The Grinning Goofball...

...obviously is hard of hearing.

John McSame

Over at the Daily Kos they had a poll recently to pick John McCain's official Sunday talk show name. The winner was:


I think this is perfect as it falls right in line with Obama's recent remarks that McCain's proposals on the housing crisis "amounts to little more than watching this crisis happen," which he said is "consistent with Sen. McCain's determination to run for George Bush's third term." McCain=Bush is a winning strategy for Obama, except for the 19% who still approve of the Texas Turd.

5.7.0.5.

Well I should have put this one up last week when doing all the other City Boy videos, City Boy's only U.S. hit, 5.7.0.5. Enjoy!

Another Fast Food Icon Falls

40 Years Ago Today From DC Comics -- Adventure Comics #368

Adventure Comics #368 (On Sale: March 28, 1968) has another cover by Neal Adams.

"The Mutiny of the Super-Heroines" is by Jim Shooter, Curt Swan and George Klein. After Karate Kid and Superboy test Val's fighting skills, they and the other Legionnaires are summoned to Metropolis Spaceport to rescue a spaceship carrying an alien ambassador to Earth. Upon their arrival the ship crash-lands in a ball of flame, but the ambassador, a woman from the planet Taltar named Thora, easily frees herself, and emerges unscathed.

Her society is a matriarchal one, and she expresses a marked distaste of all males, but she cordially greets President Boltax of Earth. Later, Thora researches Legion lore, and carves miniature statues of the female Legionnaires, then touches a stud on her bracelet and causes an eerie radiation to bathe the statuettes.

The result shows itself the following morning, when the Legion girls wake to find that their powers have been increased fantastically. Supergirl is now immune to Kryptonite, and she rescues her cousin Superboy from a Green Kryptonite trap.

The boys, suspecting that the girls' increased powers may be the result of a rare space disease, quarantine them, while Thora continues to treat the statuettes with radiation at various intervals. When the boys are trapped by inmates while attempting to quell a riot at the Prison Citadel on Mt. Metro, the girls break quarantine to save them. However, the boys chastise them for doing so, and the girls respond by angrily battling and defeating them.

Now the bruised and battered male Legionnaires realize that a person, and not a disease, is behind the heroines' physical and mental change. Thora gloats over her division of the Legion, and visits the girls at headquarters. As the division between the boys and the girls grows wider, Shadow Lass makes a remark about Brainiac 5 that shocks Supergirl, who remembers their romance.

Thora keeps bathing the statuettes in radiation, and when the time seems right, she has the girls attack the boys and nearly kill them. The story was later reprinted in Legion of Super-Heroes Archives Vol. 8 HC.

Edited by Mort Weisinger.

The Surge Is Working!

According to Excite News:

The State Department has instructed all personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad not to leave reinforced structures due to incoming insurgent rocket fire that has killed two American government workers this week.

In a memo sent Thursday to embassy staff and obtained by The Associated Press, the department says employees are required to wear helmets, body armor and other protective gear if they must venture outside and strongly advises them to sleep in blast-resistant locations instead of the less secure trailers that most occupy.

Man, John McCain should head back there immediately since it's so safe!

Thanks to my pal Tony Isabella for noticing this!

Otis!

Another performance from the Monterey Pop Festival that I wish I could have seen was this one. Growing up I always thought of this as a Three Dog Night song (having seem them perform it live three different times). It wasn't till I saw Pretty in Pink years later that I even knew that Otis Redding did this song, and man did he make it totally his:

You Ever Notice....

...that Zogby polls are almost always totally full of shit, are almost universally wrong in their conclusions and yet seem to get the most play in the news? A week and a half ago there was lots of news coverage of this Zogby poll, which said that Obama's lead over Clinton was evaporating. I mentioned this over on the Tony Isabella Board but no one bit. I said at the time that I didn't for a minute believe the results of this poll, as Zogby polls are almost always wrong.

Now the latest Pew poll comes out and it says the exact opposite, that Obama is not fading and Clinton, no matter how much many people would like to believe it, is not gaining. The Democratic primary is over, Clinton is only doing damage to the party by not accepting the facts.

Wow!

A few years ago I compiled a list of every musical act I had ever seen live. Now I think it's a pretty impressive list of mostly classic rock performers and I'm pretty much satisfied with it. But, if I could add a few more to the mix, this would have been one of them. It seems like this version of this song is on just about every CD I ever burned for listening to in my car; I've probably heard this song 5,000 times and each time I am completely blown away by the gut-wrenching performance. Like Mama Cass Elliot says at the end of the video, "Wow!"

This is Jeopardy!

A friend from the Tony Isabella Board has been telling us for months that he was on Jeopardy!, but that is all he could say. Last night I watched as Dave Sikula won $15,000. You can see how Dave does after that by watching tonight's episode; we who know Dave from the board have not a clue!

Congrats so far Dave!

Another Blow Against Right-Wing Intolerance

In Wisconsin a state appeals court upheld sanctions against a pharmacist who refused to dispense birth control pills to a woman and wouldn't transfer her prescription elsewhere. A pharmacist only has one job, to fill prescriptions and if they are unwilling to do that, then they should not be in the business. It's like the last thing you need when being seated at Black Angus is for your vegan waitress to start lecturing you on the morality of eating meat.

40 Years Ago Today From DC Comics -- Beware the Creeper #1

Beware the Creeper #1 (On Sale: March 26, 1968) has a wonderful cover by Steve Ditko.

"Where Lurks the Menace?" is scripted by Denny O'Neil and plotted and drawn by Steve Ditko. This is O'Neil's first work for DC, having been brought over from Charlton by editor Giordano. An underworld informant named Jurgens is killed by a masked murderer known as the Terror before he can pass information to Jack Ryder. Ryder does get a few names from the dying man. The first of which is underworld boss Gerk Kreg.

Kreg and other crime boss's are being threatened by the Terror. Ryder visits Kreg as the Creeper, and begins to suspect that Kreg is the masked killer. The Creeper is unable to get proof, so he visits the other names given to him by Jurgens including Hack Axeley, an investigator.

When the Terror finds that Ryder has been investigating him, he attacks. Ryder is able to escape and become the Creeper. After a fight on the rooftops, Creeper is able to expose the Terror as Axeley's assistant Forbes, who has been blackmailing crooks. Creeper is able to take down Forbes and Kreg and escape as the police arrive.

Edited by Dick Giordano.

Are You Buying This?

The headline says it all, Clinton would have left Obama's church. Oh really? This from a woman who wouldn't leave a cheating husband? I'm not buying it!

Sirius Buyout of XM Approved

Having recently been forced to listen to XM on a JetBlue flight and being horrified at the crappy jingles played before every song, the only thing I hope to get out of this is Air America back on Sirius like it used to be. The last thing I want is the depressingly bad music channels that infest XM.

The Dark Knight

Damn does this look amazing and one can only imagine where Heath Ledger would have gone after this.

So?

Speaking of the ghoul Cheney, have you ever heard a vice president say "fuck you" to his people? Watch this and you will.



CHENEY: On the security front, I think there’s a general consensus that we’ve made major progress, that the surge has worked. That’s been a major success.

RADDATZ: Two-third of Americans say it’s not worth fighting.

CHENEY: So?

RADDATZ So? You don’t care what the American people think?

CHENEY: No. I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls.

I know members of my family who have prayed a long time for this thug and his "boss" (or lackey depending on how you look at it) to be assassinated, but I really think death is going too easy on them. A lifetime in Guantanamo being "questioned" seems much more appropriate for this level of scum.

The Blood of 4,000...

...is on George Bush's hands and drips from the mouth of the ghoul Cheney. It is also on the hands of those Americans who supported these two in their baseless attack on a country that had done nothing to our country.

Last City Boy Video

This is the last City Boy video I could find and it looks like a fan put this together, but it showcases a very nice song from Dinner At The Ritz called Walk On The Water:

What Do You Call a Sporting Event with No Participants?

The Beijing Olympics!

For a country that has worried so much about how their cities look and how they smell, they sure are fucking clueless assholes on what really is going to keep athletes away in droves.

CIty Boy Live!

At least it looks live to me. The song is "What A Night" from the Book Early album. This one has a Electric Light Orchestra vibe. Enjoy!

The Day The Earth Caught Fire

I was listening to the songs I have on my thumb drive at work today and I hit upon a number of songs by City Boy. This is a band I doubt many, if any, of you have heard of, but in the 1970s I listened to them all the time. Like many of the groups I listened to then, my friend Baron Mrkva was the one who discovered them and turned me on to them. Two of my favorite City Boy albums were Dinner at the Ritz and The Day the Earth Caught Fire. City Boy was kind of a cross between Queen and 10CC and hell, take a listen and you tell me.

40 Years Ago Today From DC Comics -- Plastic Man #10

Plastic Man #10 (On Sale: March 21, 1968) has a cover by Jack Sparling, a new logo and a death sentence in this its last issue.

"The Terrible Plastic Twin" is by Arnold Drake and Jack Sparling (I don't know what the insides looked like, but Sparling did a bang-up job with Plas on that cover). When Gordy is injured in an explosion Plastic Man donates his blood for a life-saving transfusion. The blood saves Gordy, but also gives him Plastic Man's powers. Gordy then tries to become a super-hero and show Plas how to fight crime. Instead, Plastic Man has to work extra hard to protect Gordy from getting into trouble. After Plas defeats killer doll-maker Marcel Mannequin at Madame DeLute's high society party, Gordy realizes that Plastic Man's methods, though unconventional, are effective.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Charles Keller

I noticed recently that someone found my blog by looking up "Keller" on Live Search so out of curiosity I followed the same path to see what I might find. One of the things I found was the website of artist Charles Keller, who passed away just six months ago at the age of 91. Political cartoons was only one of Charles' passions. Take a look at the work of a wonderful artist, who just happens to share my last name.

Five Years of Shame!

The George Bush legacy.

For the love of God, don't vote for another Republican.

40 Years Ago Today From DC Comics -- Falling In Love #99

Falling In Love #99 (On Sale: March 19, 1968) has a very mod cover by Ric Estrada.

A few years ago I shared an elevator in my hotel at the San Diego Comic-Con with Ric and I said something like, "I've always enjoyed your work." Ric responded by making sure his badge was not showing and then saying, "You have no idea who I am." I guess Ric was not used to being recognized. I said, "Ric, you are one of those guys who looks like you were drawn by you; your face looks like a Ric Estrada face."

Inside "Two Faces of Love" is drawn by John Rosenberger, "Stolen Dreams" drawn by Arthur Peddy and Bernard Sachs, and "Slave to Love" drawn by Ric Estrada.

Edited by Jack Miller.

Speaking of Football

My Los Angeles Avengers got shellacked this weekend by the Georgia Force, 58-34, in a game not local and not televised. They play next on Thursday night at the Staples Arena against the Philadelphia Soul. The Soul is a team which for three years now everyone thinks should be winning the league, as evidenced by this being the second year in a row that almost half of the games televised on ESPN feature the Soul.

What makes the Soul so damn watchable? Quarterback Tony Graziani, who spent three glorious years as the Avenger QB is just amazing to watch. His final season with the Avengers the average Avenger drive was three plays; Tony would just drop back into the pocket and throw the ball in to the end-zone. Since joining the Soul, co-owned by Jon Bon Jovi, Graziani has been either brilliant or injured. He will be sitting on the sidelines on Thursday due to what looked like a really cheap shot at his knee in last week's game. Which means he won't be throwing to his new favorite target Chris Jackson, who joined the Soul this year and used to be Graziani's favorite target in Los Angeles.

Me? I'm in Florida again and will miss the non-televised game anyway.

The One-Day Wonder

Recently Chris Dufresne of the Los Angeles Times wrote a piece on the Los Angeles Express of the United States Football League (USFL) who 25 years ago looked like they held the promise of the new league in their hands.

By the time up-and-coming Steve Young joined the team the promise was pretty much long gone. Definitely worth a look.

Maurice-Quentin de La Tour

I had the occasion to visit the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena recently and of all the amazing pieces there, this is the one that haunted me long after I left.

As I entered the room my eye went immediately to the piece on the far wall; an amazing painting of a wealthy aristocrat in the most dazzling of brilliant blue coats. The closer I got to the picture, the more intrigued I became. I was taken by the haughty self-confidence the artist had captured: the slightly raised right eyebrow, the minor upward tilt of the head exposing the reflected light on the underside of the chin, the small upturn of the lips, the perfection of the white powered wig and gossamer finery.

It seems to be a portrait of a regal bastard for sure, but as I moved even closer… no. What looked like conceit and arrogance from further back, up close looked more like devilish mocking of the self-importance so often conveyed in portraits of this kind. The upturned mouth is much more playful, the arching eyebrow much more questioning, “Don’t you get the joke?” it seems to ask. Parts of the picture are at odds with one another: the perfect wig, the stunning clothes and a five o’clock shadow? The eyes are almost twinkling, as if you expect the right one to wink at you at any moment, and when I realized this was a self-portrait of the artist I could see it not only a sarcastic statement about those who posed for him, but a self-effacing declaration of his own pompousness.

As I moved very close to the canvas I was astounded to see that it wasn’t a canvas at all, but an amazing application of pastels on paper, done with a technical skill I have never seen before. As much as I love the glowing effervescence of Degas’ dancers and the flowing motion of the Toulouse-Lautrec “Rider on a White Horse,” this pastel captured my heart. What technique; the flush of the skin is a series of light red strokes, the beard shadow a series of blue ones, as bright as the tunic the artist wears. The wig is a network of bright, thin white single-hair lines applied over a base of mottled whites, grays, browns and blues. The striking bright blue backlight slashes on the tunic are in stark contrast to the glorious soft blending of blues that make up the majority of the velvety cloth. This is just magnificent work, Self-Portrait, 1764 by Maurice-Quentin de La Tour.

It's Perfectly Safe Here Since the Surge!

As long as you sneak in!

The headline says it all McCain makes unannounced trip to Iraq. If the surge worked so well and makes the place so safe, why don't you let them know you are coming John?

The Ten-Cent Plague

The Los Angeles Times, whose redesigned website is actually usable for once, ran a review of 'The Ten-Cent Plague' by David Hajdu in today's Books section. "How comic book creators tested the limits of content in the face of an ever-changing bonfire brigade" by Geoff Boucher paints a picture of a book I am very interested in reading.

The book relates the story of how comic publisher Bill Gaines was brought before congress to when comic books were chosen as the "next great threat to America." This is definitely worth a peak.

Ah, the Romance of War!

I find it amazing that this little shit who did so much to avoid going to Viet Nam now thinks going to war would be "romantic." What a sick little fuck.

40 Years Ago Today From DC Comics -- House of Mystery #174

House of Mystery #174 (On Sale: March 14, 1968) has a nice spooky cover by new editor Joe Orlando and George Roussos.

Gone is Dial H for HERO, The Martian Manhunter and editor George Kashdan. In their place is an idea that hasn't been attempted since the Comics Code was created in the 1950s: horror is returning to comics, though this first attempt is really just a compilation of old reprints with a new cover and a smidgen of humor from Sergio Aragones in his first work for DC.

"The Wondrous Witch's Cauldron" is drawn by Lee Elias and reprinted from House of Secrets #58. "The Man Who Hated Good Luck" drawn by Johnny Quest creator Doug Wildey is from House of Secrets #17. (You'd better hang on to your good luck amulets...) is written by Joe Orlando and drawn by Mad's Sergio Aragones. "Museum of Worthless Inventions" from House of Secrets #13 is drawn by Bernard Baily while "The Court of Creatures," featuring Mark Merlin, is by Jack Miller, Carmine Infantino and Mort Meskin and comes to us from House of Secrets #43.

The entire contents of this book was reprinted in Showcase Presents The House of Mystery #1.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

Olbermann Lays into Clinton and Ferraro

Earlier this week Keith Olbermann had a special comment for Hillary Clinton and what she is doing to the Democratic party. He also echoed my feelings about Ferraro.

Dave Stevens

Illustrator Dave Stevens, best known for The Rocketeer, died Tuesday following a long, battle with Leukemia. Over the years I saw Dave repeatedly at the San Diego Comic-Con, but never stopped to talk to him, though I admired his work tremendously. That is not to say that I never met Dave.

Though most people remember Dave for his Rocketeer character, I was a fan of Dave's long before the Rocketeer ever came on to the scene. Dave used to do these amazing strips and illustrations for the San Diego Comic-Con program every year which were so brilliantly illustrated that you had to take notice. At least I did.

In 1980 my comic book partner Baron Mrkva and I were invited to the Filmation offices to interview for some storyboarding work on the Saturday morning Flash Gordon cartoon. We were so swamped with the stuff we were doing at the time to make ends meet, that we never had the opportunity to actually work at Filmation (and boy don't I think how my life would be different had that not been the case), but I was very pleased to meet a few people I admired while at the offices.

Before settling down in the amazing Bob Kline's office, we were shown around by Will Meugniot who I remembered from a Marvel Tigra strip that Tony Isabella was writing. The first person we met was Dave. He was hunched over a board animating the face of the Lone Ranger. Baron had no idea who he was, but I told Dave how much I loved the stuff he had done over the years for the SDCC program. He seemed surprised that anyone would know him from that work. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy, very humble with regards to his work and I was really pleased a few years later with the success he garnered with the Rocketeer. And nobody drew sexy women like Dave.

40 Years Ago Today From DC Comics -- Showcase #74

Showcase #74 (On Sale: March 12, 1968) has a nice Howie Post cover featuring the debut of Post's Anthro.

"It Could Be You" is written and drawn by Howie Post. This is Post's first DC comic since "The Tale of the Cat" in World's Finest Comics #70, published in 1954. Anthro is the first Cro-Magnon boy born in the Stone Age. His father, Neanderthal caveman Ne-Ahn is the chief of his tribe, his mother a captive member of another tribe.

Anthro and his father go hunting before the winter season. During their pursuit of a mammoth, Anthro's father falls and drops his spear, so the boy picks it up and chases the mammoth. Using the spear, Anthro is able to kill the beast.

Anthro returns home expecting to be congratulated for his success, but instead his father challenges him. Picking up the fallen spear was an insult, so the older caveman demands a fight to the death. Anthro prevails, but he refuses to kill his father. He then establishes a new law based on love.

Edited by Carmine Infantino.

Ferraro: The Pot Calling the Kettle Black!

Yeah, there was a pun intended there.

Geraldine Ferraro, a member of Hillary Clinton's finance committee and one time Vice Presidential candidate, tried to denigrate Barack Obama by saying, "if Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position." As if he didn't really deserve to be ahead in states won and delegates, as if his being in that position was the sole result of his race. Oh Geraldine, I do so see your point. His being an inspiring, articulate and intelligent leader and force for real change in this country, who has pretty much kept his campaign promise to not attack his opponent, couldn't have anything to do with it now, could it?

Your words are patently absurd Geraldine, but since you brought up just what put a candidate in the position they now find themselves, let's take a look at your candidate: Hillary Clinton.

Here is my statement Geraldine, and unlike your statement, there is plenty of evidence to back this one up:

If Hillary Clinton didn't have a vagina between her legs, she would not be in this position.

I base this on two very commonly known facts:

1. The majority of the people voting for Clinton, like Ferraro, also have a vagina between their legs. This orifice has many wondrous and amazing uses, but it should not be used for thinking, something far too many women are attempting to use it for this year.
2. If Hillary didn't have said orifice, Bill Clinton would never have had sex with her, would never have married her, would never have taken her with him to the White House and she would not be in any position to be running for much of anything. She got where she is by sleeping her way to the top.

Who do you have to fuck to run for President of the United States? Bill Clinton.

BTW, I like to remember Ferraro like she was in this picture, fairly hot looking with just a touch of the slutty, overdone, "come fuck me" eye makeup and not at all the cunt she has turned into.

Avengers Kick Ass Again!

Quarteback Sonnie Cumbie threw for seven more touchdowns in the second game of the season, bringing his total to a league-tying 14 in two games as the Avengers blew away the Arizona Rattlers 65-33 in Phoenix. I watched the game on ESPN2 this evening. I'm going to miss their next home game (like I missed the season opener) as I will once again be in Florida working. Damn, I hope I get to see some of this season!

40 Years Ago Today From DC Comics -- Tomahawk #116

Tomahawk #116 (On Sale: March 7 1968) has, well, one of the most beautiful covers I have ever seen. I mean talk about a gorgeous piece of work, Neal Adams with a single cover totally redefined the Tomahawk character. Wow!

We begin with "The Last Mile of Massacre Trail" by Carl Wessler and Fred Ray. Change will be coming to the insides of this book to match the new look on the covers, but it doesn't start in this issue. The back-up is "The Making of a Hero" which is also by Carl Wessler and Fred Ray.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

Ahead of the Curve

I LOVE Vermont!!

Voters in two Vermont towns on Tuesday approved a measure that would instruct police to arrest President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for "crimes against our Constitution."

I long for the day when this is a real photo of what is taking place in this country.

40 Years Ago Today From DC Comics -- Flash #179

Flash #179 (On Sale: March 5, 1968) has a Ross Andru and Mike Esposito cover.

"The Flash -- Fact or Fiction?" by Cary Bates, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito is a Bates classic. " Flash encounters a hurricane-like creature known as a Nok which feeds off Flash's aura. The Nok follows the Flash, who is unable to find a way to stop the creature. An alien hunter appears and tells Flash that he is responsible for bringing the Nok to Earth, but the Flash must recapture it before his ship leaves.

While fighting the Nok, Flash is thrown into a parallel universe. He soon discovers that super-heroes only exist as comic book characters in this reality (This it the first story to take place on Earth-Prime, a parallel universe in which the Flash and other super-heroes only exist as comic book characters. It is not the real Earth and would later develop two super-heroes of its own, Ultraa and Superboy.). He is unable to cross the dimensional barrier to return home, so he looks up the one person who will believe that he is a super-hero, DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz.

At the DC offices, Flash meets Julie and proves that he has super speed. Julie then gathers parts for the Flash to build a cosmic treadmill. The treadmill enables him to return to Earth-1. Once, he is back in his own universe, Flash is able to stop the Nok using a chemical that mimics his aura. The alien hunter then takes the Nok away from Earth.Reprinted in Greatest Flash Stories Ever Told HC, Greatest Flash Stories Ever Told TPB and Flash: The Greatest Stories Ever Told TPB.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

I Want That Drug...

...that they advertise on TV that may cause you to gamble compulsively.

"Requip can cause serious side effects, such as drowsiness, compulsive gambling and sexual behaviors."

So if I don't blow all my money, I'll blow my neighbor? I do have restless-legs syndrome, but, I'm not sure I want to try this solution.

Go Now

OK, this is just plain and simple one of the greatest romantic rock songs of all time. The Moody Blues first hit, before they got the Justin Hayward/John Lodge sound that everyone knows them for, when Denny Laine was the lead singer. Denny's vocals reverberate with just the right amount of heartache and pain to bring this sad song off. Just a beautiful song and man does this live version from the British side of Hullabaloo sound great!

We've already said
Goodbye
Since you gotta go, oh you'd better
Go now go now, go now (Go now)
Before you see me cry
I don't want you to tell me just what you intend to do now
'Cause how many times do I have to tell you darlin', darlin'
I'm still in love with you now
Whoa-oh-oh-oh

We've already said
So long
I don't wanna see you go, oh you'd better
Go now go now, go now (Go now)
Don't you even try
Tellin' me that you really don't want it to end this way
'Cause darlin', darlin', can't you see I want you to stay
Yeah, yeah

Since you gotta go, oh you'd better
Go now go now, go now (Go now)
Before you see me cry
I don't want you to tell me just what you intend to do now
'Cause how many times do I have to tell you darlin', darlin'
I'm still in love still in love with you now
Whoa-oh-oh-oh
I don't wanna see you go but darlin', you better go now

A Very Sad Day

Man am I bummed! The amazing competitor that is Brett Favre has retired after 17 years. The news just stunned me.

Favre had such an complete season this last year, breaking Dan Marino's career records for most touchdown passes and most yards passing and John Elway's record for most career wins by a starting quarterback. Amazing stats, but with Favre it is more than just the stats.

Brett was as fun to watch as any quarterback I have ever seen. Tony Romo is the only guy I can think of who looks like he is having as much fun on the football field as Brett Favre did. He was a guy you could root for even when he was playing your team.

He was good for football and good for 17 years of fun.

Thanks Brett.

Eve of Distruction

I was watching PBS tonight and they had a 60's music show on featuring lots of old videos from the NBC show Hullabaloo and some more recent concert footage of some 60's rock acts. They had some pretty amazing stuff I thought, but I was really shocked at most of the Hullabaloo tapes in that, 1) they were mostly lip-syncing and 2) I remember seeing so many of them when they first aired in the mid 60s. One of the few Hullabaloo tapes that did not feature lip-syncing was an amazing rendition of P.F. Sloan's Eve of Destruction by Barry McGuire. It was raw and guttural and still packs a wallop after all these years.

I was hoping to find a copy of that performance to share here, but it is not available. What I did find is a very nicely done video which aptly displays the timelessness of Sloan's lyrics.

The Eastern world, it is explodin',
Violence flarin', bullets loadin'.
You're old enough to kill, but not for votin',
You don't believe in war -- but what's that gun you're totin'?
An' even the Jordan river has bodies floatin'.
But you tell me, over and over and over again, my friend,
Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.

Don't you understand what I'm tryin' to say,
An' can't you feel the fears I'm feelin' today?
If the button is pushed, there's no runnin' away,
There'll be no one to save, with the world in a grave.
Take a look around you, boy, it's bound to scare you, boy.
An' you tell me, over and over and over again, my friend,
Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.

Yeah, my blood's so mad feels like coagulatin',
I'm sittin' here just contemplatin'.
I can't twist the truth, it knows no regulation,
Handful of senators don't pass legislation,
An' marches alone can't bring integration
When human respect is disintegratin',
This whole crazy world is just too frustratin'.
An' you tell me, over and over and over again, my friend,
Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.

Think of all the hate there is in Red China,
Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama.
Ah, you may leave here for four days in space,
But when you return it's the same ol' place,
The poundin' of the drums, the pride an' disgrace.
You can bury your dead, but don't leave a trace.
Hate your next-door neighbor, but don't forget to say grace,
An' tell me, over and over and over again, my friend,
You don't believe we're on the eve of destruction,
No, no, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.

Badge

Ever wonder why this song is called Badge? Hell, for the longest time I could never find this song on a Cream album, because, who the hell would look for a song called Badge? According to Songfacts.com the title has nothing to do with the song. Eric Clapton saw George Harrison's notes for this song, and misread "Bridge" as "Badge." He thought that is what Harrison named the song, so they used it for the title.

And if the title were not strange enough, what about the lyrics?

Thinkin' 'bout the times you drove in my car.
Thinkin' that I might have drove you too far.
And I'm thinkin' 'bout the love that you laid on my table.
I told you not to wander 'round in the dark.
I told you 'bout the swans, that they live in the park.
Then I told you 'bout our kid: now he's married to Mabel.
Yes, I told you that the light goes up and down.
Don't you notice how the wheel goes 'round?
And you better pick yourself up from the ground
Before they bring the curtain down.
Yes, before they bring the curtain down.

Ah Ah Ah, yeh yeh yeh
Ah Ah Ah, yeh yeh yeh
Talkin' 'bout a girl that looks quite like you.
She didn't have the time to wait in the queue.
She cried away her life since she fell out the cradle

Clapton has said when Badge was released the British press began dissecting its meaning, going so far as to suggest that it was a brilliant piece of political satire, and allowing that a certain government scandal of the day was referenced by "the swans that... live in the park." Clapton, Harrison and Ringo thought this all very amusing as Clapton remembered someone simply writing down the gibberish emanating from Ringo's mouth one night when they were all loaded. Harrison and Clapton were picking out random tunes, began riffing off each other, and Ringo started a drunken rap.

Regardless, it's a hell of a great song.

No Such Thing As Bad Press?

I'm not sure Extended Stay America would agree with that old axiom. Every story on TV regarding the ricin found in Las Vegas shows pictures of the motel where it was found.

"Extended Stay America! Come for the rooms, stay for the deadly poisons!"

Yeah, that doesn't play very well does it?

When Your Mind's Made Up

Another beautiful song from Once, my favorite film of 2007. If you love music and small, quirky, relationship-driven fims you have to see Once. Now out on DVD.

Season Opener!

Arena Football, the indoor game is back! My Los Angeles Avengers had their home opener and the league season opener last night against the New Orleans VooDoo... and I'm in Boca Raton for another week. I hope my son Brian enjoyed the game, as it reads like a fun one for the home crowd, though it certainly didn't look that way at the beginning.

New Orleans wide receiver Wendell Williams returned the opening kickoff 54 yards for a touchdown. That was followed up by an inauspicious start for Avenger QB Sonny Cumbie, who was intercepted on his first pass of the season.

The Avenger comeback began when Avenger safety Damen Wheeler stripped the football from New Orleans wide receiver Wendell Williams and strutted into the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown to give Los Angeles its first lead of the game at 28-23 with 5:22 left until halftime. The Avengers trailed the VooDoo at the half 33-28, but came back strong in the second half. Sonny Cumbie completed 23 of 38 passes for 268 yards and seven touchdowns and the Los Angeles Avengers rallied to beat the New Orleans VooDoo 59-42. New Avenger Timon Marshall caught nine passes for 116 yards and three scores. Avenger star receiver Kevin Ingram had eight catches for 79 yards and a touchdown. All three of Los Angeles’ defensive backs -- Damen Wheeler, Eddie Canonico and rookie Terrell Maze notched their first picks of the season.

This is a different Avengers team than the one that netted their first playoff victory last year. Gone are perennial Avenger stars kicker Remy Hamilton, lineman Silas Demary. Wide receiver/linebacker Robert Quiroga, who was a standout last season was let go a few months ago, but resigned with the Avengers a week ago. I'm going to miss Remy and Silas, but it looks like we have added some good talent to our existing solid core.

I just hope I'm home for some of the games this season!