1) A while back I linked to A.S. Hamrah's writings on the movies at N+1; when nothing new appeared there for months, I searched for more writing by A.S. Hamrah and discovered this. Check out the review of R.L. Burnside.
2) Where the Marquis goes (China, Houston), natural disaster follows. Any theories? Some crazy pictures from Hurricane Ike here.
3) "Galveston" by Glen Campbell: Remember when popular music, especially popular country music, was often a fearsome thing?
Galveston, oh Galveston,
I still hear your sea winds blowin'
I still see her dark eyes glowin'
She was 21 when I left Galveston
Galveston, oh Galveston,
I still hear your sea waves crashing
While I watch the cannons flashing
I clean my gun and dream of Galveston
4) Another writer of some repute, James Crumley, also died this week. He was revered in the crime fiction world. Here is the opening of arguably his best book, The Last Good Kiss:
"When I finally caught up with Abraham Trahearne, he was drinking beer with an alcoholic bulldog named Fireball Roberts in a ramshackle joint just outside Sonoma, California, drinking the heart right out of a fine spring afternoon.”
5) Ricky Gervais's American film debut Ghost Town sounds pretty good. It has everything a comedy needs these days to be funny: a cameo by Kristen Wiig.
1 comment:
The lyrics of Galveston continue:
I still see her standing by the water
Standing there lookin' out to sea
And is she waiting there for me
On the beach where we used to run
Galveston, oh Galveston, I am so afraid of dying
Before I dry the tears she's crying
Before I watch your sea birds flying in the sun
At Galveston, at Galveston
Pretty awesome, huh? This was written by songwriter Jimmy Webb, who also wrote Campbell's hits "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" and "Wichita Lineman." Webb also wrote "MacArthur Park," which was a hit for both Richard Harris and Donna Summer, and "Up-Up and Away," which was recorded by The 5th Dimension.
Don Ho(!) originally recorded the song and gave Campbell a copy of the 45. "Here's a song I put out that I didn't have any luck with."
But Campbell loved it so much that he re-recorded it. His version - way overproduced, in my opinion - can be found at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIUPCfIihQ4
Post a Comment