Sunday, March 9, 2008

Dick's Track: Lucky Man - The Verve

Track # 9 off The Verve's third album, Urban Hymns, Lucky Man was a Top 10 hit in the U.K. and went Top 20 in the U.S in 1997. Following the worldwide success of Urban Hymns, The Verve slowly imploded and called it quits in 1999. They would reunite in 2007.

Happiness

More or less
It's just a change in me
Something in my liberty
Oh, my, my
Happiness
Coming and going
I watch you look at me
Watch my fever growing
I know just where I am
But how many corners do I have to turn?
How many times do I have to learn
All the love I have is in my mind?
Well, I'm a lucky man
With fire in my hands
Happiness
Something in my own place
I'm standing naked
Smiling, I feel no disgrace
With who I am
Happiness
Coming and going
I watch you look at me
Watch my fever growing
I know just who I am
But how many corners do I have to turn?
How many times do I have to learn
All the love I have is in my mind?
I hope you understand
I hope you understand
Gotta love that'll never die
Happiness
More or less
It's just a change in me
Something in my liberty
Happiness
Coming and going
I watch you look at me
Watch my fever growing
I know
Oh, my, my
Oh, my, my
Oh, my, my
Oh, my, my
Gotta love that'll never die
Gotta love that'll never die
No, no
I'm a lucky man
It's just a change in me
Something in my liberty
It's just a change in me
Something in my liberty
It's just a change in me
Something in my liberty
Oh, my, my
Oh, my, my
It's just a change in me
Something in my liberty
Oh, my, my
Oh, my, my

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Dick's Literary Lightning: Kull and The Screaming Skull of Silence


A creation of prolific fantasy and pulp fiction author Robert E. Howard, stories of Kull are a unique mix of battlefield heroism and the introspective bonds of leadership. During a visit from an ambassador of Pictdom, Kull is told the tale of a castle that houses the Skull of Silence. A manifestation of an imprisoned force of nature that could force silence onto the whole of existence.
Somewhere exists the essence of silence, the soul of silence. Nothing that is something; an absence so absolute that it takes material form. How many of you have ever heard complete silence? None!
Kull and his troops journey to a wild region where the great black castle sits on a lone hill. Against the warning of his advisers, Kull approaches the door where a gong and mallet made of jade sit. Upon opening the door, riders and their steeds drop. Soldiers scream without sound and clutch their heads to stave off the throbbing, billowing waves of still horror. Still standing, Kull looks into the castle and sees nothing. The air around him moves like a wave, the escaping Silence sends a painful vision through his mind.
Men died in gibbering stillness; the roar of rivers, the crash of seas, the noise of winds faltered and ceased to be. All sound was drowned by the Silence. Silence, soul destroying, brain shattering - blotting out of all life on earth -
Kull looks to the gong, realizing it to be a final safe-guard. Like the sea, the gong is never silent and never still. Vibrating and pulsing day and night, the enemy of silence. With each strike, Kull pushes the Silence back into the castle until the Silence gives way to Sound. Like shutting the door to Hell, Kull finally triumphs over the cosmic onslaught on his soul, body and mind.


For the complete tale and many other greats, check out Kull: Exile of Atlantis, a collection of short stories and unfinished drafts, complete with new illustrations created specifically for the volume.

Friday, March 7, 2008

Lightning Across the Pond: No Country for Old Men


We check in with Dr. Tom Jolliffe as he takes us inside Best Picture Winner No Country for Old Men:
The story is brilliantly split and interwoven between three points. There’s Josh Brolin as Llewelyn Moss who stumbles across the remains of a recent drug deal gone bad. Dead bodies lay strewn and he happens across a case full of cash. When he foolishly decides to return to the crime scene he sets in motion a chain of events that put his life on the line. There’s also the psychopathic killer, Anton Chigurh who drifts around doing whatever he pleases, killing whoever he deems to have inconvenienced him. The people who think Chrigurh works for them, little realizing that he works for no one. His focus becomes locked on Moss and the cash, setting up the chase aspect of the film. The third element is world weary sheriff Ed Bell, who sets his focus on uncovering the events that lead to the drug deal gone bad, and on finding the over his head Moss. It’s three elements combining brilliantly. The film shouldn’t really work, but the ingenious thing about it, is that it does!

The script is superb. From the start of the film to the end, we gradually uncover more and more. The script offers us so many set ups and pay offs, while like all the best chase movies, there’s a brilliant logic to Chirgurh’s tracking methods. He doesn’t simply appear at the right place when the story needs to move along. In much the same way as The Terminator, there’s something systematic about the way he tracks Moss. It’s intelligent, it works, and adds depth and more excitement to the chase. The Hollywood norm is to forgoe such logic and simply has the chaser appear to terrorize the chase without much reasoning to how they got there. Terminator 3 for example had none of the intelligent build up of the first two films, or indeed No Country. No Country isn’t firstly an action movie, but it manages to be incredibly tense, pulsating during the chase scenes. It’s the mixture of clever touches, the look, the sound design (exceptional) and the performances too, but as a chase movie, it’s one of the best. Indeed what further propells this film to the level of instant classic status, is that fact that it’s got more to it than merely being a chase film. The third element of Lee Jone’s detective work and self analysing life affirming Sherrif Bell, adds a great humanity, soul, and philosophical debate to the picture. There’s several genres and sub-genres that this film becomes entrenched in- doing so to the apex of each element. As an overall piece, it’s just a joy to watch, deconstruct and marvel at.
The film is wonderfully paced. It’s both vast and self contained at the same time, a bizarre yet brilliant mixture of epic western and claustrophobic chase movie. Combining with the artistry of Deakin’s photography, the Coen bro’s paint some brilliant imagery, from the opening chase at dawn with Brolin being chased down by a pick up truck with armed adversaries inside, to Brolin's first close encounter with Bardem. It all looks great and as I mentioned every camera move seems entirely, and perfectly, thought out and delivered. It’s a movie of perfect beats. It’s the shots, the movement within shots, of shots, of cuts. In the same way as Once Upon A Time In The West is a perfectly constructed piece, No Country is of that ilk, and there are very few such movies. Carter Burwell’s score is highly effective. He doesn’t have much music in it, but what there is, is effective and atmospheric.
As I walked out of the screen, contemplating the brilliant alluring, and no doubt endlessly debated, ending scene, not to mention the preceding brilliant beforehand, I knew right then, I’d just seen one of my favorite films. I loved it, simple as that. I raved about it to my brother, with pure exuberance. He wanted to see it beforehand, but following my reaction, his desire became tenfold. We then went to see it a day later. The second viewing, in as many days I can tell you now did not fall behind even in the slightest. The film stood as tall and as proud as it had done upon first seeing it. It was, is, a marvel of filmmaking. A cult movie fans dream, a mainstream movie fans dream. For the thrills it’s exceptional, for the drama it’s powerful, poignant, and it’s all so clever. If No Country For Old Men was to have a fight with any of the other Coen movies; several of which rank as some of my favorite movies, then we’d be talking No Country as superman in the blue (and red, with a bit of yellow) corner and Woody Allen, with his arms behind his back, in the grey corner; No contest and no kryptonite in sight.

Daily Head Space

"Man with hand in pants feels cocky all day."
-Confucius, interpreted by modern scholar.

Lightning Spread: K-1 World Grand Prix 1996 Final


October 1996. Andy Hug defeats Bart Vale by first round TKO at the K-1 World GP Prix Opening Round, securing a berth to the finals. In June, Hug would join Peter Aerts, Mike Bernardo, Musashi, Sam Greco, Ernesto Hoost, Mirko CroCop and Duane Van Der Merwe at the finals. A grueling affair, the K-1 World GP Finals would find its champion through tournament elimination. In the fourth bout of the first elimination round, Andy defeated South Africa's Duane Van Der Merwe with a quick left hook in the first round. His next fight would be a legendary showdown with Holland's Ernesto Hoost, which saw the two battle back and forth for three action packed rounds. Declared a draw, Hug and Hoost went to the first of two stipulated overtime rounds where they reached a draw again. In the second overtime round, Hug would pull off a split decision and clinch a spot in the Finals Finale against Mike Bernardo.
Fierce and formidable, South African Bernardo earned a KO victory over Peter Aerts and a decision over Musashi. In two earlier meetings, Bernardo had over powered Hug, winning by TKO and KO. Finally figuring out the big man's weak points, Hug went to work, dropping Bernardo to the mat with low kick after low kick. Streamers and confetti rained inside the arena as Andy Hug was declared the K-1 World Grand Prix 1996 champion.
Thanks to a recent YouTube post, you can now watch Andy's journey to the championship.