Ideals of physical attractiveness are bound to change from culture to culture and generation to generation. Strolling through Berwick Street market in Soho this afternoon, I happened across these wares on display in a shop window – to see the individual pieces in closeup click here.
For someone of my generation it’s hard to imagine most of this stuff being anything other than excruciating to fit and deeply unattractive once in place. Which brings to mind John Travolta’s immortal question in Pulp Fiction:
Lance: Hey, whattya think about Trudi? She ain’t got a boyfriend. You wanna hang out, get high? Vincent: Which one’s Trudi? The one with all the shit in her face? Lance: No, that’s Jody. That’s my wife.
I Got My Mojo Working – Muddy Waters and his band ripping it up it the Newport Jazz Festival in 1960. The band is tightly drilled: only star instrumentalist Otis Spann at the piano is really cutting loose, but the whole thing rocks like a bastard. They must be playing really quietly by modern standards – look how far away from the mic Muddy is singing.
He was born in 1913. So the two facts that every British blues fan in the 60s knew about Muddy were that he was (a) immensely better and (b) immensely older than his skinny white imitators, who were mostly fresh out of their teens. As Jagger, Clapton & Plant in due course passed into their thirties, Muddy’s shining example offered hope that they too could age on stage with dignity in the decades to come. And then in 1983 he suddenly died at (what seemed to us back then) the immense age of 70.
In July this year Sir Mick will turn 68 – and suddenly following in Muddy’s footsteps doesn’t seem like such a great idea after all.
Nina Simone’s version of Please Don’t Let Me Be Mistunderstood is being used by the BBC in a trailer for their cop drama Luther. It’s a powerful reminder of her importance as an artist. Have put together a few other favourite tracks to remember her importance as an advocate for Afro American rights.
In her songs you can hear Simone’s massive talent suffused with simmering rage. “You don’t have to live next to me – just give me my equality” (Mississippi Goddamn) “Hard times in the city… in a hard town by the sea” (Baltimore) “You better stop the things you do… I ain’t lyin” (I Put A Spell On You) “Shall we kill them now – or later?” (Pirate Jenny).
Having been born in 1933 and grown up in North Carolina she had plenty to be angry about. See her biography on Wikipedia. Meanwhile here’s that TV trailer…
“…By the way had you picked up from the political blogosphere that the independent observers are reaching a consensus that the fake execution of bin Laden is a precursor to another false flag attack on the US? They think it’ll be at least as dramatic as 9/11 and expect it to occur in May or June this year. The blame will be pinned on the hosts of the next invasion zone- running favorites: Pakistan or a distant second Libya.”
As supporting evidence he sent a link to this blog comment… The author concludes: “only George Orwell could have made this up”…
“Dear friends and family, this is one of the most powerful interviews I have ever heard in my life. Minister Louis Farrakhan gives the real implications of the US/ British/ French/ Italian/ Canadian invasion of Libya: Farrakhan Warns Obama About The CIA Plants In Libya”
It only lasts nine minutes – hear for yourself.
On his last visit my brother startled us by announcing that the CIA had deliberately caused Japan’s earthquake and nuclear disaster in order to further US commercial and political interests. And sure enough, if you care to look for it, the evidence is right there on the internet:
Back in 1964 the Warren Commission was able to convince most of the world that JFK was assasinated by a lone sniper with a single gun.
Nowadays the unbelievable outrages committed by the CIA – from 9/11 to the Japanese earthquake – can be explained to the world within hours by some of the finest minds on the planet. Thank God for the internet.
