Burke.<br />
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In order for the viewer to feel the ultimate impact of the climax and final reel of <strong>Blow Out</strong>, De Palma has to create a chain of events that will prepare us for that moment. De Palma creates an initial link between the shower scene in <em>Co-Ed Frenzy</em> and Sally's scream and the verticality associated with Burke as the film moves forward from this shot of the mixing board in the first minutes of the film. These types of visuals are also an indication of the relationship between a beginning and an end, a story moving full circle, and a story line that will progress from stasis to a new location of a bottom to a new vista at a top; this is a movement through aspects of mood and structure presented dramatically, architecturally and emotionally. In order for that to occur for the viewer with the understanding of hindsight, which is a quality of introspection that is often not available to a main character like Jack Terry, the audience needs to "see" the film repeatedly or certainly more than once or twice.<br />
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</div>Randy Aitkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17162458539450451627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233674758043870751.post-44360292192703433512010-11-27T17:00:00.000-05:002010-11-27T17:00:15.599-05:00I miss Stanley Kubrick<p$1><a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=kubrickposterfaceforFBorblog.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/kubrickposterfaceforFBorblog.jpg" /></a></p$1>Randy Aitkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17162458539450451627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233674758043870751.post-76976257847562755792010-11-26T20:28:00.004-05:002010-11-26T20:30:04.525-05:00Happy Thanksgiving 2010!<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1>PART ONE <p$1><p$1><u>THE FRENZIED CELL CALL </u></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><br />
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">They've taken grandma hostage. No, I can't speak any louder. I can't speak any louder because they'll find me. My cell battery is getting low. LISTEN TO ME! Send the cops over soon. They started eating the coconut custard pie and the pumpkin pie and now there’s no more pie and the biggest mess that you could ever imagine. Everybody's kinda’ bummed out, at least the few who aren’t sleeping it off, because the dessert is all gone and we're so freakin’ full we couldn't get up to stop the little bastards.</span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">They also grabbed the stereo and said that we were gonna’ listen to their requests or else. What a happy thanksgiving this has turned out to be..........</span></p$1></p$1></p$1><br />
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<p$1><p$1><p$1>PART TWO <u>BLACK FRIDAY EPILOG - A HAPPY THANKSGIVING FOR ALL AS BRAT PACK SHENANIGANS ARE CURTAILED</u></p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><br />
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My wife Amanda kept shaking her head as she asked me again “What happened?” </span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I left the front door open; the train wreck was over but the aftermath of the crisis brought a nasal aftertaste that was pleasant. There was an aroma of burnt turkey with a spicy hint of charcoal and leaves in the air. If they could bottle a wine with that combination of grace notes and aroma, I can imagine that it might be called </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Estate Winery Reserve Fall Down Burgundy Emberzass. And that my friend would be truth in advertising.</span></p$1></p$1></p$1><p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My wife’s eyes were tired as her lids tried to restrain the wide open gaze that was awaiting an answer. </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I turned to take one last look at the cops talking on the sidewalk. </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“That cop on the left told the other cop that it all came down to Gladys."</span></p$1></p$1></p$1><p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">When we moved into the neighborhood, we had been warned about Gladys - the snitch, the voyeur who is always on her “watch”. Her real name is Sharon Gladola and she got tagged with her nickname of Gladys because she is just like the nosy character on <i>Bewitched</i>.</span></p$1></p$1></p$1><p$1><br /></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“The parents were passed out and after eating dessert, the Farklewadd kids got into a sugar frenzy. One relative who wasn’t sleeping was scared and hiding under a tablecloth as he tried to call a friend for help. Before his cell battery died, he was able to make his next call to a security company, but the operator thought he was drunk and hung up. The kids began screaming and their restlessness exploded. </span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">There was an eruption of energy as they upended the card table in the den. As they ran a jogging pattern repeatedly through the first floor like a NASCAR event, with each pass they upped the ante. First they grabbed the remote control for the stereo and started blasting rock music, and then one of them threw some lighter fluid into the lit fireplace, and then they ran upstairs to the second floor. Once they raised the windows, that’s when you began to smell the smoke and hear the music; it was so loud that <u>everybody</u> heard the music. The parents started to wake up and stagger out of the front door and they began motioning for the kids to get out of the house.”</span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I walked over to our living room windows to close the drapes and turn on a lamp.</span></p$1></p$1></p$1>
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“People were saying that they started making faces and doing dance moves in front of a vanity mirror and then they ran back to the windows and they were sticking their tongues out and mouthing the words to Gladys “Hey baby – you’re next!” and then they started giving her the finger. And they weren’t just flipping her the bird, they were doing it in time to the music. That might have been when the music segued from the Ohio Players “Fire” into AC/DC “You Shook Me All Night Long” and the sirens were ringing out. You really missed it, and I can understand why you were taking a nap. You must be exhausted after making all of that great chow! It was delicious.”</span></p$1></p$1></p$1><p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Mandy looked a little disappointed. I continued my play-by-play.</span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“Gladys called 911 and said she was having a heart attack and that they should send the cops, the rescue squad and the fire department because a bonfire across the street had gotten out of hand. So that’s where we are now. They arrived in time to rescue the family. Gladys got a free ride to the emergency room. No one got hurt. The blaze was brought under control, and it looks like their house can be saved, and the neighborhood can survive. Everybody wins."</span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I slammed the front door closed and turned back to Mandy and I started mugging and rolling my eyes. I began to rub my stomach in a circular motion suggesting a great hunger for food and love. “OHHHHHHHHHHH……..Honey, do we have any-more stuffing?” I smiled at her with the biggest, oversized, vaudeville-goofy, second banana grin I could summon.</span></p$1></p$1></p$1><p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">She looked at me and said “Stuffing?” After she slugged me in the stomach, I staggered a bit and took a few small steps and then sat down in the <i>Barcalounger. </i>I </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">tried to discover where all of the oxygen had gone into hiding as I struggled to breathe. </span></p$1></p$1></p$1><p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Then I decided I might need to take a nap, too.<o:p></o:p></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
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<p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1>Randy Aitkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17162458539450451627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233674758043870751.post-42902987674087714962010-11-25T02:54:00.000-05:002010-11-25T02:54:16.616-05:00Bikini Atoll (red)<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=womanredtrianglebikini.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/womanredtrianglebikini.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>Randy Aitkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17162458539450451627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233674758043870751.post-57231912375672280462010-11-24T21:49:00.000-05:002010-11-24T21:49:08.318-05:00Beatles Revolver tribute RRA 2010The Beatles <strong>Revolver</strong> album is my favorite release among the many favorites I have within their catalog.<br />
I made a collage which allows me to share my love of the record via shapes and words and I referenced a circular photo collage concept by Robert Freeman which was not chosen to be the album cover, as well as the album title type face used on the album cover. This record was incredibly important to me as a child. <br />
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I used to invite some friends over to the house and we would practice singing along to it. In this childlike way, I was emulating my father's work as a music teacher and director in Baltimore public schools, and I was <br />
trying to glean understanding by mimicry and recreating and bonding with the music on this release from 1966 when I was 9 years old.<br />
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<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=RRARevolvertribute2010.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/RRARevolvertribute2010.jpg" /></a><br />
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My prose goes as follows:<br />
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<span style="color: red;"><strong>I love Revolver</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>revolver evolve</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>evolver revolve</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>eve ever role lover</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>rev lover volver</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>re rover re over</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>revolver revolve</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>leo le oleo oleo lo</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>love 4 ever</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>2v</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>2e</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>2r</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>almost a palindrome I played it to death</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>nothing left to say when everything has been said</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>everything was right</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>nothing left to be said</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>what it's like to be dead</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>what it is to be sad</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>and she's makin'me feel like </strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>I've never been born</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>revolver</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>evolver</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>leo oleo lo</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>lover o lover</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>veer over</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>eve rover</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>leo oleo oleo oleo lo</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>O revolve o Revolver</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>Evolver evolve</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>le oleo lo leo</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>nothing to say</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>Revolver ole!</strong></span><br />
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<br />Randy Aitkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17162458539450451627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233674758043870751.post-68253920015854709972010-11-24T21:08:00.000-05:002010-11-24T21:08:38.872-05:00Three Hitchcock collage pieces by RRA 2010I made three Hitchcock collage tributes using a single frame of the faces of Henry Fonda from <b>The Wrong Man </b>and Tony Perkins from <b>Psycho</b> as building blocks to make these pieces. Both films were shot in black and white and the release dates of 1957 and 1960 act as bookends within which we find the Hitchcock triple crown of <b>Vertigo</b>, <b>North by Northwest</b> and <b>Psycho</b>. <br />
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<strong>HITCH ONE RRA 2010</strong></div>
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<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=10252010trythishitch.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Hitch 1" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/10252010trythishitch.jpg" /></a></div>
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<strong>HITCH TWO RRA 2010</strong></div>
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<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=Tforhitchwithmiddleverticalrectangleremovedandsidesbroughttogether.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Hitch 2" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/Tforhitchwithmiddleverticalrectangleremovedandsidesbroughttogether.jpg" /></a> <strong></strong></div>
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<strong>HITCH THREE RRA 2010</strong> </div>
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<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=10232010.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Hitch 3" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/10232010.jpg" /></a></div>Randy Aitkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17162458539450451627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233674758043870751.post-50890255605629809862010-11-24T20:49:00.001-05:002010-11-24T21:11:33.716-05:00Zappa dedication art collages by RRA 2010<p$1><a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=highlandtownzappagalaxymapcopyright2010rra.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="RRA Zappa dedication collage tribute" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/highlandtownzappagalaxymapcopyright2010rra.jpg" /></a> </p$1><br />
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<p$1>Below is my inverted colors altered version of the Zappa dedication tribute collage. </p$1><br />
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<p$1><a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=highlandtownzappagalaxymapbyrrapurplemountainsmajestycopyright2010RRA.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/highlandtownzappagalaxymapbyrrapurplemountainsmajestycopyright2010RRA.jpg" /></a></p$1>Randy Aitkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17162458539450451627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233674758043870751.post-69331588929938487902010-11-07T19:31:00.246-05:002010-12-11T16:11:35.748-05:00Deciphering the code - will we see the majestic return of Blow Out on Criterion dvd?<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><p$1><br /></p$1></span></p$1></p$1><p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;">Two amazing pop culture occurrences have come to my attention in the past week.</span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;">One event was real, the other event signaled the tantalizing possibility that a classic film may be reissued on dvd to be newly adored by a patient and faithful fan base.</span></p$1></p$1><br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">On Friday November 5<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">th</span></sup> as I watched the conclusion of <i>Late Night with Jimmy Fallon</i> the unthinkable was in evidence. </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">My favorite jazz guitarist and personal musical hero John McLaughlin was sitting in with the house band The Roots as they played between commercial breaks and guest intros. The featured musical guest was Elvis Costello who is another favorite of mine. I could only shake my head in disbelief when the closing of the show had Elvis performing a new tune with the backing of the Roots and special guest John McLaughlin!</span></span></p$1></p$1><br />
<p$1><p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><p$1></p$1></span><br />
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The other occurrence which I happened upon is a strong signal of an event yet to be confirmed. As a film fan, a cinematic dream is on the verge of becoming a reality – the release of <b>Blow Out</b> (which is my favorite Brian De Palma film) as a part of the Criterion Collection. </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Yes Randy, there is a Santa Claus.</span></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">After I made my daily online visit to the De Palma A La Mod website, I saw the post for the day regarding this dvd news. Geoff had posted a copy of the owl graphic that can be found in the latest Criterion Newsletter for November. This owl is the signifier of the coded news message. </span></span></p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><p$1></p$1></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span style="line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.angelfire.com/de/palma/blog/index.blog?topic_id=1059007"><span style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">http://www.angelfire.com/de/palma/blog/index.blog?topic_id=1059007</span></span></a></span></p$1><p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;">Now I had to go back and look at the CC Newsletter e-mail a second time. I pride myself on being a person with a discriminating eye for detail and I realized that when the latest Criterion Collection newsletter for November 2010 had arrived in my e-mail, I had neglected to read everything and “see” the entire piece. Near the bottom right of the e-mail is a cryptic graphic that holds meaning for people like me who love film and Brian De Palma and I had missed it.</span></p$1></p$1><br />
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<p$1><span style="line-height: 115%;">At the top of the November e-mail is a banner which shows the American flag with the Criterion “C” logo to the left.</span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=flagbannerbbsstory.jpg" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/flagbannerbbsstory.jpg" /></span></a> <br />
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;">This choice for a masthead is thematically and visually consistent with the subject of the first topic for the reader which is the upcoming release of a dvd box set called </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;"><b>America Lost and Found: The BBS story</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;">, which is a collection of seven independent American films produced by BBS Productions. They include several Jack Nicholson vehicles either as an actor in </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;"><b>Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces </b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;">and</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;"><b> The King of Marvin Gardens, </b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;">or as a writer for the Monkees movie </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;"><b>Head. </b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;">The other films included are</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;"><b> Drive, He Said; A Safe Place,</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;"> and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;"><b>The Last Picture Show.</b></span><br />
<p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;"><b><br /></b></span><p$1><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.criterion.com/boxsets/769-america-lost-and-found-the-bbs-story">http://www.criterion.com/boxsets/769-america-lost-and-found-the-bbs-story</a></span></span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;">One of the other tidbits listed midway in this newsletter is a mention of the release of Charles Laughton’s </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;"><b>Night of the Hunter</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;"> on dvd and blu-ray.</span><br />
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Although the American flag masthead and the Laughton information should be nothing more or less than elements of information about available Criterion dvd releases, I suggest that coincidentally, inadvertently or deliberately, these items of interest to me also has </span></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;">relevance to the visual hint of <b>Blow Out</b> being released.</span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=widerJackonfootbridgepointingawaywi.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/widerJackonfootbridgepointingawaywi.jpg" /></a></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Early on as the story for <b>Blow Out</b> is developed, we see exterior scenes in a mysterious night time location. John Travolta as soundman Jack Terry is recording wild sound – “new wind” - from upon a footbridge overseeing a creek near the Wissahickon Walk in Philadelphia for a low budget horror film entitled <i>Co-Ed Frenzy</i>.</span></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><p$1><br />
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=wissahickonwalk.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/wissahickonwalk.jpg" /></a></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">As we watch his actions and listen along with Terry, we hear several animal sounds and we see most of the animals that make these sounds in their nocturnal environment. Among these creatures, we also see a mostly silent owl whose movements become audibly louder as it flies away from the imminent danger of the action that is about to occur. The framing of shots allows us to link Jack Terry with the wise owl, and we can see the owl’s choice to leave. At the same time Terry’s link to the owl remains for us to consider as a dilemma continually unfolds that provides choices for Terry in his story: to choose to flee or to fight the obstacles before him.</span></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">As a film fan, when you see this nature sequence in <b>Blow Out</b> it is easy to draw a parallel to Laughton’s <b>Night of the Hunter </b>which features a night time scene with some animals and their noises observed in nature along a riverbank. The Laughton picture is just a minor reference point for film fans. There are more obvious attraction/distractions/infractions of film scene parallels or references on display in <b>Blow Out</b>. </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Brian De Palma offers t</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;">his unique work of art </span><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">as a </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;">powerful synthesis of</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;"> elements of </span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the components of Antonioni’s <b>Blow Up</b> and Coppola’s <b>The Conversation. </b>We can also see Welles’<b> Touch of Evil </b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;">in the bridge sequence as well.</span></p$1><p$1><br />
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<p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;">Although I am unable at this time in this particular post to offer up a fully rendered appreciation of my personal impressions of the wonder that awaits a viewer in watching </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;"><b>Blow Out</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;">, let me say to the reader who has seen the film the following generalizations.</span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">If we look at the overall changes in architectural locations and existential perspectives of the film visuals within <b>Blow Out</b> we will see<b> </b>a totality that includes these ideas: the slaughter of innocence, the hollowness of becoming victorious in slaying an enemy or overcoming an obstacle, the illusory nature of feeling safe, the ability of paranoia to dominate the psyche as it moves from the outside of the body and proceeds to the inside of the brain, and the nature of a world that has been inverted or turned inside-out. We will see Jack Terry and Burke as two different people who suffer through a battle to become the mirror image of what they see, when an exchange of behaviors allows ethics to be replaced by anger, rage, insanity and depravity.</span></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">One way of seeing the film is to consider the idea of "<i>just how screwed up can you become, when you try to do the right thing</i>?" And this would apply to both Burke and to Jack Terry.</span></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Blow Out</span></span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> begins and ends with an interior scene in a screening room, and as we reframe our perception of what we see on screen, as we make our path with Jack and journey through the scenes between these bookends, before we go full circle to the ending, we are making a progression from the absurd to reality and then ultimately to a final mixture of both as a concoction, a modern day sickness that has permeated Terry and the viewer into an undesirable unity of meaning and the meaningless.</span></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Blow Out</span></span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> is a cinematic container with great ideas that transcend history and time – it is an existential nightmare that deals with the horrific sense of life and loss that can exist and lie beneath the surface of a work of b-movie trash art, within a high-gloss big-budget picture, or a reconfiguration of how to use spin control to offer up “the truth” in different forms of media.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;">The film shows us the mechanics involved with creating a film and creating meaning and the solitude and commitment of the artist at work. </span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 115%;">After we start watching <b>Blow Out</b> and then take a step back and realize that the shower scene that we are watching is a film- within-a-film, after we reframe and regain our footing, we can then go forward. We can see a progression in <b>Blow Out</b> from establishing an initial balance to a movement below to the “bottom” in the Wissahickon scenes, and then like the best films that take you on a ride that repeatedly spirals down and up and down again, it successively takes you to different strata. This story continually ascends, until ultimately the emotion of the story conflicts between Terry and his adversary Burke reaches the film climax at the Port of History which is at “the top” and truly <u>is</u> “over the top” as only Brian De Palma can fashion a film. This can be seen when Burke attacks his victim in the safety of the ladies room at 30<sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">th</span></sup> street station as well as the fireworks climax. </span></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><br />
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=3plasterholesinceilinglowcloseangle.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/3plasterholesinceilinglowcloseangle.jpg" /></a></span></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><br />
<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 115%;"></span></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><br />
<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 115%;">When we finally get there at the foot of the flag, we share a new way to experience the feeling of nausea, of feeling exhausted and exalted by that trade off that occurs when a task that has finally been accomplished comes at the expense of some other linked event. We are now feeling and sensing that gloom of “being at the bottom” at the highest point of the story. So as a film lover of <b>Blow Out</b> and as a BDP fan, the rumor of a Criterion Collection dvd release is welcome. And the manner in which this cryptic release is secretly being “announced” is right in line with the story arc of <b>Blow Out.</b></span></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 115%;">At the top of the layout for the e-mail is the flag banner and below it is the cover art for <b>The BBS Story</b>. Farther down below and to the side is another smaller cover art graphic for the BBS release and below it is the owl graphic. </span></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><br />
<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 115%;"></span></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><br />
<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 115%;">Please look at this layout from my perspective. If you take the two specific and different visual links that I am pointing out in this e-mail and add them together, and toss in the reference to <b>Night of the Hunter, </b>I suggest that you might </span></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;">see this as an invisible link between the owl graphic at the bottom, and <b>The BBS Story</b> cover art above at the very top which to me suggests an alternative, a new meaning. For the viewer who is familiar with the film we can make an inference of seeing and perceiving <b>Blow Out</b> as a parallel connection to a play on the words <i>America Lost and Found. </i>This speaks volumes with brevity and De Palma should be proud to see some visual shorthand being employed in the writing and layout of this newsletter! This will be a great gift to the De Palma fans who have been awaiting this dvd release by Criterion as a well-deserved confirmation of his artistic achievements. </span><br />
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<p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">In reading the copy contained in the newsletter promo for Criterion's <b>BBS Story</b>, it seems fair to make a link between De Palma's late-60's early countercultural films like <b>Greetings </b>and<b> Hi Mom!</b> and his later day American portrait of misdirected political intentions, commercial merchandising, nefarious power struggles, media manipulation, and commitment to patriotic acts that he offers the viewer in <b>Blow Out. </b>This 1981 film is a natural outgrowth of the independent American filmmaking that he was doing in the 60's just like the indy works collected in the <b>BBS Story</b>.</span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><br />
<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><br />
<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">As I had suggested in my blog post </span></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1>from September of last year about De Palma's use of shapes and numbering in production design in <b>The Untouchables</b></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><br />
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://musi-cine-howlwithlaughter.blogspot.com/2009/10/untouchables-and-de-palma-and.html">http://musi-cine-howlwithlaughter.blogspot.com/2009/10/untouchables-and-de-palma-and.html</a></span></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><br />
<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><br />
<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;">"</span></span></i></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 17px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;">This idea of a making a connection between a straight line and a circle attached to it literally or through </span></span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 17px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;">implication can be seen in the climax of the basement in</span></span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 17px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;"> </span></span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 17px;"><strong><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;">Psycho</span></span></i></strong></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 17px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;">, as well as Burke's activities in</span></span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 17px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;"> </span></span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 17px;"><strong><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;">Blow Out</span></span></i></strong></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Times, serif; font-size: 17px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;">."</span></span></i></span><br />
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=burkecuonbezelwireintrainstation.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/burkecuonbezelwireintrainstation.jpg" /></a></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><br />
<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><br />
<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Low budget independent films, Independence Day, paranoia and disorientation abound. The artist in his studio seeking solitude in his creative habitat trying to make sense of the commotion and find the truth that lies beneath, the truth obscured by lies, all of these elements come together through the swirling power plays inside and outside the circles conveyed in <b>Blow Out</b>.</span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><br />
<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><p$1><a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=ragraphicbreakdownofCCannouncement112010.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/ragraphicbreakdownofCCannouncement112010.jpg" /></a> <br />
<p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;">Seen just below is a collage of frame grabs from </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;"><b>Blow Out</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;"> with an American flag behind them which I assembled to post as a tribute on one of the De Palma Facebook pages about five or six months ago. </span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;"><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1>We see on the left a grab of Jack Terry on the footbridge in the background and the owl in the foreground which will be visually similar to the rollers on the Nagra during playback in Sally's hotel room. On the right, the frame grab shows the intrinsic design of the tape recorder (which we see upside down) and the path of the magnetic tape moving against the heads and the rollers which suggests an owl, and it is also an example of circles dominating a straight line. Circles and triangles dominate the telling of the film. </p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></span></div>
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<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><br />
<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;">From this collage you can see where my understanding and appreciation of the film would find a focus in the layout of the Criterion Newsletter.</span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
<p$1><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 1in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view&current=terryandowlcollagewithflagforrrablog.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/terryandowlcollagewithflagforrrablog.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<p$1><br />
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<p$1><p$1><br />
</p$1></p$1><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; margin-right: 1in;">
<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 18px;">What else can I say other than I am ecstatic about <strong>Blow Out</strong> being released as a Criterion dvd.</span></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
<p$1><p$1><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<p$1>revised 11 8 2010 </p$1></p$1><br />
<p$1><p$1><p$1>updated 11 30 2010</p$1></p$1><br />
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</p$1></p$1></p$1><br />
<div style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
<p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1><p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
<p$1><p$1></p$1></p$1></div>
<p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><p$1><p$1></p$1></p$1>Randy Aitkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17162458539450451627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233674758043870751.post-45918749666384610572010-09-07T15:20:00.001-04:002010-09-07T20:07:37.473-04:00Donaggio De Palma DTK at last....Occasionally patience is a virtue, and that which you desire and wait for will eventually arrive...<br />
<br />
I have owned the Varese Sarabande soundtrack of Pino Donaggio's score for De Palma's <strong>Dressed to Kill</strong> for many years but I have been waiting and hoping to find a cd at a reasonable price and at last good fortune has smiled upon me. it just arrived from Australia and it sounds clean and fullbodied with no bitter aftertaste.<br />
<br />
<strong>The Boston Stranglers</strong> is out or has been temporarily abandoned. The focus for a new Brian De Palma project has returned to making <strong>TOYER</strong>.<br />
<br />
Well Pino, are you the one? Listening to this score and the other De Palma scores will be a pleasant way to pass the time as I return to being a fan waiting patiently with other fans for the next BDP film.Randy Aitkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17162458539450451627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233674758043870751.post-39102485038816867362010-06-25T13:33:00.000-04:002010-06-25T13:33:03.614-04:00Finally! The Fury by John Williams cd has arrived...Do you remember <strong>The Fury</strong>?<br />
<br />
You know, the Brian De Palma film that was released before he made everybody go <strong><em>Psycho</em></strong> with<strong> Dressed to Kill</strong>.<br />
<br />
After a long wait, I have finally acquired a reasonably priced <em><strong>brand new original Varese Sarabande cd</strong></em> <br />
(which was released in 1990) of John Williams' re-recording of his score. <br />
<br />
The film is available on dvd but it really is crying out for a remastered deluxe makeover with featurettes and extras. <br />
I missed out on getting the remastered deluxe 2 cd Varese release of <strong>The Fury</strong> which featured the actual soundtrack music used in the film plus all of the re-recordings that are on this cd which arrived today. That out-of-print goodie is outside of my price range but I am fortunate to have this. <br />
<br />
What can I say? I'm a Brian De Palma fan and a film nut and I love film music. I'm happy. Now I can add it to my inventory of De Palma musical mementos.<br />
Two questions now come to mind as I am listening to - and savoring - this John Williams music: just who will score <strong>The Boston Stranglers</strong>, and how long do we have to wait for this next Brian De Palma movie, a movie story that seems to be a perfect fit for his talents?<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view¤t=TheFuryhasarrived.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="The Fury has arrived" border="0" src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/TheFuryhasarrived.jpg" /></a>Randy Aitkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17162458539450451627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233674758043870751.post-32432974019606806022010-06-22T18:52:00.022-04:002010-06-22T19:07:53.002-04:00Today and everyday, life is truly like the words that Ray Davies sings: "The world keeps going round."Today is June 22, 2010. This marks the 31st anniversary of a horrific car accident which happened to me when I was 21 and somehow I survived. I was the passenger. My roommate was driving and he was killed. It is a miracle that I’m still alive. What would I have missed had I died?<br />
<br />
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<ul>
<li>A local boy’s dream-come-true to have that wonderful record store experience in the Rotunda that allowed me to join the “Recordmasters Hall of Fame” – and we all know that if you were working there, you are automatically <strong><em>IN</em></strong>! Today the old playing field for recorded musical entertainment has been leveled and despite a few local business squatters around the country, there are fewer and fewer “brick” retailers as “click and pick” online choices are embraced by consumers who want their fix. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li>My life in the film business in Baltimore and LA between 1982 and 1994. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li>My return to Smalltimore in November after I missed another appointment with Mr. D in the Northridge earthquake in January 1994. </li>
</ul>
So far my life has been strange and lovely, painful and mysterious, boring and mundane, depressing yet uplifting. On a bad day, I guess I feel like everything is meaningless. On a good day I can see my life as a spiritual safari into the unknown. Thankfully it has been filled with lotsa’ fine music, film, comedy, great food, observing beautiful women and enjoying my dreams. These dreams are stories which usually are at best a zero sum game that leaves me guessing as to the meaning. <br />
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I have always felt that when it comes to the idea of appreciation, in making a connection with your love of life or your fellow human being, it is important and imperative that you tell other people how you feel about them. As I grow older the importance of appreciation through communication becomes even greater. <br />
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The bottom line is: no matter how I feel, up or down, I’m glad to still be around. <br />
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The Kinks - The World Keeps Going Round<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx0m9I6XGmY">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx0m9I6XGmY</a><br />
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The Tubes - What Do You Want From Life?<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgjfi1DU1mQ">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgjfi1DU1mQ</a><br />
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Rolling Stones - Dancin' With Mr. D.<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_S532DjrZk">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_S532DjrZk</a><br />
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Spinners - I'll Be Around<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlPpYEkv6BM">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlPpYEkv6BM</a><br />
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Grin - You're The Weight (live)<br />
<a href="http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/concerts/player.html?type=concert&ConcertID=20053063%7C2755&StartTrackID=5">http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/concerts/player.html?type=concert&ConcertID=20053063%7C2755&StartTrackID=5</a><br />
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To access concerts and listen to them in Wolfgang's Vault is free, but you must first be signed up with them via a user id and password (which is also free). If you want to download specific shows, the price is indicated.<br />
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</div>Randy Aitkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17162458539450451627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6233674758043870751.post-1906522335150227382010-06-16T21:48:00.001-04:002010-06-16T21:48:20.796-04:00Are the stars, fate and karma now properly aligned to allow Brian De Palma to direct his greatest work to date?Today is June 16, 2010. <strong>PSYCHO</strong> is now 50 years old. It was directed by Alfred Hitchcock when he was 60. This year, Brian De Palma will be 70 years of age in September of 2010. He is about to direct <strong>The Boston Stranglers</strong> - a film based on Susan Kelly’s book which opines that the crimes committed by Albert De Salvo (who was convicted of being the Boston Strangler) were not the work of one man but of multiple stranglers operating at the same time.<br />
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<br />
New York Magazine featured a profile piece on Brian De Palma in the August 4, 1980 issue written by David Rosenthal. Fresh from his recent picture <strong>Dressed to Kill</strong>, we find BDP on the cusp of directing “Personal Effects”, a thriller that became known as <strong>BLOW OUT</strong>. I am one of the De Palma fans who believe that this film is the greatest achievement of his career.<br />
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<a href="http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/?action=view¤t=DavidRosenthalNYMagarticle1980Brian.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/rraitken19/DavidRosenthalNYMagarticle1980Brian.jpg" border="0" alt="David Rosenthal NY Mag 1980 de palma article"></a>
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In the final paragraphs of the article David Rosenthal provides De Palma quotes which are important to consider in evaluating his own work as well as that of Alfred Hitchcock: “Dealing with Hitchcock is like dealing with Bach – he wrote every tune that was ever done. Hitchcock thought up practically every cinematic idea that has been used and probably ever will be used in this form. But I’ll take the grammar wherever I can get it. . . . I’m starting to get even more ideas about how to develop this vocabulary even farther. I’m just gonna be 40 in September, so I figure I got about 30 more good years.”<br />
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Well 30 years have now past by. His last three films <strong>Femme Fatale</strong> (2002), <strong>Black Dahlia</strong> (2006) and <strong>Redacted</strong> (2007) were not financially successful at the box office. Once again he is in the position of needing a “hit”. I am really looking forward to seeing this new project, but like all good things, we must wait for an outcome…..<br />
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(New York Magazine holds the copyright to this August 1980 article written by David Rosenthal.)Randy Aitkenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17162458539450451627noreply@blogger.com