Ever wonder what it would've been like if blogs had existed at the height of Beatlemania? Me, neither. But evidently someone did. Or maybe the world has officially run out of ways to hawk Beatles books. The person behind it seems just obsessive enough to hang on through the psychedelic years, which should be 2006-8. I'll check back then . . .
Hand it to Mel Gibson -- the guy's got chutzpah. He (and/or his publicists) reportedly put words in the mouth of John Paul II to help tout his ultra-controversial movie about Jesus. Setting aside the question of whether a bullish papal review means boffo box office, it does make me wonder whether Mel lost sight of a commandment or two in his desperation to see the flick validated by His Holiness. Granted, I'd trust JP's opinion more than, say, Richard Roeper's or Elvis Mitchell's, but it might be disrespectful to quote the guy without checking first. And to claim he'd said something that he actually didn't, well, I wouldn't want to be a devout Catholic explaining that one to St. Peter.
The film already has Jewish leaders frothing. And for evangelical Christians, it's kind of like "The Last Temptation of Christ" in reverse. I can't decide whether to rush out and see it, or wait for it to hit cable. I'm still a little gunshy after the Bad Santa hype.
OK, from the lack of posts, you might conclude I never snapped out of my post-Xmas funk, and you might be right. Or maybe I'm just spending too much time on Cipher Songs , which isn't a bad thing. I did get the Strummer CD (for my birthday, which meant I had to wait five extra days). It was worth the wait, of course. "May I remind you of that scene? / The spirit is our gasoline . . ." The disk is dedicated to Captain Beefheart. My friend Dean earlier noted the copious refs to hallucinogens -- starting with the second line. Or maybe with the band's name! Here are links to the "Redemption Song" video and the "Coma Girl" MP3.