Were, Not Was
The first sixty years of rock and roll have been littered with casualties.
The infamous “27 club” – musicians taken aged 27 – includes Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Amy Whitehouse, Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin and many more.
Today’s theme is another casualty of rock. Grammar.
Trapped
Nobody enjoys the ego dent of being picked on by someone far smaller than themselves. Or of others finding out.
This ant probably thought getting beaten up by a mite would go unnoticed, until the incident was locked in amber for 45 million years, discovered by scientists and paraded on the internet.
A remarkable moment, locked in.
Dancing about architecture
“Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.” David Bowie.
Which I’ve always taken to mean that each art form can only be appreciated on its own terms.
Made sense. And then I read a book.
Carnival
Johnny Depp surprised punters on the Pirates of the Caribbean log flume this week, appearing in person as Jack Sparrow.
He is the not the first outlaw to find a place in a carnival ride.
Circle
During the news cycle following the shooting in Paris this week, a young British woman was interviewed on BBC radio.
She was sitting at a table in a café on the Champs Elysées with her young child when the first shots were heard.
Covers – part 1
It all started with Simon and Garfunkel and Alex and Harry in a Scooby Doo costume.
Giving
A number of charities have benefited from artists and publishers donating their royalties from popular songs.
Cobblers
Timpson’s is a cobbler’s – a UK high street store mending shoes and cutting keys. Its culture is a bit different.
This recent offer is a good example.
Fanclub
The two greatest things to come out of Glasgow in the 1990’s resurfaced in Seattle this week.
Trainspotting 2 opened in cinemas here, 21 years after the first and two months after it opened in the UK. I’m guessing the film and hobby – hanging out on train station platforms taking note of the passing engine numbers – didn’t translate to the US. My autosuggesting American keyboard – usually pretty culturally clued-in – has nothing to offer until I enter the “g”.