c101: January 2007 Archives

Serendipity. We have all heard this word. Maybe we have seen the retardly bad movie starring John Cusack of the same title. I did. Ever since, I have made a mental note when people use this word and connected it to its god-awful contribution to cinematic history.

I get the same feeling when people confuse coincidence with irony (happens more often than not), but I digress. My trusty Oxford dictionary defines serendipity as - faculty of making happy discoveries by accident. How can you not love that? It is building on this premise that I bring you today's post.

I found "Ministry of Sound Volume 7" via Newsgroups - a gift that keeps on giving. On said disc is a song called "Sunworshipper" by Mylo. It is a smoothed out affair with a sample of a fella talking about how he was sick of his previous pursuits, so he decides to take off on his bicycle. I guess somebody else thought this was cool because they made a sticker and put on the bike rack outside the Wicker Park post office. And it made my day.

Second photo is a toilet at the Pontiac from NYE - lovely huh? Perhaps because I was taking a break from arm wrestling...really. How did you spend your NYE? Anyway, since we are matching songs, I tried to think of one that matched this simple, yet powerful statement. How about some Donovan "Sun"? My favorite troubadour of the '60's was an existentialist to the nth, so it applies. So, slow down y'all and be sure to smell them there roses. You are alive.

Sunworshipper

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.