Lemmy, Hawkwind, and Motorhead

Tuesday night’s Clutch concert at Terminal 5 in NYC featured exclusively Motorhead songs on the PA leading up to the band’s stage appearance and a call-out by singer Neil Fallon.

With Ian “Lemmy” Kilminster’s recent death and intense and widespread outpouring of regret, sympathy and fond remembrance, I checked my blogs and realized I hadn’t done one on this subject, although I did cover Time of the Hawklords, Michael Moorcock’s Hawkwind sci-fi book, back in March 2014.

White Line Fever.  His autobiography.  If you haven’t already, check it out.  I did so because of the Hawkwind angle, which he does cover briefly – though enough to make it worth checking out for Hawkwind fans.  Required reading for ALL Motorhead fans.

His more recent DVD documentary, “Lemmy”, is also fun to watch.  He gives a tour of his rent-controlled, Nazi-memorabilia filled apartment in L.A., and the cubbyhole of the Rainbow Bar & Grill where he hangs out.  I liked Scott Ian ragging on him for his Daisy Dukes (very short jean shorts). 

Sam Gopal.  Before Hawkwind, Lemmy was in Sam Gopal’s band, and he’s on Escalator.  He plays lead guitar and sings.  This is a bit more Indian toned than Hawkwind, so maybe not that great for Motorhead fans. 

Hawkwind.  I’ve seen Hawkwind twice, but both times was in the 1990s well after Lemmy left.  He’s on Doremi Fasol Latido (1972),  Hall of the Mountain Grill (1974), and Warrior on the Edge of Time (1975), plus their must-have live album, Space Ritual (1973), which oddly does NOT have “Silver Machine”.  It was on the Warrior tour that he was busted in Canada and effectively kicked out of the band.  Sadly, Lemmy was never in the band at the same time as Huw Lloyd Langton (HLL) [except ONE live show] – that would have been killer.  

            Compared to Motorhead, Hawkwind are a completely different animal.  Amazingly psychedelic, but with a strong core of strength – thanks to Lemmy – it was weird, but fun.  Those albums with Lemmy are arguably the best ones, though Levitation and Xenon Codex – both with HLL – are also awesome. 

            “Motorhead”, “Lost Johnny”, “The Watcher”, and “Silver Machine” are Lemmy’s contributions to Hawkwind, really where any Motorhead fan should start.  I prefer the Hawkwind version of “Motorhead”, though it doesn’t have Lemmy singing, plus it has a slower lope to it than the Motorhead version.

Motorhead.  I’ve seen them a few times, including one major show at the Bayou (DC) in January 1996, headlining, plus opening for Black Sabbath (1994) and Iron Maiden (2003).   Ace of Spades is, of course, the definitive album, but I prefer Another Perfect Day, the one-off album with Brian Robertson – better known as half of Thin Lizzy’s guitar attack with Scott Gorham – and Phil Taylor (RIP recently as well). 

            In more recent years Lemmy tended to switch up and ease the throttle a bit on some songs.  “1916” is an excellent example of this.  He couldn’t do this for more than a song or two per album, but an entire album of such songs – like Opeth’s Damnation – would have been great.  F**k Motorhead fans if they can’t deal with it.  Part of what kept me from being a stronger Motorhead fan was that too many of his songs sounded exactly the same, and the same attitude was endlessly repeated to the point of boredom.  He complained that fans always mention Ace of Spades and tried to remind people that he’s made 18 albums since that one.  Dude, all those 18 albums sound the same!  If he’d done that prog album I’d asked for, maybe it would be different.  

TED

Recently the sequel, Ted 2, came out on Blu-Ray, and I snapped it up ASAP.  I loved both films and saw them when they came out in the movie theaters. 

And no, I do not mean those seminars.  I think we can agree that a foul-mouthed, pot-smoking, oversexed talking teddy bear is much more fascinating and entertaining. 

These were done by Seth MacFarlane, the creator of “The Family Guy”.  I can take or leave that show, which is mostly funny but also somewhat self-indulgent.  SM is also a bit too smug.   I did like his “Family Guy” parodies of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi.   Note that he never bothered to parody the prequels.  Wonder why?  Now we have to wonder if he will be parodying “The Force Awakens.”

TED (2012).  Johnny Bennett (played as an adult by Mark Wahlberg) grows up in suburban Boston without much in the way of friends, and as an only child, has no siblings.  He gets a teddy bear for Christmas and makes a Christmas wish that his bear be given life.  The next morning, voila!  One talking teddy bear, albeit with a child’s relative innocence.

            Fast forward to John’s adulthood, with its inevitable loss of innocence through adolescence, and Ted now talks like… Seth MacFarlane.  He curses, smokes pot, and chases skirt – even though he lacks genitals.  Notwithstanding this deficiency, he still hooks up with Tami-Lynn (Jessica Barth).  Basically he’s John’s best friend.

            All well and fine, until John hooks up with Lori (Mila Kunis).  Lori feels that Ted is holding back John from fully maturing.  There’s an extended cameo with Sam Jones – John and Ted are big fans of “Flash Gordon” (1980). 

            The danger erupts when creepy father, Donny (Giovanni Ribisi) tries to kidnap Ted for his own, spoiled son.  A climax occurs at Fenway Park – did I mention the movie takes place in Bawston, and most characters affect heavy Bawston accents? – but things turn out OK.  Sorry to spoil it for you.

            Patrick Stewart narrates the introduction and ending.  Awesome.

TED 2 (2015).  Lo and behold, a sequel.  Who would imagine? 

Lori is gone, but Ted has married Tami-Lynn.  Their marriage is in trouble, so they try to get a child.  A bungled attempt at stealing Tom Brady’s sperm (yes, cameo by Tom Brady, none too thrilled at strange men and teddy bears hand jobbing him) fails, and despite a successful J/O by John, it seems that Tami-Lynn’s uterus has been destroyed by years of abuse.   When they try to adopt, things get worse:  the Commonwealth of Massachusetts decides that Ted is property, not a person.  He loses his job, his money, his marriage is annulled, and of course he can’t adopt.  Unhappy.

            They hire an attorney, Samantha L. Jackson (Amanda Seyfried), eventually hire Patrick Meighan (Morgan Freeman), and a showdown with Donny – again – occurs at the ComiCon in New York City.  This time it’s John’s time to brush with death. 

             In addition to Tom Brady, there are brief cameos by Jay Leno, Liam Neeson, and the Saturday Night Live cast.  I’m beginning to suspect that SM has feet in both “Star” franchises, because in addition to the Family Guy “Star Wars” parodies, these movies have Patrick Stewart, and small roles by Nana “Major Kira” Visitor and Michael “Worf” Dorn.   Sam Jones is also back, though for the most part he’s upset with them.

The DVDs have some extra features:  deleted scenes, gag reels, and some “the making of…” segments with interviews with Seth MacFarlane and a few others.  Not a whole lot to add to the movie, but fairly nice. 

What’s strange is that for “Ted 2”’, David Hasselhoff is included as a cameo.   He appears with KITT (shiny black, highly modified 1982 Trans Am) and argues with a stand-in Ted.  No such scene appears in the movie.  I guess it didn’t rate as a “deleted scene” because the CGI Ted-work was never finished.  Too bad, as the Hoff is always entertaining, and I like KITT.  From what I could tell, though, Ted was badmouthing Hoff & KITT; I couldn’t figure out why.  Anyhow.

I shouldn’t have to mention that these movies are NOT suitable for children.  Anyone offended by foul language and consistent marijuana use/abuse should steer clear.  If you can handle those, you may well enjoy these.  

Better Call Saul

I’ve exhausted the Christmas topic, and don’t want to address – or spoil – any Star Wars “The Force Awakens” – issues, so I’ll tackle this one: “Better Call Saul”.   Season One is complete, and received sufficient ratings and applause to merit a second season, due out in 2016.  As an attorney myself, I found the subject matter extremely interesting, relevant, and relatable.  See below.

Background.  If you’re a “Breaking Bad” fan, you know who Saul Goodman is.  If you’re not…. Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) was the attorney who represented Walter White (Bryan Cranston) in his crystal meth business.  Because Walt’s business was not legal, he got a shady lawyer to represent him.  Saul wore double-breasted suits, had a flashy office in a non-flashy location (a decrepit strip mall), and advertised aggressively.  He had an arrogant and flamboyant style and no issue with not merely defending criminals such as Walt but also helping them perpetrate their criminal activities…for an appropriate fee. 

“Breaking Bad” is over, but Saul lives on.  Part of the charm of “Breaking Bad” was the host of fascinating characters:  not only Walt, but Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), Walt’s brother-in-law, DEA Agent Hank Schrader (Dean Norris), Gus Frings (Giancarlo Esposito), Mike Ehrmentraut (Jonathan Banks), and many more.  If it were just Walt, we’d have lost interest long ago.

Fans of “Breaking Bad” will recognize Mike (Banks), whose background gets far more attention now that we have the luxury of not dealing with Walt or Jesse, neither of whom seem to show up here.  (Maybe they’ll show Walt teaching Jesse chemistry in high school…in Season 2). 

This show takes place a few years before “Breaking Bad”, but still in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  It has a habit of going to flashbacks without warning, leaving you to guess the time frame from context.  It seems that Saul, who isn’t even Jewish, used to be James “Jimmy” McGill, originally from Chicago, Illinois.  His older brother Chuck (Michael McKean) is a former partner in a prestigious firm, Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill (aka “HHM”) but is now semi-retired due to a bizarre allergy to electricity.   Jimmy used to be a scam artist back in Chicago and only moved to New Mexico to start a new life, starting in the mail room at Chuck’s firm.  

As yet, he’s still Jimmy.  Since this takes place before “Breaking Bad”, we know that both Saul and Mike survive whatever challenges and dangers they face, but it’s still entertaining to see how they do it – Saul/Jimmy through fast talking, Mike through general bad-ass-ness, a former cop from Philadelphia who had to move west under questionable circumstances. 

Inspired by Chuck, Jimmy finished his college online and managed to get a Juris Doctor from an online law school, the University of American Samoa.  On his third try he managed to pass the New Mexico bar exam (I have to wonder what the State Bar of New Mexico thinks of the show).  With no help or support from Chuck, he started his own practice, with an office tucked away in a Vietnamese nail salon.  He drives a used, beaten Suzuki Esteem with mismatched doors.   Still “James McGill”, most of his cases are flat-rate court-appointed criminal cases, representing mostly guilty and unsympathetic defendants. 

For the meantime, he’s trying to build a practice as a sole practitioner.  Normally you would expect he could get into his brother’s firm on the ground floor – he started off in the mail room – but alas, it’s not that simple, for reasons which become clear by the end of the season.  Aside from court appointed work, he’s also trying to do wills for elderly clients, which leads him to a huge class action case – and eventually friction with his brother. 

Usually a lawyer has two paths to stardom.  Either he 4.0’s in college and then gets into a top law school, then does law review and gets hired by the top law firm.  OR… he slogs along either as a sole proprietor or in small firms, hoping to ace a super huge, impressive case which will get him the attention of a big firm (very likely the big firm he won that case against), willing to ignore his lack of pedigree and recognize his talent.  The latter is Saul’s “career track”.

Is he unethical?  That’s the initial impression and one the show enjoys reinforcing – up to a point.   Taking court-appointed criminal cases, representing defendants who are mostly guilty and unsympathetic, inevitably reflects poorly on the attorney himself, even if he’s just doing his job. 

A lawyer with a better pedigree would probably start out as a junior prosecutor and eventually establish a private defense practice after earning the top prosecutor job (District Attorney, or in Virginia, Commonwealth’s Attorney), or possibly US Attorney (federal prosecutor).  My experience has been that even for junior, entry level prosecutor positions, the US Attorneys’ offices only hire Ivy League, law review, law school graduates.  There’s definitely an upper stratosphere of the legal profession which begins in law school and continues throughout the career tracks of attorneys.  Breaking into that upper crust, if you didn’t start out there to begin with, is almost impossible – as Jimmy is finding out.  As of “Breaking Bad” he’s still a sole practitioner, so we’ll have to see what happens in later seasons of this show. 

Myself, I went to George Mason University School of Law, which could be considered a second tier law school.  Even there, I didn’t finish in the top of the class or do law review.  Upon graduating I worked for a sole practitioner until he got hired by a firm, worked for various small firms, and still work for myself, as a sole practitioner with two attorneys working for me as independent contractors.  I never won any big, huge, high publicity cases which would earn me the attention of a big firm.  To that extent I can identify with Jimmy, even though I was never a scam artist; I went to law school directly from college, with that plan as far back as high school.  I was honest prior to being a lawyer and remain honest and ethical as an attorney, whether I’m doing divorces, bankruptcies, criminal defense, or personal injury.  I neither seek out nor attract sleazy clients nor do I associate with meth dealers or corrupt cops.  What I share with Jimmy is surviving in the lower tier of the legal profession with neither glamor nor riches.   At least not yet, but I have no more hope or expectation than Jimmy has of breaking into the top stratosphere of wealthy attorneys.  We’ll see. 

Jimmy’s case is off-kilter because of his colorful past.  The assumption is that “Slippin’ Jimmy” from Cicero, IL will simply be an equally unethical attorney in Albuquerque.  The law office in the nail salon and mismatched Esteem reinforce that.  Sure enough, some of his initial business is shady: he runs a scam with some skaterats, which ends poorly [“You’re a lousy attorney!” “Hey, I got you from down from a death sentence to a broken leg.  I’d say that’s a good deal.”]  

In fact, you may wonder, never mind passing the bar exam on three tries, how the board of bar examiners even let him take the exam at all.  The Bar is highly sensitive to its reputation and diligently screens applicants for background and ethics.  Presumably his “Chicago sunroof” incident may have been the only transgression which made it into the court system.  We can’t give Chuck any credit, as Jimmy did all of this without Chuck’s knowledge.   Chuck probably would have torpedoed Jimmy’s bar application had he known about it – which explains why he was unpleasantly surprised rather than proud to hear that Jimmy passed the bar exam.

Anyhow, notwithstanding the Chicago sunroof, Jimmy is slowly but surely changing his attitude.  He knows he won’t get respect as an attorney – least of all from his prestigious but arrogant brother – until he cleans up his legal act.  He wants to do the right thing.  And ultimately, forced to make a hard choice, he usually decides to do the right thing. 

Or does he?  The last scene of Season One leads us to wonder.   Those of us who know him as Saul Goodman might conclude that he remains in the nether regions of the legal profession because he knows the top lawyers will never accept him as one of their own no matter how hard he works and what brilliant jobs he does for even the most respectable and sympathetic clients.  Stay tuned.

                                                                         * * *

By the way… 1) I still think of Michael McKean as a) Lenny from “Laverne & Shirley” and b) David St. Hubbins from “Spinal Tap”.  He always has an indelible stamp of arrogance he can’t seem to avoid no matter what the role.  2) If you REALLY like Bob Odenkirk, check out “Mr. Show”, a variety show he did a few years back (before “Breaking Bad”) with David Cross.  I found it funny, if a bit hit-or-miss.  

The Taiping Rebellion

Known as the bloodiest conflict before World War II, this took place in Central China between the Imperialists (Qing Dynasty), i.e. the government, and Christian rebels.  As so often the case, I’m running off OMA, in this case, 275, The Taiping Rebellion 1851-66, and my old friend Wikipedia.

Rebels.  The Society of God-Worshippers in Kwangsi Province.  Hung Hsiu Chuan, their charismatic leader, founded the movement based on visions he had leading him to believe he was Jesus’ younger brother.   They started with large numbers of volunteers, then resorted to conscription, and even drafted children.  The Taipings generally grew their hair long.  Hung himself died of food poisoning in 1864 as the siege of Nanking entered its final phase.

Government.   This was the Chinese Qing (aka Manchu) dynasty, the last before the 1911 revolution.  Its regular army was the 8 Banners and Green Standard, plus a large number of militia and irregulars.  Morale was low, corruption high, and desertion high.  Retreat was not disgraceful, so the forces melted away whenever met with resistance.  Imperialist forces generally kept the long pigtails.

The rebels initially took Nanking by March 1853, and from there made efforts to take Peking and Shanghai, both of which were unsuccessful.  For their part, the Imperialists also tried to take Nanking, but their blockade was beaten several times.  After the Taiping attacks on Shanghai failed, the Qings took the offensive back to Nanking and finally managed to take the city in 1864.  Remaining Taiping forces kept the Qings busy until the last forces were wiped out in 1866. 

Weapons.  This was a transition period between medieval weapons – swords, spears, bows & arrows, crossbows, etc. – and firearms, breech loading matchlocks and pistols, even huge muskets, jingtalls.  Cannons and rockets were also used.

Charles “Chinese” Gordon & the Ever-Victorious Army.  Despite British conflict with the Qing during the Opium Wars, the Europeans in Shanghai were actually concerned about the Taipings and allied with the Qing against them.  Since Imperial forces were typically poorly equipped and trained, a strong nucleus of well-trained and equipped Chinese volunteers – officered by experienced Westerners – helped out immensely: the Ever-Victorious Army.  Initially led by an American, Frederick Ward, eventually Gordon took over.   His role in leading this army gained him the nickname “Chinese”.  He was later killed in a revolt in Sudan in 1885.

Death Toll.  The main distinction of this war was the horrendous death toll – 20-30 million dead - far above World War I (8 million) and only exceeded by World War II (50 million).   Although the actual armies weren’t that large, the forces attacked and conscripted civilians regularly, with many massacres on a regular basis; thus the majority of casualties were civilian.  

C.L. Moore

Several months ago I read an article, I believe it was in Reason Magazine, about a relatively obscure author from the 1930s & 40s, Catherine L. Moore, popularly referred to as C.L. Moore.  In addition to being a contemporary of H.P. Lovecraft (HPL) and Robert E. Howard (REH), she also wrote stories for Weird Tales, and I’ve read at least one letter between her and Lovecraft, so they knew each other.

I managed to snag a compendium of her stories, used, The Best of C.L. Moore.  Incidentally, she tended to use “C.L.” to avoid being typecast as a female author, but given the subject matter my guess is that any experienced reader would be able to tell anyway.

Shambleau.  Her protagonist, Northwest Smith (possibly an inspiration for Indiana Jones) barely escapes the clutches of a seductive Medusa-like alien he saved from a lynch mob.

Black Thirst.  Northwest again.  A Minga woman invites Northwest into the forbidden Venusian fortress where she lives.  It turns out to be far larger than expected.   WHOA.

The Bright Illusion.  True love between a human male and an alien woman.  Kinda trippy and romantic.

The Black God's Kiss.  Moore introduces us to Jirel of Joiry, a female equivalent of Conan.  She too kills - in a different way.  This appeared in Weird Tales, and is truly weird.

Tryst In Time.  More love - a love that transcends and spans several different ages and epochs, souls reborn yet still the same.

Greater Than Gods.  A man is forced to choose between two very beautiful but very different women, and is shown the consequences, throughout his future lifetime, of each choice.  How can he choose?  Stay tuned.

Fruit of Knowledge.  The story of Lilith, Adam's first wife, before Eve.  Scandal!  Betrayal!  Jealousy!  It's Blake, Miranda, and Gwen in the Garden of Eden.  

No Woman Born.  A beautiful woman suffers a terrible accident which disfigures her - until she's turned into a beautiful robot - imagine those "Marilyn Monroe robot" posters from the 1970s.  What happens now?

Daemon.  No women in this one.  A feebleminded, soul-less Brazilian from Rio de Janeiro is stranded on an island with a wise old man, who dies on the island.  The pirate captain who stranded them both comes back to kill him off.

Vintage Season.  This features an amazing clique of eccentric tourists renting an oddly nondescript house in L.A. It turns out that these are tourists from another time coming to witness a historic natural disaster they know will soon occur.  This was turned into a movie, "Timescape", with Jeff Daniels, which I haven't seen.

Her style is densely verbose, similar to HPL and REH.  The majory difference is how often women and their issues become involved.  HPL himself almost completely ignored women, which led some to speculate that he was gay.  His wife, Sonia Greene, dismissed those rumors, and you would imagine she would be in a position to know.  For REH, women are mostly tagalong companions, except for Red Sonya ("Shadow of the Vulture").  Give HPL and REH a vagina and a heavy dose of estrogen, and you might wind up with CL Moore.  If you can tolerate their writing style you might enjoy hers.  They're all fairly long, but that aspect is at least novel.  Go for it.