Nothing Can Change the Shape of Things to Come

I braved Cherry Creek Mall traffic last night to catch a reading and book signing at the Tattered Cover with Chris Elliott. Yeah, the Cabin Boy himself! He was promoting his new book The Shroud of the Thwacker, which he read a bit from, and he also answered questions from the audience. Many of them were about his cult TV show Get a Life, which he had some funny stories about (my favorite – the network kept asking him to make his character “more responsible,” thinking that would make the show funnier). I had him autograph my old copy of Daddy’s Boy, and picked up a copy of his new book as well – I’m looking forward to reading it on the plane tomorrow. Oh, and he told me that I have a “cool” name! Take that, you jerks that made fun of my name in grade school!

On Saturday we went over to the Bluebird to catch The Blasters. There weren’t any lines outside, so we were surprised when we went in to find the place packed. The band has two original members nowadays, vocalist Phil Alvin and bassist John Bazz, and they played a strong set. Lots of old favorites – Marie, Marie, So Long Baby Goodbye, I’m Shakin’, Dark Night, Long White Cadillac, Border Radio, Dark Night…plus many more, and several new tunes as well. The also did a song for the president, which Phil said was from his friends in New Orleans – I don’t know the title of the song, but the chorus was “I’ll be glad when you’re dead, you rascal you!” Ha! Phil is looking really old nowadays, and seems to have trouble getting around, but his vocals sound the same as they always have – overall, a really fun night out.

On Friday evening I watched a pretty cool old movie from 1968, Wild in the Streets. To put it shortly, the movie is more or less about the youth culture taking over the United States. The voting age is lowered, the required age of senators is also lowered, and the same requirement of the president follows shortly thereafter. The instigator is a charismatic rock star named Max Frost – he uses his popularity to push his agenda at concerts and on television appearances, and eventually he is elected president. All citizens over 30 are eventually put in concentration camps, where they are force fed LSD to keep them docile! This is a pretty interesting exploitation film, which has a great soundtrack to boot. Definitely worth checking out if you're into old psychotronic movies.

Strangely enough, the drummer in Max Frost’s band was played by Richard Pryor. The next afternoon, when I went online to check my email, I read the sad news that he had passed away earlier that day. Wow - RIP, Richard.