It's a little overdue, but who the hell cares? I want to look back at all the people that kicked the can in '06 and some of the music, movies and literature that made me happy to be human...and alive.
Anyway, I wonder if said dead people knew it was coming because they consulted the death clock? One wonders.
By the by, the picture is by yours truly from my recent trek to Charleston, SC. I suppose it applies metaphorically, crossin' a bridge to the other side and all. Or, it could be that I just like the picture.
So, let's get to the dead folks. Saddam's dead and way more importantly, so is James Brown. I was lucky enough to witness the Godfather of Soul perform 'bout 10 years ago and even in his old age he still brought the real...and real recognizes real.
Other than that, some of the more notable:
Syd Barrett, founding member of Pink Floyd, died July 7 at the age of 60 - listen to one of my favorite Syd songs off "MadCap Laughs" called "Love You." - Syd was a looney tune through and through, too bad he visited the dark side of the moon and didn't make it back.
Terrapin
Aaron Spelling, tv mogul, died June 23 at the age of 83 - The guy that brought us the Peach Pit and all those early '80's evening sopa operas. What a loss.
Don Knotts, comic actor best known as Barney Fife on the Andy Griffith show, died February 24 at the age of 81. Of course, I liked him more when he guested on Scooby Doo, but maybe that's just me.
As for me, I thought '06 was A-OK. Some crappy things happened, but when I look back, I realize there was a whole bunch of good too. I saw some great shows, Zero 7, Rakim, A Tribe Called Quest, RJD2 and Intonation Fest to name a few.
And even though they weren't all new to '06 let alone '66, I saw some great movies, "Old Boy" at the top (everything in this revenge trilogy is a must see - "Sympathy for Mrs. Revenge" & "Sympathy for Mr. Revenge"), Werner Herzog's "Grizzly Man" & "The Five Obstructions", "Borat", "Rashomon", "Mirabitu", "Unknown White Male", "The Killing", "Amores Perros" and "Pan's Labyrinth" to name just a few.
Don't get me started on the reading list. Well, maybe one - "Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson was fantastic. Read it.
In honor of the Godfather's passing, here's one of his first gifts to the musical tree "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" and a dope-show remix by Z.A.K of Clipse's "Mr. Me Too," Happy '07 y'all.
Papa's Got A Brand New Bag
Mr. Me Too (Remix)
Let us not forget Steve Irwin, Jack Palance, and Gerald Ford. Happy New Year. Here's to watching "Unleashed" in 2007.
Thank you, Thunder. And I promise to watch "Unleashed" in '07.
And the Darkness broke up. The death of a great band that will be sorely missed in the pantheon of rock 'n roll, especially when we have to put up with crap like The Hold Steady. Ugh. I'd rather try eating a rusty iron pinecone, then stick my finger down my throat and throw it up on a litter of freshly-born poodle puppies than listen to that damn record again.
Did you make it out to see "The Departed?" Excellent flick!
Don Knotts will always live on in old "Scoody Do" and "The Andy Griffin Show" re-runs.
Happy New Year
"The Departed" was a great movie right up until the very end when it was abruptly ended. I don't believe that there was enough indication throughout the movie that that character would have done that. I might have been able to forgive that and even enjoy the ending if it weren't for the blatant symbolism at the closing credits. Downright cheesy.
[5] Can't say I know which character you are talking about. I do not remember anything cheezy about the end.
Dingman was the shit. Why I ever hated Marky Mark, I'll ever know.
Marky Mark is also really good in 'I HEART HUCKABEES.' That, my friends, is a masterpiece of 21st-century quality.
Whalberg was great in I Heart Huckabees. He made that movie. As for Departed, stop reading if you don't want a spoiler. I think that there was absolutely no indication that Marky Mark would have done that in the end. It wasn't quite that it came out of nowhere, but it was close. As for the cheezy part, I'm refering to the beat-me-over-the-head-obvious symbolism of the rat walking across the screen right before the credits rolled. It doesn't work on a practical level because there would not be rats in an apartment that nice and it doesn't even accomplish much symbolically becasue wed knew from the beginning that Damon was a rat. I just thought that it was completely pointless.
I must have hand my hand down my pants at that point, cause i do not remember a rat walking accross the screen.
I did not think it at all out of Marky Mark's character to wax Matt Damion. And the fact that it came out of nowhere made the movie that much more awesome. Like the end of Resivior Dogs. What did you want to happen? Matt Damion live happily ever after with that amazingly hot woman that he did not deserve? Its all about Justice. Thats the America way!